A beautifully tangled story of friendship, fairy tales, and family secrets. For those who loved Pax and The War That Saved My Life. A Kirkus Best Middle Grade Book of 2017An Amazon Best Book of 2017A 2018 Bank Street College Best Book of the Year A Telegraph Top 50 Book of the YearEveryone is too busy to pay attention to Henrietta and the things she sees -- or thinks she sees -- in the shadows of their new home, Hope House. Mama is ill. Father has taken a job abroad. Nanny Jane is busy taking care of her younger sister.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... *"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." -- Kirkus, starred review*"A brave heroine propels this strong and richly layered novel, a memorable portrait of grief, resilience, and rebirth." -- Publisher's Weekly, starred review A Telegraph Top 50 Book of the YearA Waterstones Book of the Month Pick"From the first page, I was entirely smitten and compelled to read on until I finished this mysterious and poignant story." -- Pam Munoz Ryan, author of Newbery Honor Book Echo and Esperanza Rising"Superbly balanced between readability and poetry... this is an assured debut." -- The Guardian (UK)"Rich with nods to classics...this outstanding debut explores family, grief and mental illness with great skill." -- The Bookseller (UK)"A gripping novel in Secret Garden mode... Bliss for passionate readers aged nine and older." -- The New Statesman (UK)"Strange's writing is luminous, and she has created a story about friendship, love and family that is wonderfully involving." -- Literary Review (UK)"Friendships, family, love and loss all come together in this beautiful debut." -- The Sunday Express (UK)"Tender, funny, devastating and just about word perfect, I loved every page of this extraordinary book." -- Natasha Farrant, author of The Secret Diary of Lydia Bennet"A beautifully told story about loss, grief and the restorative power of the imagination." -- M.G. Leonard, author of Beetle Boy Lucy Strange worked as an actor, singer, and storyteller before becoming a secondary school English teacher. She lives in Kent, England. The Secret of Nightingale Wood is her first novel. From The Secret of Nightingale Wood:Doctor Hardy stayed until about ten o'clock. He did not speak to me before he left, and Nanny Jane, who had brought me a cup of cocoa when she came to say good night, had not told me anything either. It was midnight now, and I was still not asleep.Why would no one tell me anything? Father had left us. Mama was so sick I hardly ever saw her. I wanted to help. I wanted to do something, but it was the middle of the night and I was all by myself and I was twelve years old. What could I possibly do?I stared out the window at the moonlit garden and the dark woodland beyond. There it was again--that mysterious wisp of smoke drifting up from the trees--that flicker of faery flame that I had seen on our first night at Hope House. There was someone out there in the darkness. Someone or something. I felt that familiar tugging sensation--a voice calling to me from among the trees . . .Doctor Hardy's instruction echoed in my mind: No big adventures for you, young lady . . .I smiled a small, angry smile.I would go.At the very bottom of the garden, where the wilderness began, I stopped and stared into the blackness. Then I took one long, deep breath and walked into the dark jaws of the forest. *"In an imaginative, compelling first-person...