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Bestselling Historical Novelist
Harper Lee Distinguished Writer
Travels from: Atlanta, GA

“Patti is an energetic and dynamic speaker that clearly expresses her passion for writing and the research that is so necessary.”  – Alabama Library Association

Patti Callahan Henry is a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of sixteen novels and a podcast host. She is the recipient of The Christy Award “Book of the Year”; The Harper Lee Distinguished Writer of the Year for 2020 and the Alabama Library Association Book of the Year for 2019.

“With a belief that the power of story changes us and moves us, Patti’s historical fiction, The Secret Life of Flora Lea, Surviving Savannah, Wild Swan, and Becoming Mrs. Lewis explores the untold stories of the past that affect us now.”

The Secret Book of Flora Lea was released in May 2023, and was quickly announced as the National May Book Club Pick for Barnes & Noble! A novel inspired by the true story of child evacuees from London during WWII, this novel explores what happens when a woman stumbles across a mysterious children’s book and long-held secrets about her missing sister and their childhood seen in the English countryside come to the surface. A novel that is “transporting, heartfelt, and atmospheric” (Christina Baker Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author).

Her previous novel, Surviving Savannah, is based on the true story of the Steamship Pulaski wreck, known as “The Titanic of the South” and was released March 9, 2021. There is a companion podcast series for the novel titled “The Untold Story Behind Surviving Savannah”,  an in-depth exploration into the fascinating stories explored in her novel, Surviving Savannah. The podcast series (03/21) includes interviews with some of the foremost experts on the myth and lore of Savannah, shipwreck treasure hunting, the hidden stories in museums, and the astounding real-life family story that inspired the novel.

Wild Swan, a novella following the fiery life of one of history’s greatest heroines and the mother of modern nursing: Florence Nightingale by Patti Callahan was released December 2020, as an Audible Original performed by the award-winning narrator, Cynthia Erivo.

Becoming Mrs. Lewis: The Improbable Love Story of Joy Davidman and C.S. Lewis was released in an expanded edition, March 2020.  The author is also the host of the popular seven-part original “Behind the Scenes of Becoming Mrs. Lewis Podcast Series”—the podcast audiobook collection including bonus material was released in January 2020.

Once Upon a Wardrobe is another tenderly imagined and enchanting story that pulls back the curtain on the early life of C. S. Lewis from Callahan— October 19, 2021, and available now—published by Harper Collins’ new imprint —Harper Muse as their debut novel.

Reunion Beach: Stories Inspired by Dorothea Benton Frank, a collaboration and tribute was released April 27, 2021.  Patti joins a group of bestselling authors to present a moving anthology to pay tribute to the legendary NYT bestselling author and her literary legacy.

Patti Callahan Henry is the co-host and co-creator of the popular weekly online Friends and Fiction live web show and podcast, featuring New York Times bestselling authors Mary Kay AndrewsKristy Woodson Harvey, and Kristin Harmel. With endless stories and special guests, they are LIVE every Wednesday at 7 pm ET on the Friends and Fiction Facebook group page, their YouTube Channel, and Parade Magazine Facebook page. You can follow them on Instagram and, for weekly updates, subscribe to their newsletter.

A full-time author and mother of three children, she now resides in both Mountain Brook, Alabama, and Bluffton, South Carolina with her husband.

Patti 's Featured Titles

The Secret Book of Flora Lea

When a woman stumbles across a mysterious children’s book, long-held secrets about her missing sister and their childhood spent in the English countryside during World War II are revealed in this “transporting, heartfelt, and atmospheric” (Christina Baker Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author) novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Surviving Savannah and Becoming Mrs. Lewis.

1939: Fourteen-year-old Hazel and five-year-old Flora evacuate their London home for a rural village to escape the horrors of the Second World War. Living with the Aberdeen family in a charming stone cottage, Hazel distracts her young sister with a fairy tale about a magical land, a secret place they can escape to that is all their own: Whisperwood.

But the unthinkable happens when Flora suddenly vanishes after playing near the banks of the River Thames. Shattered, Hazel blames herself for her sister’s disappearance, carrying the guilt into adulthood.

Twenty years later, Hazel is back in London, ready to move on from her job at a cozy rare bookstore for a career at Sotheby’s. With a cherished boyfriend and an upcoming Paris getaway, Hazel’s future seems set. But her tidy life is turned upside down when she unwraps a package containing a picture book called Whisperwood and the River of Stars. Hazel never told a soul about the storybook world she created just for Flora. Could this book hold the secrets to Flora’s disappearance? Could it be a sign that her beloved sister is still alive after all these years? Or is something sinister at play?

For fans of Kate Morton, Janet Skeslien Charles, and Kristin Hannah, this is a “fantastical” (Jamie Ford, New York Times bestselling author) celebration of sisterhood and the magic of storytelling wrapped up in a “heartrending, captivating tale of family, first love, and fate” (Kristin Harmel, New York Times bestselling author).

Once Upon a Wardrobe

Harper Muse |
Historical Novel

Megs Devonshire sets out to fulfill her younger brother George’s last wish by uncovering the truth behind his favorite story. The answer provides hope and healing and a magical journey for anyone whose life has ever been changed by a book.

1950: Margaret Devonshire (Megs) is a seventeen-year-old student of mathematics and physics at Oxford University. When her beloved eight-year-old brother asks Megs if Narnia is real, logical Megs tells him it’s just a book for children, and certainly not true. Homebound due to his illness, and remaining fixated on his favorite books, George presses her to ask the author of the recently released novel The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe a question: “Where did Narnia come from?”

