Saturday, May 11, 2013

The Secret of the Nightingale Palace

Title:  The Secret of the Nightingale Palace
Author:  Dana Sachs
Publication Information:  HarperCollins. 2013. 348 pages.

Book Source:  I received this book through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program free of cost in exchange for an honest review. The book came as a paperback copy.

Favorite Quote:  "Grief is a kind of prison, too"

The Secret of the Nightingale Palace is the story of Goldie and her granddaughter Anna. Goldie and Anna were close during Anna's childhood, and yet, they have been estranged for five years since Anna entered into a marriage Goldie did not approve of. Now, Anna is a widow, and Goldie has asked for her help in a cross country journey to return artwork to an old friend.

Through this journey, the reader learns of Goldie's past and of Anna's past. The reader discovers many secrets not shared and a story that intermingles with the story of the Japanese in the United States during World War II.

The story had a lot of potential. Unfortunately, it started to encompass way too many elements and became a bit like reading a soap opera. Estranged family. Terminal illness. Death. Forbidden love. Marriage of convenience. Affairs. War. Family obligations. Betrayals both real and perceived.

It becomes a story with too many emotional elements such that for me, it lost its reality.

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