The Secret of the Nightingale Palace: A Novel

From the Inside Flap 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 forgiveness--and a testament to the enduring power of love. --Pamela Schoenewaldt, author of WHEN WE WERE STRANGERS --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. From Booklist This cross-generational road trip spans both the continent and the years as an estranged grandmother and granddaughter reconnect while driving from New York to San Francisco on a mysterious mission to return a collection of Japanese art to its rightful owner. While Anna, a 35-year-old widow unable and unwilling to move forward with her life, and Goldie, a waspishly stylish octogenarian, drive across the country, Goldie shares some well-hidden secrets from her life in San Francisco in the 1940s, including her passionately tangled relationship with a Japanese family. After undertaking this enlightening trip down memory lane with her grandmother, Anna is finally able to acknowledge and come to grips with her own emotional paralysis. 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. --Margaret Flanagan --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. 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. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. 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 forgiveness—and a testament to the enduring power of love. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. “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 onedoes feature a sweetly surprising, cinematically styled twist at the end of the road. An idealrecommendation 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) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Read more