Hazel Linden spends her last day at Hogan’s Rare Book Shoppe in Bloomsbury, feeling melancholic and dramatic about leaving.
She reflects on the rarity and meaningfulness of the books she has worked with and recalls her fun "going-away wake" the previous night.
Her colleagues, Tim and Poppy, express bittersweet sentiments about her departure for a prestigious position at Sotheby's.
Despite looking forward to her new job, Hazel feels mixed about leaving the comfort of Hogan's and her friends there, including the shop owner Edwin and Poppy, a war orphan.
Edwin tasks Hazel with processing new arrivals before she departs, which is her favorite part of the job.
Hazel meticulously catalogs new acquisitions including a first-edition Dickens, a Hemingway letter, Tolkien's The Hobbit, a Russell book with a WWII map dust jacket, and a fairy tale with original illustrations.
She reminisces about her personal life, including plans to travel during a break before starting her new job and contemplating marriage with her partner, Barnaby.
A man and a woman enter the shop looking for a rare Auden poetry edition. Hazel assists the man who intends to gift it to his lover for their wedding.
Hazel's dear friend Kelty and her daughter, Midge, visit the shop to see Hazel on her last day, reinforcing her emotional ties to her current life.
Excited for her future yet nostalgic, Hazel opens the last package to find a portfolio of enchanting hand-colored illustrations and a book titled "Whisperwood and the River of Stars" by Peggy Andrews.
Hazel is taken aback as Whisperwood is a secret world she created with her sister, Flora, who she lost in the war. Whisperwood was their private escape during difficult times.
Overwhelmed and in disbelief, Hazel speaks the name "Whisperwood" out loud for the first time in twenty years.