Phyllida Banks has long been the heart of the tiny village of Brookbank, in the Southern Highlands outside Sydney. Known for her curiosity and wisdom, her shadowy antiquarian bookshop, and her role in the village garden club, she is adored by all.

So, when Phyllida suddenly slips away, leaving her granddaughter, Lottie, only a letter and a request to 'find Francis', the community is left reeling-and Lottie is left with far more than grief.

Set to inherit a fortune of unknown origin, Lottie uncovers a trail that leads to a centuries-old manor house in Cambridgeshire, England, and a forgotten second bookshop that sits at the heart of a mystery left unsolved for fifty years.

It soon becomes clear that several people have gone to great lengths to keep the past buried-and that dear Phyllida is at the heart of everything. Spanning continents and decades, The Bookshop of Buried Pasts is the story of two bookshops, an abandoned boy and a woman who refused to forget him.