The Secret of Nightingale Wood

About this book

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...

Reviews

"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." -- Kirkus, starred review

*"A brave heroine propels this strong and richly layered novel, a memorable portrait of grief, resilience, and rebirth." -- Publisher's Weekly, starred review

A Telegraph Top 50 Book of the Year

A Waterstones Book of the Month Pick

"From the first page, I was entirely smitten and compelled to read on until I finished this mysterious and poignant story." -- Pam Munoz Ryan, author of Newbery Honor Book Echo and Esperanza Rising

"Superbly balanced between readability and poetry... this is an assured debut." -- The Guardian (UK)

"Rich with nods to classics...this outstanding debut explores family, grief and mental illness with great skill." -- The Bookseller (UK)

"A gripping novel in Secret Garden mode... Bliss for passionate readers aged nine and older." -- The New Statesman (UK)

"Strange's writing is luminous, and she has created a story about friendship, love and family that is wonderfully involving." -- Literary Review (UK)

"Friendships, family, love and loss all come together in this beautiful debut." -- The Sunday Express (UK)

"Tender, funny, devastating and just about word perfect, I loved every page of this extraordinary book." -- Natasha Farrant, author of The Secret Diary of Lydia Bennet

"A beautifully told story about loss, grief and the restorative power of the imagination." -- M.G. Leonard, author of Beetle Boy