The secret of Nightingale Wood

Title:

Author:

Strange, Lucy, author.

ISBN:

9781338157475

Personal Author:

Strange, Lucy, author.

Publication Information:

Frome, Somerset : Chicken House, 2017.

Physical Description:

288 pages ; 22 cm

Abstract:

1919. Mama is ill. Father has taken a job abroad. Nanny Jane is too busy to pay any attention to Henrietta and the things she sees - or thinks she sees - in the shadows of their new home, Hope House. 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...

Subject Term:

Family secrets -- Juvenile fiction.

Imagination -- Juvenile fiction.

Books and reading -- Juvenile fiction.

Grief -- Juvenile fiction.

Mental illness -- Juvenile fiction.

Friendship -- Juvenile fiction.

Genre:

Fiction.

Juvenile works.

Document ID:

SD_ILS:2279371

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Library	Collection	Collection	Call Number	Status
Searching... Beale Memorial Library (Kern Co.)	Searching... Unknown	Children's Fiction	J FIC STR	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Clovis Branch Library (Fresno Co.)	Searching... Unknown	Children's Fiction Area	STRANGE LU Secret	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Fig Garden Branch (Fresno Co.)	Searching... Unknown	Children's Fiction Area	STRANGE LU Secret	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Frazier Park Branch (Kern Co.)	Searching... Unknown	Children's Fiction	J FIC STR	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Hanford Branch Library (Kings Co.)	Searching... Unknown	Child - Fiction	J STRANGE	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Kettleman City Branch (Kings Co.)	Searching... Unknown	Child - Fiction	J STRANGE	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Lindsay Library (Tulare Co.)	Searching... Unknown	Children's Fiction	J STRANGE LUCY	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Madera Ranchos Library (Madera Co.)	Searching... Unknown	Children's Fiction Area	STRANGE	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Oakhurst Branch (Madera Co.)	Searching... Unknown	Children's Fiction Area	STRANGE	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Orosi Library (Tulare Co.)	Searching... Unknown	Children's Fiction	J STRANGE LUCY	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Politi Branch Library (Fresno Co.)	Searching... Unknown	Children's Fiction Area	STRANGE LU Secret	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Ridgecrest Branch Library (Kern Co.)	Searching... Unknown	Children's Fiction	J FIC STR	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Stratford Branch Library (Kings Co.)	Searching... Unknown	Child - Fiction	J STRANGE	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Sunnyside Branch Library (Fresno Co.)	Searching... Unknown	Children's Fiction Area	STRANGE LU Secret	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Tehachapi Branch Library (Kern Co.)	Searching... Unknown	Children's Fiction	J FIC STR	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Visalia Library (Tulare Co.)	Searching... Unknown	Children's Fiction	J STRANGE LUCY	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Woodward Park Library (Fresno Co.)	Searching... Unknown	Children's Fiction Area	STRANGE LU Secret	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

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...

Author Notes

Lucy Strange worked as an actor, singer, and storyteller before becoming a secondary school English teacher. She lives in Kent, England. The Secret of Nightingale Wood is her first novel.

Reviews (5)

Publisher's Weekly Review

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. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Horn Book Review

In 1919, twelve-year-old Hen's family moves to an English country house to recover from the recent death of Hen's brother. Then Hen meets a thin, ragged woman living in nearby Nightingale Wood. Might she be someone who understands Mama's incapacitating grief? Suspense and uncertainty build inexorably in this satisfying story; Hen's avid reading of fairy tales, Keats, and Victorian children's books enhances the narrative's rich literary texture. (c) Copyright 2018. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

*Starred Review* It's 1919, and in the aftermath of the Great War, almost everything seems tattered by loss. Hen Abbott's mother, however, is in particularly bad shape. It started with the death of Hen's older brother, Robert, and continued with the birth of her baby sister, nicknamed Piglet. Seeking a fresh start, Hen's father shuffles the family from London to Hope House, a slumping seaside estate flanked by forest. But Mama's condition, an unspoken mixture of melancholy and withdrawal, is worsening, and when Hen's father journeys abroad for work, Hen's family is left at the mercy of callous Dr. Hardy, a keen proponent of mandatory bedrest and heavy sedatives. The circumstances are no doubt bleak, but Hen is not alone: at night, a golden glow from deep within the woods beckons her. Its unlikely source may help Hen save her mother and transform her world. Eerily reminiscent of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's nineteenth-century short story, The Yellow Wallpaper, Strange's debut achingly illuminates the horrors of the rest cure, as well as the enduring sting of profound grief. Yet, in defiant Hen and her glittering, fairy tale-flecked imagination Strange presents a worthy antidote to both. Interweaving bright, poetic prose with gothic imagery and deft allusions to literary classics, from Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland to John Keats' Bright Star, Strange crafts a gorgeous, utterly enchanting classic of her own.--Shemroske, Briana Copyright 2017 Booklist

