Natalie bought a book for her daughter. Then she discovered a bittersweet message inside.

Earlier this year Natalie Coleman bought a second hand book for her daughter, Leni.

The St Kilda mum purchased the copy of 5 Minute Princess Stories in early May from a pre-loved bookshop in Melbourne.

It was only when she got home that Natalie noticed the message inside.

Scrawled inside the front cover of the book was a handwritten note from a man named Barry to his daughter, Alexis.

“Dear Alexis. If you’re getting this without me, it’s because unfortunately my circumstances got too grim for me to give it to you yourself,” the note read.

“You need to know I always loved you with all my heart.

“You were the first thing I thought about when I woke up in the morning and the last thing I thought about at night.

“Love Dad (Barry).”

Natalie is now on a mission to find Alexis and reunite her with the book.

She shared images of the book and the message on Facebook in the hope her friends could help her track down the daughter in the message.

“I recently picked up this book from a St Kilda Op-shop for my daughter,” she explained in her post.

“The message just breaks my heart… if you know Alexis (Dad named Barry) I would love to return your book.”

The post has since been shared in several Facebook groups but so far Alexis hasn’t been found.

“As much as we love the book, we’d like to see it returned to the little girl whose dad wrote the letter,” Natalie told the Herald Sun.

“Any young person would treasure these words from their father.”