Nightingale Wood is a fairytale says the cover, and yes it is.
The story of Cinderella, set in the 1930s, still recognisable but twisted into something new and something just a little bit subversive.
Viola is a penniless young widow. She is pretty and charming, but sadly her circumstances force her to move to the country to live with her in-laws.
The Withers family is terribly middle class and stifling respectable, and though Mr and Mrs Wither do not consider Viola, a former shopgirl, to be quite of their class they know their duty. Mr Withers is most concerned about Viola’s finances and his wife about her family’s perception and position in local society.
Their unmarried, middle-aged daughters are a little less concerned. Madge wants little more than a dog and to be part of the country set, while Tina is quite besotted by Saxon, the family chauffeur.
The family and its interactions are presented with gentle wit and humour, but the sadness is just below the surface. Sadness at a lack of understanding and at a class system that keeps them all in their places and allows so much potential in the women of the household to be wasted.
A few miles away live the Spring family. Mrs Spring is proud of he successful son Victor, ambitious for him, and delighted that he is virtually engaged to an eminently suitable young woman. Her bookish young niece, Hetty is less impressed.
Viola’s arrival, and her certainty that Victor must be her Prince Charming after she dances with him at a ball, is the spark that changes everything. Lives change, conventions are broken and opportunities are seized.
Stella Gibbons tells a lovely, complex tale with all of the wit and humour you could want, and she balnces that perfectly with real understanding, real emotions, and just a light sprinkling of fairy dust.
This is the third of her novels that I have read, and I really have grown to love the way her authorial voice is always present but never obtrusive, and the wonderful trick she has of seeming to be heading down a traditional, well trodden path, only to head off somewhere different and rather more interesting at the last minute. That really is clever.
This time around her pace seemed a little slow, but it is was worth lingering because there are so many lovely details, dialogues and observations, and some telling points are made about the class system, the lack of opportunity for women and the difference that money makes
But what held everything together was wonderful characterisation, and I continued to be engaged no matter which of the diverse cast was taking centre stage. Such a wonderful variety of people, relationships, and things going on!
I willed Tina on as she took tentative steps to deft convention and make her relationship with Saxon official. I laughed as Madge entertained the huntin’, shootin’, and fishin’ brigade. I worried about Hetty’s future. And I wondered if Victor really was Prince Charming, if he was good enough for Viola.
The ending was in doubt until the very last minute, but when it arrived it was perfect and there was a little sting in the tail.
The perfect ending for a fine entertainment and a lovely piece of social comedy.
Fleur in her World 
This one sounds very interesting and as usual I love the way you wrote this review!
You’d love it Staci!
I have read some lukewarm reviews of this that put me off but yours has encouraged me to give it a try! It sounds wonderful and just the thing for a light but sparkling read!
It takes a little bit of getting into, but it’s worst sticking with. I had doubts about Stella Gibbons when I read my second book after Cold Comfort Farm, but with a third book her writing and what she does well has really clicked.
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This sounds lovely, I’ll have to get to it sometime! I’ve read a few pages of it, but found it a little slow to get started, I’ll have to keep going with it.
It’s a leisurely read, but as the book goes along you can pick up on more and more lovely little details and telling exchanges. Just wait for the right moment!
I’ve only read Cold Comfort Farm and must admit I wasn’t as taken with it as I thought I would be, but your review has made me think I should perhaps give Stella Gibbons another go. I was a few years younger when I read Cold Comfort Farm, and I think sometimes novels full of character and observation need a more mature outlook to be fully appreciated! Thanks for an interesting and wonderfully written review!
I’ve been meaning to read ‘Cold Comfort’ and this one for a while now but I was also unsure as to whether I would like ‘Nightingale’. Your wonderful review has persuaded me to read it soon! Thank you.
I think you’ll like it Christina, but be prepared for something very different from Cold Comfort Farm.
This was one of those reads that I enjoyed whilst I was reading it but didn’t miss all that much when I wasn’t. The period details were fabulous though!
I really enjoyed this book. It didn’t have the biting satire of Cold Comfort Farm, but it was a fun read. I wish I could find more books by Stella Gibbons here in the U.S.
Your luck may be in Karen – Vinatage have a few books by Stella Gibbons in the pipeline. Not sure about US publication but they come out in the UK in August.
Sounds lovely. I’ll have to keep an eye out for it. Great review.
It’s definitely worth looking out for.
Sounds perfect for a cold January afternoon read on the sofa.
Yes – a slow gentle book that will draw you in.
SHOFER! I much preferred Tina to Viola, and the ending is very realistic but I would have liked happily ever afters anyway. I wish more of her books would be reprinted. Sigh.
I liked the ensemble, but yes, I found Tina a more compelling character than Viola. And more books are on the way from Vintage!
I read this at the beginning of last year – my first Gibbons. I really enjoyed it, especially one scene (if I remember rightly) which juxtposed the nightly ritual of apply hand cream (of varying prices) of the various female characters of the book.
Yes, that rings a bell. A book full of lovely details.