I wasn't expecting this recently written book to have captured the feel of a childrens classic of the last century so well. This book is beautifully written, it reminded me of The Railway Children and some other classics. Henrietta is 12yrs old and the year is 1919. Her family has moved out of London to try to rebuild their lives after the death of her brother. The family struggles, each isolated in their private grief.Some of the middle part of the book involving the mother's treatment did seem...

Wow! I can't believe this is juvenile fiction. And a first book for Lucy Strange. Quite an accomplishment. This one was creepy, magical and heartwarming, and more than a little disturbing in parts. It takes place in 1919 in rural England. Henrietta (12 yo) and her family have just moved to the country from London after the loss of her older brother and the birth of her baby sister. Her mom isn't dealing with his loss well. The book is about Hen and her quest to bring her family back together and...

I read this one really quickly in a few hours. It is an easy read aimed at young people, but nicely written. It is based on the usual good versus evil. The narrator is a lonely child (Henrietta) who is dealing with friendship, sadness, illness, mysteries and family secrets, even death around 1919.

Heavens above, what a book!This has been so beautifully crafted, it sings. Touching on such enormous subjects as grief, mental health, shell-shock, loneliness, and fear, it still manages to flow into your bloodstream in the most amazing way. The characters are intricately drawn: Henry with her day dreaming and books, and her power love for her family, that holds the story together; Piglet, the wonderfully perfect nick-name for her baby sister, who you just know is going to grow into a power-hous...

Read this for Polarthon 2022! Check out my spoiler-free reading vlog if you want to see my thoughts on The Secret of Nightingale Wood: https://youtu.be/g4v0iV_ydUk

This is a book I adored. It has a terrific main character in Henrietta(Henry), and covers a lot of fairly weighty things but in an approachable way for its younger audience: grief, mental health, adults who don’t take children seriously, a medical profession that dismisses women's concerns and health, loss of a child, believing in oneself, repercussions of war, and misogyny.Henry’s mother is prostrate with depr after Henry's elder brother's (Robert) death, her father cannot deal with his wife an...

This is the first audiobook I was able to finish reading/listening. The author does such a great job narrating it, her voice and accent and the way she makes her characters alive with these, is just marvellous. The story is about a little girl `Henry` whose family was torn apart by a tragedy. Although she is only 12 years old she has great courage and more wisdom then any adult around her. This is a grim mystery that proceeds like the sundown and night fall and the only light we see is our littl...

tl;dr pretty cover and nice writing but turns a 12-year-old girl into a miraculous social workerI was really looking forward to The Secret of Nightingale Wood, but unfortunately I found the story's message totally inappropriate for middle-grade readers. Henrietta Abbott, the heroine who turns 13 over the course of the book, is made completely responsible for rescuing her mother from a cruel method of treatment for post-partum depression and the loss of a child (WWI-era). The father has absconded...

THIS IS JUST BEAUTIFULLY WONDERFUL!!!!!!AND THE LATIN PHRASES ADD SUCH A SPECIAL TOUCH!!And the hidden meaning behind the book😍😍😍🥺🥺Its just left me speechless!

Oh my goodness! What a tender, exquisite gem of a book. Such wonderful writing and characterisation, with deft, assured handling of complex emotional issues. This may well be my favourite MG book of 2016. Fabulous.

My copy is so cute, the illustrations inside are fabulous! Each chapter has a tiny illustration, in any case now that I'm done with this book I feel it's not suitable for young children, it's beautifully written, it's a sad story about family, mental illness, loss, grief, war, hope, childhood, and books.My main issue with the book comes in two parts: first, the author depended a LOT on other books to tell her story, I personally find that a bit weak. Secondly: I don't get foreigners/white people...

This is a children's book suitable for all ages, but probably best appreciated by adults who are still love with their childhood favourites: The Secret Garden, A Little Princess, The Wind in the Willows, Alice in Wonderland and fairy tales of all descriptions. Author Lucy Strange deliberately borrows some of the tropes from the best-loved classics, but fashions them into something original. Set just after World War I, the story explores madness and loss - and the sometimes fine line between fant...

"In the woods, the moon and the stars generated something that couldn't quite be called light. They didn't shine, they silvered the darkness."

While middle-grade The Secret of Nightingale Wood by Lucy Strange is a relatively recent release (2016 in the UK, 2017 in the US) the bittersweet story is set in 1919. The absolute resilience and fierce determination of 13-year-old Henrietta (Henry) exemplifies a young hero to applaud.The Abbott family has suffered a tragedy at the same time that they receive a blessing. The shock and unimaginable pain combined with “hysteria” (a very common type of depression today) that Mrs. Abbott exhibits, c...

Such an impressive first novel. The Secret of Nightingale Wood is a tale of two halves for me. The first involves Henry moving into her new home in order for her family to cope with the mysterious loss of her older brother and the second half, much pacier and painfully tense, involves Henry having the save someone close to her. Wrapped within a quilted intertext based on rich children's literature around the dawn of the 20th century (as well as well before) Strange is so smart in her craft here....

4.5/5 stars Full review to come

What a wonderful book. This was Children's book of the month in Waterstones but it really is a classic for adults too, especially one who has dealt recently with grief. Henry is the most wonderful heroine and through her eyes we see the effect of loss, grief, mental health issues and the impact of WW1. We also see the power of love and determination. The writing was sublime and the references to the children's classics which Henry reads made it just perfect. "Grief is just amputated love" is a p...

A fabulously suspensful, gothic-y middle grade story, beautifully written. I sped through it on the edge of my seat, willing on the bookish heroine Henry as she tries to save her family from being pulled apart by grief and the ill meaning Dr Hardy.

Calling all middle grade readers!  (Or friends/parents/librarians/buddies of middle grade readers. 😊)  I recently received The Secret of Nightingale Wood from Scholastic and Chicken House Press and I could not have loved it more!  Middle grade books have to work hard to impress me.  Their themes and stories may be geared toward a younger set of the population, but that doesn’t mean I give them a pass on plot, pacing, authentic characters, or engaging storylines.  In fact, I think the best middle...

It's 1919 and Henrietta's family have just moved from London to the countryside following the death of Henry's brother. The family has never recovered from their loss and Hope House is a place for them to heal, but it's a big change for twelve-year-old Henry, with its secret doors, dark woods, and new faces. As people interfere in her family's lives, the more worried Henry becomes for their future together. And as truths surface and hope fades, Henry feels alone. She realises she must do somethi...