The Nightingales

"A coming-of-age story for the ages. All ages. For anyone who has lived through loss (and who hasn’t?), The Nightingales is a blessing sung after the tears have slowed down. This book is a triumph.” —Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked

Based on a true story, an exquisitely rendered, singular graphic novel about a life-changing friendship between a seventeen-year-old girl and the dying stranger who moves into her family’s home.

In the spring of 1985 Donald Wilson invites his coworker, Jim, and his two Pomeranians, Henny and Penny, to move into his family’s home. Donald doesn’t ask his wife, Annemarie, about hosting a stranger long term, and he only tells his daughter, Lou, the night before. When they ask why, all Donald says is that Jim is very sick, he has no family nearby and this is what friends do.

Jim is a respectful guest in every way, but his presence in the house still turns the small-town Oregon family upside down. As Annemarie’s fear and resentment toward Jim grows, resulting in increasingly bitter fights with Donald, so too does Lou and Jim’s unlikely friendship—one which not only buoys Jim through his most difficult days, but becomes a catalyst for Lou to finally pursue her truest and bravest self in the wider world.

The Nightingales is an unforgettable portrait of an imperfect family grappling with extraordinary circumstances, and a powerful example of how confronting the unknown with curiosity and compassion is the first step to building a better world.