Review: The Secret of Nightingale Wood by Lucy Strange

For someone who has historical fiction labeled as one of her favorite genres, I don’t read a lot of it. I’m just never able to find ones that seem interesting. Or maybe I just don’t look for them. I started this book without much knowledge of what it would be about and I liked it, but there were a few things that annoyed me. So, here is my review!

Title: The Secret of Nightingale Wood
Author: Lucy Strange
Genre: Historical Fiction, Middle Grade
Series: None
Page Count: 289

Synopsis: “1919. Mama is ill. Father has taken a job abroad. Nanny Jane is too busy to pay any attention to Henrietta and the things she sees — or thinks she sees — in the shadows of their new home, Hope House.

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…”

Content Warnings

depression and grief (on-page), death of a loved one (recounted), ableism towards Henry and Mama

There are no spoilers in this review.

The Secret of Nightingale Wood is a story about what a lost love one can do to a family. It’s told from Henrietta’s perspective, a twelve-year-old girl who’s family is suffering after a tragic accident. After recently moving to the country, into their new home, Hope House, Henry’s mama falls ill and her father goes to work abroad in Italy. Henry is left alone to take care of herself mostly and no one believes the things she sees, or thinks that she sees. Then she ventures into Nightingale Wood and discovers things that will change her world.

I listened to this book on audio and I really enjoyed the narration. Lucy Strange narrated it–she’s also the author of the book–and I liked how she was able to capture the feelings and scenes that happened. She told the story in a way that brought it to live and there was clear emotion in her voice as she read the book.

I thought the grief and depression aspect was displayed really well. Strange did a great job showing what death can do to a family. It shows what grief feels like and how it impacts people. It can tear families apart. In a way, Henry’s father contributed to that. Though he truly did have work in Italy, there could’ve been a way for him to be closer to home. But he chose to go abroad and leave his family.

I liked Henrietta. She was determined to find out what was happening to her mama, even when no one would tell her. Back then, people thought it would be better if they didn’t tell their children what was happening to their parents. Well, they thought wrong. That’s just going to make a child worry more. Henrietta was also very brave; from being able to cope with all that was going on to all the other events that happened in the story.

Now, Dr. Hardy. He was. . . something. I did not like him at all. He was just too mean and evil. He wasn’t realistic. No one is that awful. He didn’t really have any intentions, besides wanting to look good. All he talked about was that another fellow colleague had “cutting-edge” technology that would help Henry’s mama. She wasn’t actually sick, she had depression. Unfortunately, male doctors back then thought that women were just going crazy, so they gave them drugs. The drugs were what made them crazy. Anyways, Dr. Hardy didn’t have any good personality. He mocked people: Henry, her mama, and other characters as well. No doctor would ever make fun of a person’s stutter. Mrs. Hardy also was not realistic. She was just as awful as her husband.

Overall, I really enjoyed The Secret of Nightingale Wood. It was a well written story that really showed was grief and loss can do to a family. However, I just couldn’t stand Dr. Hardy. And the fact that he was a main character meant he was in a lot of the book, which made it quite annoying some of the time.

My Rating: 3.5/5 dragons

Have you read The Secret of Nightingale Wood? What did you think of my review?
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