Nightingale Point
Published on 25. July 2019
Book
Hardback
384 pages
978-0-00-831445-3 (ISBN)
Description
LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2020
LONGLISTED FOR THE RSL ONDAATJE PRIZE 2020
A BBC RADIO 2 BOOK CLUB PICK
THE DEBUT NOVEL FROM THE COSTA SHORT STORY AWARD WINNER
'A sharp, funny, wonderful writer' Diana Evans, bestselling author of Ordinary People
'Compelling...finely crafted, compassionate' Guardian
'A warm, confident writer with the lightest of touches' Observer
'Pacey and powerful' Mail on Sunday
'The type of story that will stay with you long after you've read the last page' Closer
'Brilliant...touches on race, mental health and community in a fresh way' Good Housekeeping
'Flawlessly portrayed...A riveting read' Candis
* * * * *
On an ordinary Saturday morning in 1996, the residents of Nightingale Point wake up to their normal lives and worries.
Mary has a secret life that no one knows about, not even Malachi and Tristan, the brothers she vowed to look after.
Malachi had to grow up too quickly. Between looking after Tristan and nursing a broken heart, he feels older than his twenty-one years.
Tristan wishes Malachi would stop pining for Pamela. No wonder he's falling in with the wrong crowd, without Malachi to keep him straight.
Elvis is trying hard to remember to the instructions his care worker gave him, but sometimes he gets confused and forgets things.
Pamela wants to run back to Malachi but her overprotective father has locked her in and there's no way out.
It's a day like any other, until something extraordinary happens. When the sun sets, Nightingale Point is irrevocably changed and somehow, through the darkness, the residents must find a way back to lightness, and back to each other.
* * * * *
Readers love Nightingale Point:
'A beautiful and heartbreaking story about working-class people and their lives both before and after tragedy'
'I couldn't put it down...a beautiful story of staying strong when it matters most'
'A triumphant debut...This book pops, fizzes and sparkles to life'
'A must read masterpiece'
LONGLISTED FOR THE RSL ONDAATJE PRIZE 2020
A BBC RADIO 2 BOOK CLUB PICK
THE DEBUT NOVEL FROM THE COSTA SHORT STORY AWARD WINNER
'A sharp, funny, wonderful writer' Diana Evans, bestselling author of Ordinary People
'Compelling...finely crafted, compassionate' Guardian
'A warm, confident writer with the lightest of touches' Observer
'Pacey and powerful' Mail on Sunday
'The type of story that will stay with you long after you've read the last page' Closer
'Brilliant...touches on race, mental health and community in a fresh way' Good Housekeeping
'Flawlessly portrayed...A riveting read' Candis
* * * * *
On an ordinary Saturday morning in 1996, the residents of Nightingale Point wake up to their normal lives and worries.
Mary has a secret life that no one knows about, not even Malachi and Tristan, the brothers she vowed to look after.
Malachi had to grow up too quickly. Between looking after Tristan and nursing a broken heart, he feels older than his twenty-one years.
Tristan wishes Malachi would stop pining for Pamela. No wonder he's falling in with the wrong crowd, without Malachi to keep him straight.
Elvis is trying hard to remember to the instructions his care worker gave him, but sometimes he gets confused and forgets things.
Pamela wants to run back to Malachi but her overprotective father has locked her in and there's no way out.
It's a day like any other, until something extraordinary happens. When the sun sets, Nightingale Point is irrevocably changed and somehow, through the darkness, the residents must find a way back to lightness, and back to each other.
* * * * *
Readers love Nightingale Point:
'A beautiful and heartbreaking story about working-class people and their lives both before and after tragedy'
'I couldn't put it down...a beautiful story of staying strong when it matters most'
'A triumphant debut...This book pops, fizzes and sparkles to life'
'A must read masterpiece'
Reviews / Votes
PRAISE FOR NIGHTINGALE POINT'A sharp, funny, wonderful writer'
Diana Evans, bestselling author of Ordinary People
'A compelling novel, one in which the humanity of the characters is movingly articulated...finely crafted, compassionate'
Guardian
'A story of love at its most tenacious...a warm, confident writer with the lightest of touches'
Observer
'Costa prize-winning author Goldie compassionately explores the ways her characters' lives are changed, and how they live with the aftermath'
The Daily Mail
'Luan Goldie is one to watch. Her writing is heartfelt and sublime'
Abir Mukherjee, author of A Necessary Evil and Smoke and Ashes
'Pacey and powerful'
Mail On Sunday
'The type of story that will stay with you long after you've read the last page'
Closer
'Brilliant...touches on race, mental health and community in a fresh way'
Good Housekeeping
'Flawlessly portrayed...A riveting read' Candis
'Brilliant and moving'
Metro
'A story of hope, a cheer to the strength and importance of community and resilience. Beautiful, assured and sincere' Platinum magazine
'Nightingale Point is a timely and powerfully told tale of a working-class community in crisis...Luan Goldie writes vividly about the inner lives of characters who inhabit a world so often overlooked. This is a stunning debut that heralds a new and exciting voice in fiction'
Mike Gayle
'So much warmth in the description of a working class community...it's not perfect or idealistic, but it's warm and recognisable'
Jendella Benson, contributing editor for Black Ballad
'Pacy, vivid and moving. I read it in two sittings and am still thinking about Tristan and Malachi, as if I knew them from school'
Katy Mahood, author of Entanglement
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
HarperCollins Publishers
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 159 mm
Thickness: 38 mm
Weight
600 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-00-831445-3 (9780008314453)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Luan Goldie is a primary school teacher, and formerly a business journalist. She has written several short stories and is the winner of the Costa Short Story Award 2017 for her short story 'Two Steak Bakes and Two Chelsea Buns'. She was also shortlisted for the London Short Story Prize in 2018 and the Grazia/Orange First Chapter competition in 2012, and was chosen to take part in the Almasi League, an Arts Council-funded mentorship programme for emerging writers of colour. In 2019 she was shortlisted for the h100 awards in the Publishing and Writing category. Nightingale Point is her debut novel and is longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2020.