The Lost Book of Eleanor Dare - by Kimberly Brock

About the Book

Based on real history and alternating between the story of war widow Alice searching for identity in the 1940s and excerpts from Eleanor Dare's Commonplace Book and the tale of her harrowing survival, The Lost Book of Eleanor Dare explores the meaning of female history and the sacrifices every mother makes for her daughter.

Book Synopsis

The fate of the world is often driven by the curiosity of a girl.

What happened to the Lost Colony of Roanoke remains a mystery, but the women who descended from Eleanor Dare have long known that the truth lies in what she left behind: a message carved onto a large stone and the contents of her treasured commonplace book. Brought from England on Eleanor's fateful voyage to the New World, her book was passed down through the fifteen generations of daughters who followed as they came of age. Thirteen-year-old Alice had been next in line to receive it, but her mother's tragic death fractured the unbroken legacy and the Dare Stone and the shadowy history recorded in the book faded into memory. Or so Alice hoped.

In the waning days of World War II, Alice is a young widow and a mother herself when she is unexpectedly presented with her birthright: the deed to Evertell, her abandoned family home and the history she thought forgotten. Determined to sell the property and step into a future free of the past, Alice returns to Savannah with her own thirteen-year-old daughter, Penn, in tow. But when Penn's curiosity over the lineage she never knew begins to unveil secrets from beneath every stone and bone and shell of the old house and Eleanor's book is finally found, Alice is forced to reckon with the sacrifices made for love and the realities of their true inheritance as daughters of Eleanor Dare.

In this sweeping tale from award-winning author Kimberly Brock, the answers to a real-life mystery may be found in the pages of a story that was always waiting to be written.

Praise for The Lost Book of Eleanor Dare:

"From the haunting first line, The Lost Book of Eleanor Dare transports the reader to a mysterious land, time and family . . . the captivating women of the Dare legacy must find their true inheritance hiding behind the untold secrets." --Patti Callahan, New York Times bestselling author

• Historical women's fiction
• Stand-alone novel
• Book length: approximately 135,000 words
• Includes discussion questions for book clubs

Review Quotes

In this novel, author Kimberly Brock weaves a multigenerational story based on the supposed descendants of the real-life Eleanor Dare . . . The author paces the plot well with vivid details that made me feel that I, too, was wandering the estate at Evertell. And I appreciated that the story was well researched as I read the pages from Eleanor Dare's viewpoint as she flees from Roanoke Island to points unknown. The characters are unique and carry their own human flaws that make them come alive and feel believable. I rooted for each of them as they strove to find their place in a complicated family history . . . Highly recommended.--Historical Novel Society

Kimberly Brock has tackled an engrossing and suspenseful subject - the lost colony of Roanoke . . . The Lost Book of Eleanor Dare is worth the time, though, especially for people interested in the earliest days of colonists in America and the rich tradition of women passing down their stories over generations.--Manhattan Book Review

You do not need a deep grounding in colonial misadventure to appreciate Kimberly Brock's graceful work of speculative, historical fiction . . . Gentle in tone, it is matrilineal feminism at its most dreamy . . . The storytelling is rich, lyrical, and garlanded with Spanish moss, with jewel-like passages that beg to be re-read.--Arts Atlanta

Amid the atmospheric backdrop of the Lowcountry, Brock stirs up a beguiling blend of family legacy, historical mystery, and generational connections, examining the unbreakable ties of mothers and daughters, the power of stories told and stories hidden, and the unquenchable need to understand those who came before us. A beautiful tale to curl up with and contemplate the intertwining of lives past and present.--Lisa Wingate, #1 New York Times bestselling author

Compelling and immersive . . . Brock's lush narrative is rich in American and Virginia history with deep roots in the mysterious disappearance of the lost colony on Roanoke Island.--Adriana Trigiani, bestselling author of The Good Left Undone

In this complex, compelling, and beautifully crafted novel, Kimberly Brock explores not only the enigma of the Lost Colony of Roanoke, but also the boundless mysteries of love, family, and the human heart. This is a story filled with many charms, both literal and figurative, and I guarantee it will captivate readers from the first page to the last.--William Kent Krueger, New York Times bestselling author

'The Lost Book of Eleanor Dare is an intriguing, dreamy story about the impact of one unhealed woman who has yet to reconcile her past in such a way that lends itself to transparency with her young daughter . . . Author Kimberly Brock delicately balances mystery, family lore, and honoring one's forebears in sonorous language throughout a sweeping story with three points of view, two timeframes, and remarkably steady pacing. Weaving myth and legend with historical fact pertaining to an age-old American mystery, The Lost Book of Eleanor Dare is a spellbinding, beautiful story written by a graceful hand with just the right amount of mysticism.'--New York Journal of Books