Hazel finds a book called Whisperwood in March 1960, treating it delicately due to its frailty and hinting at danger.
The book's story of twin orphans discovering a magical world reminds Hazel of her sister Flora who vanished in 1940 during the Blitz.
The dedication is to Linda Andrews, which confuses Hazel as the tale should be unknown to others outside her family.
Missing details suggest that the author of Whisperwood, Peggy Andrews, has some connection to Hazel and Flora's past.
The backstory reveals that Flora disappeared by the River Thames during WWII while Hazel wasn't paying attention to potential warnings from nature.
Hazel has spent twenty years looking for her sister, and believes the book Whisperwood might hold a clue to her whereabouts.
Leaving Hogan’s Rare Book Shoppe with the book and illustrations, Hazel's mind races with possibilities of how her personal story has become published fiction.
Hazel speculates whether the author might actually be Flora or if someone who knew their story might have retold it in America.
Back home, Hazel finds the interior familiar and comforting, filled with books and remnants of her and her mother's life.
Ignoring articles and magazine subscriptions her mother hoped she would be interested in, Hazel focuses on the possibilities unfolding from Whisperwood.
Hazel reflects on a persistent journalist, Dorothy Bellamy, who has been trying to interview her about Flora as part of a series on lost evacuee children.
Reading Whisperwood, she finds many elements which are uncannily similar to the stories she invented with Flora, with only a few changes.
Hazel contemplates how her fictional world of Whisperwood may have continued to evolve even in Flora's absence, yet her fears prevent her from exploring it further.
Despite the mystery and her reservations, Hazel realizes that the story in the book is indeed their own creation of Whisperwood.
Hazel considers how to find the author, pondering on calling the publishing house or searching in Massachusetts, although she's aware of the impracticality.
Hazel acknowledges that by taking the book and illustrations without consent she has committed theft, but rationalizes that the fairy tale belongs to her and Flora.
The chapter concludes with Hazel's constant search for Flora, interpreting signs and hoping to find something that could lead to her sister.