The Secret of the Nightingale Palace: A Novel

by Dana Sachs

Overview

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 Anna’s 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062201034
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	02/19/2013
Edition description:	Original
Pages:	346
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 7.86(h) x 0.86(d)

About the Author

Dana Sachs is the author of the novel If You Lived Here and two books of nonfiction, The House on Dream Street: Memoir of an American Woman in Vietnam and The Life We Were Given: Operation Babylift, International Adoption, and the Children of War in Vietnam. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, she lives in Wilmington, North Carolina, with her husband and two sons.

What People are Saying About This

Tom Bissell

“...An uncannily moving novel of the Vietnamese experience in America. Dana Sachs is a one-woman power grid, her book electric company.”

Celia Rivenbark

“Dana Sachs’s beautifully written novel, The Secret of the Nightingale Palace, is so pitch perfect that you’ll be sad when it’s over. A gifted storyteller, Sachs has created a multi-generational page-turner that will keep you reading late into the night. Brilliant!”

Editorial Reviews

This is Dana Sachs’s 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.” — George Bishop, author of Letter to My Daughter

“Dana Sachs’s beautifully written novel, The Secret of the Nightingale Palace, is so pitch perfect that you’ll be sad when it’s over. A gifted storyteller, Sachs has created a multi-generational page-turner that will keep you reading late into the night. Brilliant!” — Celia Rivenbark, author of You Don't Sweat Much for a Fat Girl

“Sachs’ latest is so beautiful in every aspect that readers will have difficulty pinpointing the best parts. Rich in San Francisco history with brilliant characters you’ll warm up to, the two different storylines will enrapture you as well....Elegant and tasteful, this novel is not to be missed.” — RT Book Reviews (top pick)

“As with most well-crafted literary journeys, it’s not really about the destination, but this one does feature a sweetly surprising, cinematically styled twist at the end of the road. An ideal recommendation for the book-club set.” — Booklist

“[A] satisfying story...Goldie’s lesson to her granddaughter becomes obvious: we must move past our losses to “make out own parties.” I won’t give away the twist at the end but will say every time I think of teh way Goldie made her own party, I smile.” — Historical Novels Review

“[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.” — Kim Fay, author of The Map of Lost Memories

“Old-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 ‘62 Silver Cloud in which they zoom across the country.” — Michael Lowenthal, author of The Paternity Test and Charity Girl

“Sachs takes us from fury to laughter and loss to healing as the true value of a Japanese treasure is finally revealed.” — Pamela Schoenewaldt, author of WHEN WE WERE STRANGERS

From the Publisher

Old-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 ‘62 Silver Cloud in which they zoom across the country.

Michael Lowenthal

[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.

Kim Fay

Sachs’ latest is so beautiful in every aspect that readers will have difficulty pinpointing the best parts. Rich in San Francisco history with brilliant characters you’ll warm up to, the two different storylines will enrapture you as well....Elegant and tasteful, this novel is not to be missed.

RT Book Reviews (top pick)

Dana Sachs’s beautifully written novel, The Secret of the Nightingale Palace, is so pitch perfect that you’ll be sad when it’s over. A gifted storyteller, Sachs has created a multi-generational page-turner that will keep you reading late into the night. Brilliant!

Celia Rivenbark

[A] satisfying story...Goldie’s lesson to her granddaughter becomes obvious: we must move past our losses to “make out own parties.” I won’t give away the twist at the end but will say every time I think of teh way Goldie made her own party, I smile.

Historical Novels Review

This is Dana Sachs’s 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.

George Bishop

As with most well-crafted literary journeys, it’s not really about the destination, but this one does feature a sweetly surprising, cinematically styled twist at the end of the road. An ideal recommendation for the book-club set.

Booklist

Sachs takes us from fury to laughter and loss to healing as the true value of a Japanese treasure is finally revealed.

Pamela Schoenewaldt

As with most well-crafted literary journeys, it’s not really about the destination, but this one does feature a sweetly surprising, cinematically styled twist at the end of the road. An ideal recommendation for the book-club set.

Booklist

"Sachs’ latest is so beautiful in every aspect that readers will have difficulty pinpointing the best parts. Rich in San Francisco history with brilliant characters you’ll warm up to, the two different storylines will enrapture you as well....Elegant and tasteful, this novel is not to be missed."

