Horn Book
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

In 1919, twelve-year-old Hen's family moves to an English country house to recover from the recent death of Hen's brother. Then Hen meets a thin, ragged woman living in nearby Nightingale Wood. Might she be someone who understands Mama's incapacitating grief? Suspense and uncertainty build inexorably in this satisfying story; Hen's avid reading of fairy tales, Keats, and Victorian children's books enhances the narrative's rich literary texture. (c) Copyright 2018. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Moving from London to the countryside, Henrietta, a 12-year-old white English girl, encounters mysterious secrets threatening to destroy her family.In the summer of 1919, Henry and her family arrive at Hope House, with its gardens and "wilderness of woodland," seeking a "fresh start." Unwell since her son's recent death, Henry's mother immediately collapses; local Dr. Hardy sedates and confines her in a locked room. Simultaneously, Henry's father exits abroad for his job, leaving Henry and her baby sister with their nanny. Alone, Henry spends days rereading familiar books and fairy tales and nights reliving the terrifying fire that killed the brother who haunts her. Magnetically drawn to Nightingale Wood, Henry discovers a woman called Moth living in a caravan harboring her own secrets like a "forgotten, fairy-tale princess." When Dr. Hardy commits her mother to an asylum, removes her sister, and suggests she suffers the same mental illness as her mother, a resolute Henry attempts a daring rescue, aided by Moth. 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. An evocative, beautifully written, mesmerizing debut tale with lush fairy-tale themes and a poignant exploration of mental illnessenthralling. (Historical fiction. 9-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.