The Secret of Nightingale Wood
A debut novel, this is a delightful tale of love and loss, family and friends, and mystery and magic. The story begins when Henry, rather Henrietta Abbott, and her family move to a new house in the aftermath of the Great War. They have suffered a tragedy, but what has happened remains unclear until the end of the book. All the reader knows is that Henry’s mother is distraught and her father must leave the family to find work. Left with her mother and little sister, Piglet, along with Nanny Jane and the cook, Mrs. Berry, Henry must learn to listen to her heart—and, as an avid reader, she must also learn how much of life is real and how much is a fairy tale.
The first thing Henry discovers as she explores the gardens and woods surrounding her new home is her brother, Robert—or rather, Robert’s ghost. With him to guide her, Henry finds much more than she could ever have imagined: there’s a strange witchy woman living in the woods, a quack doctor who treats her mother’s depression, and an old tragedy that has left its evidence in the attic.
Well-written and emotionally authentic, this debut heralds great things for Lucy Strange and her young readers.