(top pick) - RT Book Reviews

"...An uncannily moving novel of the Vietnamese experience in America. Dana Sachs is a one-woman power grid, her book electric company."

Tom Bissell

"Precise and vivid.

Columbus Dispatch

"Poignant...A well-told story, with appealing characters, delightful moments and a satisfyingly real ending."

Charlotte Observer

"Love, in its various incarnations, is the central theme of Sachs’ tale—big love that’s revealed in small signs and little gestures."

Morning Star Wilmington (NC)

" IF YOU LIVED HERE is filled with dramatic moments. Author Dana Sachs deserves to be listened to."

Things Asian

Says more about Vietnamese culture than any book published to date, just as it proves that the language of the heart can leap social and political bounds.

Lexington Herald-Leader on THE HOUSE ON DREAM STREET

Sachs traces through each of her visits to Vietnam…with humor, poignancy and well-written grace.

The Colorado Review on THE HOUSE ON DREAM STREET

Passionate, perceptive.

Utne Reader on THE HOUSE ON DREAM STREET

Lovingly crafted…The writing has the endearing, straightforward and meticulous quality of diary entries. Her prose is clean, allowing for some quietly elegant passages.

San Jose Mercury News on THE HOUSE ON DREAM STREET

Parts of this book are genuinely beautiful…Sachs is particularly skilled at evoking the smells, sounds and rhythms of Hanoi.

Orlando Sentinel on THE HOUSE ON DREAM STREET

Part memoir, part travelogue, the account…reads like a novel.

Washington Post on THE HOUSE ON DREAM STREET

Charming moments and telling insights.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch on THE HOUSE ON DREAM STREET

Candid and large-hearted.

Elle on THE HOUSE ON DREAM STREET

Sachs traces through each of her visits to Vietnam…with humor, poignancy and well-written grace.

The Colorado Review

Passionate, perceptive.

Utne Reader

Says more about Vietnamese culture than any book published to date, just as it proves that the language of the heart can leap social and political bounds.

Lexington Herald-Leader

Charming moments and telling insights.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Candid and large-hearted.

Elle

Lovingly crafted…The writing has the endearing, straightforward and meticulous quality of diary entries. Her prose is clean, allowing for some quietly elegant passages.

San Jose Mercury News

Part memoir, part travelogue, the account…reads like a novel.

Washington Post

Parts of this book are genuinely beautiful…Sachs is particularly skilled at evoking the smells, sounds and rhythms of Hanoi.

Orlando Sentinel

Sachs (If You Lived Here, 2007, etc.) takes a conventional literary device--a road trip--and uses compassion, humor and good writing to transform the journey into a memorable story. Thirty-five-year-old artist Anna Rosenthal is surprised when she receives a call from her estranged grandmother. They haven't spoken to each other for five years, ever since Goldie criticized Anna's determination to marry someone she felt was not right for her granddaughter. Now, Goldie wants Anna to chauffeur her from her home in New York City to San Francisco in her vintage Rolls Royce. She claims she wants to return some artwork entrusted to her when her closest friends, of Japanese descent, were placed in an internment camp during World War II. The prints are breathtakingly beautiful and are links to Goldie's mysterious past, revealed in flashbacks to the reader as the two travel across the continent. Since theirs is a journey of reconciliation, Anna and Goldie sling verbal spears at each other throughout the trip; but they also have tender moments when Anna believes past wounds are finally healing--until the next contentious round occurs. Anna, a widow for two years, suffers from survivor's guilt and fears relationships that might once again result in pain and loss, so she evades a suitor's attempts to contact her. She also resents being told by others that she's just like her grandmother since she thinks Goldie's unsympathetic and rigid. But Goldie, a feisty octogenarian, is a paradox: although she's been used to the finer things in life for years, she's perfectly happy sleeping in Hampton Inns and dining at chain restaurants as she traverses America. And though she refuses to indulge Anna in her grief, she's unstintingly supportive of and kind to strangers, no matter their station in life. Never forget, she reminds Anna, that every person has value. A solid story.

Kirkus Reviews