Despite her fear about approaching the famous author, who is a professor at her school, Megs soon finds herself taking tea with C.S. Lewis and his own brother Warnie, begging them for answers.

Rather than directly telling her where Narnia came from, Lewis encourages Megs to form her own conclusion as he slowly tells her the little-known stories from his own life that led to his inspiration. As she takes these stories home to George, the little boy travels farther in his imagination than he ever could in real life.

Lewis’s answers will reveal to Megs and her family many truths that science and math cannot, and the gift she thought she was giving to her brother–the story behind Narnia–turns out to be his gift to her, instead: hope.

  • A captivating, standalone historical novel combining fact and fiction
  • An emotional journey into the books and stories that make us who we are
  • Includes discussion questions for book clubs

Surviving Savannah

Berkley |
Historical Novel

“An atmospheric, compelling story of survival, tragedy, the enduring power of myth and memory, and the moments that change one’s life.”
–Kristin Hannah, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Four Winds

“[An] enthralling and emotional tale…A story about strength and fate.”–Woman’s World

An epic novel that explores the metal of human spirit in crisis. It is an expertly told, fascinating story that runs fathoms deep on multiple levels.”—New York Journal of Books

It was called “The Titanic of the South.” The luxury steamship sank in 1838 with Savannah’s elite on board; through time, their fates were forgotten–until the wreck was found, and now their story is finally being told in this breathtaking novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Becoming Mrs. Lewis.

When Savannah history professor Everly Winthrop is asked to guest-curate a new museum collection focusing on artifacts recovered from the steamship Pulaski, she’s shocked. The ship sank after a boiler explosion in 1838, and the wreckage was just discovered, 180 years later. Everly can’t resist the opportunity to try to solve some of the mysteries and myths surrounding the devastating night of its sinking.

Everly’s research leads her to the astounding history of a family of eleven who boarded the Pulaski together, and the extraordinary stories of two women from this family: a known survivor, Augusta Longstreet, and her niece, Lilly Forsyth, who was never found, along with her child. These aristocratic women were part of Savannah’s society, but when the ship exploded, each was faced with difficult and heartbreaking decisions. This is a moving and powerful exploration of what women will do to endure in the face of tragedy, the role fate plays, and the myriad ways we survive the surviving.

The Favorite Daughter

Berkley |
Novel

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Bookshop at Water’s End, here is a lush, heart-wrenching novel about the power of memory, the meaning of family, and learning to forgive.

Ten years ago, Lena Donohue experienced a wedding-day betrayal so painful that she fled the small town of Watersend, South Carolina, and reinvented herself in New York City. Though now a freelance travel writer, the one place she rarely goes is home—until she learns of her dad’s failing health.

Returning to Watersend means seeing the sister she has avoided for a decade and the brother who runs the family’s Irish pub and has borne the burden of his sisters’ rift. While Alzheimer’s slowly steals their father’s memories, the siblings rush to preserve his life in stories and in photographs. As his secret past brings Lena’s own childhood into focus, it sends her on a journey to discover the true meaning of home.

Becoming Mrs. Lewis

Thomas Nelson |
Historical Novel

Now a USA TODAY and Publishers Weekly bestseller Meet the brilliant writer, fiercely independent mother, and passionate woman who captured the heart of C.S. Lewis and inspired the books that still enchant and change us today.

When poet and writer Joy Davidman began writing letters to C. S. Lewis–known as Jack–she was looking for spiritual answers, not love. Love, after all, wasn’t holding together her crumbling marriage. Everything about New Yorker Joy seemed ill-matched for an Oxford professor and the beloved writer of The Chronicles of Narnia, yet their minds bonded over their letters.

Embarking on the adventure of her life, Joy traveled from America to England and back again, facing heartbreak and poverty, discovering friendship and faith, and against all odds, found a love that even the threat of death couldn’t destroy.

In this masterful exploration of one of the greatest love stories of modern times, we meet a brilliant writer, a fiercely independent mother, and a passionate woman who changed the life of this respected author and inspired books that still enchant us and change us. Joy lived at a time when women weren’t meant to have a voice–and yet her love for Jack gave them both voices they didn’t know they had.

At once a fascinating historical novel and a glimpse into a writer’s life, Becoming Mrs. Lewis is above all a love story–a love of literature and ideas and a love between a husband and wife that, in the end, was not impossible at all.

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Reclaiming Women’s Voices in Historical Fiction

Why have women’s voices been lost in the shadows of history? Reclaiming these stories brings forth a richer understanding of history.

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Why Historical Fiction Matters

The importance and life-changing fiction that changes the way we see ourselves.

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Living the Creative Life

A Writer’s Journey and mid-life change: My story from being a nurse to booming a NYT bestselling novelist. What I’ve learned and how we can lead more creative lives in many ways.

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C. S. Lewis

(a.) His improbable love story. (b.) His life hidden in Narnia — Based on my two novels about C. S. Lewis his life and his work.

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Blending Fact and Fiction

In this presentation for writers, we talk about how to use the facts that matter while creating a compelling story.

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Book Specific Presentations

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Surviving Breast Cancer

Patti Callahan Interview

“Behind the Story of Becoming Mrs. Lewis”: An Interview with Patti Callahan Henry

Patti Callahan Henry Featured as Corts Distinguished Author

Patti’s Blog and News

Friends & Fiction

Patti’s Podcasts

Patti’s Novels

Honors, Awards & Recognition

New York Times Bestseller
Indie Next Bestseller
USA Today Bestseller
Harper Lee Distinguished Writer of the Year
Christy Award Book of the Year
Alabama Library Association Book of the Year

Media Kit

By clicking the link below you will be directed to a Google Docs Folder
where you can download author photos and cover images.

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