The Secret of Nightingale Wood

As I walked through the garden, my shadow stretched ahead of me, towards the mysterious forest. It sat there darkly, like a thundercloud that had fallen from the sky.

It is the summer of 1919 when Henrietta Abott (Henry for short) and her family – Mama, Father, Nanny Jane and her baby sister who everyone calls Piglet – move to Hope House. Tragic events have left the family fragile, hoping the new house will bring with it the fresh start they all so desperately need.

But Mama is ill and when Henry’s father takes a job abroad the family is left under the care of Doctor Hardy, a man Henry doesn’t trust. As Doctor Hardy exerts more control over the family Henry finds herself drawn-in by the house - its secret stairways, hidden doors, unexplained sounds and shadows in the candle’s guttering flame.

Then there is the mysterious firelight that glows in the distant trees beyond the garden, in the close-knit darkness of Nightingale Wood. What Henry finds there will change her whole world forever.

This thrilling debut is a chills-down-your-spine ghost story with a richly involving secret at its heart. With overtones of classic children’s mysteries like Moonfleet and Tom’s Midnight Garden this is a book to savor as the night draws in.

‘Henry’s Bravery in the face of terrible risks kept me racing to the very last page of this beautiful and mesmerizing novel’ – Barry Cunningham (Publisher)

See Inside for a printable The Secret of Nightingale Wood colouring sheet.