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A review by emily_1215
The Secret of Nightingale Wood by Lucy Strange
5.0
Second read: November 2021
"She is tossed by the waves, but she does not sink."
Yeah, listening to this book a second time has locked it in as my favorite book of the year, and I would love to get a tattoo inspired by this book at some point.
First read: April 2021
"The Yellow Wallpaper," but make it for kids!
I read Our Castle by the Sea a couple years ago, and I wasn't super impressed, but I've been hoping to read Lucy Strange's newest novel, which is categorized as gothic. I checked out this audiobook, and it's perfection. First of all, Strange narrates this herself, and her voice is delightful to listen to and so perfect for this kind of story. I very highly recommend the audiobook.
I'm writing a research paper about everyone's favorite decor-centered horror story ("The Yellow Wallpaper" obviously), so it lives rent-free in my brain right now, and the connections to it were immediately obvious to me in The Secret of Nightingale Wood. This book would be a great starting point for talking to kids about the treatment of women, mental illness, and disfigurement in the twentieth century and how all of those things are used to take power away from people. I can see myself giving this as a gift to eleven to fourteen-year-olds. It's pretty emotionally intense, so I would consider this an upper-middle grade into lower YA novel, but adults will definitely enjoy it too, especially if they like "The Yellow Wallpaper" and feminist literature.
Henry is precious, imaginative, and unafraid to challenge authority. She loves her family so much, and she will do anything to protect them. (To absolutely no one's surprise, I fell in love with another hard-hitting middle grade about siblings and grief.) Her independence and loneliness reminds me a lot of Lenora from The Woods, which is another one of my favorite middle grades, and these books have similar spooky, ominous vibes. I liked the little bit of mystery in this one, too.
I was really concerned about the descriptions of disability and disfigurement as a result of war at the beginning of the novel, but it resolved in a perfect way. I loved the beginning of this book, but the last two hours (about 30%) made this a new favorite middle grade. The ending is so perfect in the way it resolves things but doesn't "fix" anything or anyone. The inclusion of fairy tales, John Keats, and other books is always something I love, especially in kid's books, as a kid who understood the world through books.
I think this is my favorite book of 2021 so far, and I am very excited to read Strange's other novels which seem ghosty and gothic.
"She is tossed by the waves, but she does not sink."
Yeah, listening to this book a second time has locked it in as my favorite book of the year, and I would love to get a tattoo inspired by this book at some point.
First read: April 2021
"The Yellow Wallpaper," but make it for kids!
I read Our Castle by the Sea a couple years ago, and I wasn't super impressed, but I've been hoping to read Lucy Strange's newest novel, which is categorized as gothic. I checked out this audiobook, and it's perfection. First of all, Strange narrates this herself, and her voice is delightful to listen to and so perfect for this kind of story. I very highly recommend the audiobook.
I'm writing a research paper about everyone's favorite decor-centered horror story ("The Yellow Wallpaper" obviously), so it lives rent-free in my brain right now, and the connections to it were immediately obvious to me in The Secret of Nightingale Wood. This book would be a great starting point for talking to kids about the treatment of women, mental illness, and disfigurement in the twentieth century and how all of those things are used to take power away from people. I can see myself giving this as a gift to eleven to fourteen-year-olds. It's pretty emotionally intense, so I would consider this an upper-middle grade into lower YA novel, but adults will definitely enjoy it too, especially if they like "The Yellow Wallpaper" and feminist literature.
Henry is precious, imaginative, and unafraid to challenge authority. She loves her family so much, and she will do anything to protect them. (To absolutely no one's surprise, I fell in love with another hard-hitting middle grade about siblings and grief.) Her independence and loneliness reminds me a lot of Lenora from The Woods, which is another one of my favorite middle grades, and these books have similar spooky, ominous vibes. I liked the little bit of mystery in this one, too.
I was really concerned about the descriptions of disability and disfigurement as a result of war at the beginning of the novel, but it resolved in a perfect way. I loved the beginning of this book, but the last two hours (about 30%) made this a new favorite middle grade. The ending is so perfect in the way it resolves things but doesn't "fix" anything or anyone. The inclusion of fairy tales, John Keats, and other books is always something I love, especially in kid's books, as a kid who understood the world through books.
I think this is my favorite book of 2021 so far, and I am very excited to read Strange's other novels which seem ghosty and gothic.