The Secret of the Nightingale Palace by Dana Sachs is the poignant story of an estranged grandmother and granddaughter and a secret that ties them together.
After her husband dies from leukemia, Anna agrees to help hard-to-please Goldie to bring a collection of valuable Japanese art from New York to California. Harboring a decades-old secret that could change Annaβs life forever, Goldie must learn to let go of her past so her granddaughter can move on and discover happiness and love.
With a narrative that alternates between early 1940s San Francisco and the present day, The Secret of the Nightingale Palace is a beautiful story about the enduring power of love and family.
Review
βThis is Dana Sachsβs best yet. THE SECRET OF THE NIGHTINGALE PALACE is a charming story, beautifully told. Her prose puts one in mind of the Japanese prints she writes about: colorful, spare, and evocative.β (George Bishop, author of Letter to My Daughter )
βDana Sachsβs beautifully written novel, The Secret of the Nightingale Palace, is so pitch perfect that youβll be sad when itβs over. A gifted storyteller, Sachs has created a multi-generational page-turner that will keep you reading late into the night. Brilliant!β (Celia Rivenbark, author of You Don't Sweat Much for a Fat Girl )
βSachsβ latest is so beautiful in every aspect that readers will have difficulty pinpointing the best parts. Rich in San Francisco history with brilliant characters youβll warm up to, the two different storylines will enrapture you as well....Elegant and tasteful, this novel is not to be missed.β (RT Book Reviews (top pick) )
βAs with most well-crafted literary journeys, itβs not really about the destination, but this onedoes feature a sweetly surprising, cinematically styled twist at the end of the road. An idealrecommendation for the book-club set.β (Booklist )
β[A] satisfying story...Goldieβs lesson to her granddaughter becomes obvious: we must move past our losses to βmake out own parties.β I wonβt give away the twist at the end but will say every time I think of teh way Goldie made her own party, I smile.β (Historical Novels Review )
β[A] graceful exploration of the human heart. With her signature elegance, she examines the burden of family secrets and how the complexities of culture can both divide and unite at the same time... this hypnotic, satisfying novel will linger in your thoughts long after you finish the last page.β (Kim Fay, author of The Map of Lost Memories )
βOld-fashioned in the best of ways, this story of a grandmother and granddaughter-revisiting the past in order to chart the future-has all the romantic elegance of the β62 Silver Cloud in which they zoom across the country.β (Michael Lowenthal, author of The Paternity Test and Charity Girl )
βSachs takes us from fury to laughter and loss to healing as the true value of a Japanese treasure is finally revealed.β (Pamela Schoenewaldt, author of WHEN WE WERE STRANGERS )
From the Back Cover
Struggling to move on after her husband's death, thirty-five-year-old Anna receives an unexpected phone call from her estranged grandmother, Goldie, summoning her to New York. A demanding woman with a sharp tongue and a devotion to fashion and etiquette, Goldie has not softened in the five years since she and her granddaughter last spoke. Now she wants Anna to drive her to San Francisco to return a collection of exquisite Japanese art to a long-lost friend.
Hours of sitting behind the wheel of Goldie's Rolls-Royce soften Anna's attitude toward her grandmother, and as the miles pass, old hurts begin to heal. Yet no matter how close they become, Goldie harbors painful secrets about her youthful days in 1940s San Francisco that she cannot share. But if she truly wants to help her granddaughter find happiness again, she must eventually confront the truths of her life.
Moving back and forth across time and told in the voices of both Anna and Goldie, The Secret of the Nightingale Palace is a searing portrait of family, betrayal, sacrifice, and forgivenessβand a testament to the enduring power of love.