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

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
A Waterstones Book of the Month Pick

* "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 Reviews, starred review

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

"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)