ETA: 2026-08-18

‘Tender and humane. I loved this book’ Mark Haddon

‘A beautiful, honest book about friendship and family’ Lizzy Stewart

Based on a true story, the singular tale of a seventeen-year-old girl and the dying stranger who moves into her family’s home

It’s spring 1985 when Emil Wilson’s father, Donald, quietly invites his colleague Jim to move in with his family. What Don doesn’t tell his wife Annemarie or his teenage daughter Lou is that Jim has AIDS.

For small-town Oregon in the eighties, a place where Lou’s treasured New York Times arrives three days late, AIDS is still a news story that happens in faraway places to faraway people. Jim is worldly, witty and quickly deteriorating. His presence in the house turns the family upside down.

As Annemarie’s fear and resentment grow, adding further strain to the family’s shaky foundations, Lou forms an unlikely friendship with Jim (and his two showbiz Pomeranians, Henny and Penny) – a friendship that pushes Lou to grow up, get out and imagine a life beyond the limits of her town.

Tender, funny and gorgeously illustrated in full colour, The Nightingales is an unforgettable portrait of an imperfect family, and a coming of age shaped by love and loss.

‘Filled with heart and warmth and colour… stays with you long after you’ve turned the last page’ Sen Hewitt

‘A coming-of-age story for the ages… This book is a triumph’ Gregory Maguire.

Pages: 416