The Secret of Nightingale Wood
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4.3 • 26 Ratings
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
A beautifully tangled story of friendship, fairy tales, and family secrets. For those who loved Pax and The War That Saved My Life.
A Kirkus Best Middle Grade Book of 2017
An Amazon Best Book of 2017
A 2018 Bank Street College Best Book of the Year
A Telegraph Top 50 Book of the Year
Everyone is too busy to pay attention to Henrietta and the things she sees -- or thinks she sees -- in the shadows of their new home, Hope House. Mama is ill. Father has taken a job abroad. Nanny Jane is busy taking care of her younger sister.
All alone, with only stories for company, Henry discovers that Hope House is full of strange secrets: a forgotten attic, ghostly figures, mysterious firelight that flickers in the trees beyond the garden.
One night she ventures into the darkness of Nightingale Wood. What she finds there will change her whole world...
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Lucy Strange’s debut feels unabashedly old-fashioned—and we mean that as a compliment. Like our favorite childhood classics, The Secret of Nightingale Wood swirls with menace and magic. At its heart, the book is about Henry, a lonely and confused girl who stokes her courage and finds her voice to protect her heartbroken mother and vulnerable baby sister. We spent many afternoons getting happily lost in Henrietta’s world, exploring the fairy-tale secrets of her new home.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set a year after the end of WWI, this compelling debut places imaginative 12-year-old narrator Henrietta "Hen" Abbott in an impossible situation. After the death of Hen's brother, her father moves the family from London to the countryside, only to depart to the continent for work, leaving Hen's mother struggling with mental illness and cared for by a sinister doctor. "Suddenly I felt dangerously alone," Hen recounts. "Mama was ill and drugged. Father was not here. Doctor Hardy thought I was going mad, and Nanny Jane had become his spy." She finds solace in the woods and meets a supposed witch (whom she dubs Moth) living in a caravan. The mystery surrounding this woman becomes a central thread, and her character extends needed kindness to Hen, supporting her efforts to save her family. Strange effectively weaves in fairy tales, poetry, and themes common to classic children's literature, reflecting Hen's love of books. A brave heroine propels this strong and richly layered novel, a memorable portrait of grief, resilience, and rebirth. Ages 8 12.
