A review by erinbookbug
The Secret of Nightingale Wood by Lucy Strange

emotional hopeful reflective sad

4.0

The Secret of Nightingale Wood by Lucy Strange (Audiobook read by Lucy Strange) 

Genre: Historical Fiction, Children’s Lit
Audience: General 

Source: Audible 

Published: 2016

Tags: Historical Fiction, Setting - Post WWI / The Great War, Time Period - 1910s, POV First Person, Death, Grief, Trauma, Family, Depression, Postpartum Depression, Mental Health, Women’s Health, Medical Neglect, Medical Experimentation, Suicide, Period-Typical Sexism, Ableism, Drugs, Loss of Autonomy 

Characters: Henrietta “Henry” Abbott

Summary: 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...

I read this story in audiobook format and Lucy Strange is a wonderful writer as well as a wonderful narrator. 

The book itself is written beautifully with clear inspiration from early children’s classics such as The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett and other similar stories. The writing has a certain magical quality to it that weaves a rich and engaging narrative. You don’t find many Children’s books written in this style anymore which really does make it feel like you’re reading something contemporary to the time period in which the story is set instead of a novel published is 2016. 

The topics covered in this book are very similar to the short story, The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Henry’s mother experiences a major depressive episode after the death of her eldest son and the birth of her youngest daughter, and her treatment, while historically accurate, is infuriating to read about. The Secret of Nightingale Wood explores the effects of poor medical treatment and dismissal of mental health and women’s health through the lense of a young daughter trying to protect her mother from the very flagrant abuse of their doctor. There are some fairly dark topics handled throughout the book but more than anything this is a story about grief and how we move forward from tragedy and loss. 

Both the book and the audiobook version get a 8/10 from me. 

If you liked this book, you should check out: 
    - Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson 
    - The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett 
    - The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall
    - Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery