Secret of Nightingale Wood

Starred review from August 15, 2017
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 illness--enthralling. (Historical fiction. 9-12)

COPYRIGHT(2017) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

November 1, 2017

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 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from September 15, 2017
Grades 5-8 *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 motherand 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 Henand her glittering, fairy taleflecked imaginationStrange 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.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)