School Library Journal Review

Gr 5-7-It is 1919, and 12-year-old Henrietta and her family have just moved from London to Hope House in the country after the tragic death of her older brother. Henry's mother is shut up in her room, heavily medicated, and Henry's father leaves the country on business. Nanny Jane has Henry's baby sister, "Piglet," to manage, leaving Henry alone to read her books and explore the Nightingale Wood. Following a mysterious firelight, Henry meets a wild, witchy woman named Moth who lives in the woods and seems to want to help. Meanwhile, Dr. Hardy keeps upping Mother's medication and conspires to commit her to the Helldon mental institution and remove Piglet into his own care. Henry must find a way to save her mother, bring her father home, and protect Piglet, all while she solves the mystery within the Nightingale Wood. This is a haunting gothic tale of love, courage, healing, and family. The story deals with grief, PTSD, and mental health in a tender and moving way. Henry is a thoroughly lovable character, and the setting is dark and mysterious without being too scary. Strange has a wonderful way of evoking classic fairy tales and the love of books while keeping the mystery moving along. VERDICT An excellent addition to middle grade shelves, especially where readers crave atmospheric, slightly dark stories.-Terry Ann Lawler, Burton Barr Library, Phoenix © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Review

Moving from London to the countryside, Henrietta, a 12-year-old white English girl, encounters mysterious secrets threatening to destroy her family.In the summer of 1919, Henry and her family arrive at Hope House, with its gardens and "wilderness of woodland," seeking a "fresh start." Unwell since her son's recent death, Henry's mother immediately collapses; local Dr. Hardy sedates and confines her in a locked room. Simultaneously, Henry's father exits abroad for his job, leaving Henry and her baby sister with their nanny. Alone, Henry spends days rereading familiar books and fairy tales and nights reliving the terrifying fire that killed the brother who haunts her. Magnetically drawn to Nightingale Wood, Henry discovers a woman called Moth living in a caravan harboring her own secrets like a "forgotten, fairy-tale princess." When Dr. Hardy commits her mother to an asylum, removes her sister, and suggests she suffers the same mental illness as her mother, a resolute Henry attempts a daring rescue, aided by Moth. In an imaginative, compelling first-person narration, Henry wraps her story in fairy tales, exposing her guilt, grief, isolation, and fear as she unravels the stunning secrets of Nightingale Wood. An evocative, beautifully written, mesmerizing debut tale with lush fairy-tale themes and a poignant exploration of mental illnessenthralling. (Historical fiction. 9-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Excerpts

From The Secret of Nightingale Wood : Doctor Hardy stayed until about ten o'clock. He did not speak to me before he left, and Nanny Jane, who had brought me a cup of cocoa when she came to say good night, had not told me anything either. It was midnight now, and I was still not asleep.Why would no one tell me anything? Father had left us. Mama was so sick I hardly ever saw her. I wanted to help. I wanted to do something, but it was the middle of the night and I was all by myself and I was twelve years old. What could I possibly do?I stared out the window at the moonlit garden and the dark woodland beyond. There it was again--that mysterious wisp of smoke drifting up from the trees--that flicker of faery flame that I had seen on our first night at Hope House. There was someone out there in the darkness. Someone or something. I felt that familiar tugging sensation--a voice calling to me from among the trees . . .Doctor Hardy's instruction echoed in my mind: No big adventures for you, young lady . . .I smiled a small, angry smile.I would go.At the very bottom of the garden, where the wilderness began, I stopped and stared into the blackness. Then I took one long, deep breath and walked into the dark jaws of the forest. Excerpted from The Secret of Nightingale Wood by Lucy Strange All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.