Review: The Nightingales of Boston

The Nightingales of Boston by Gemma Tizzard
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Although there were a few errors in the language of the era (using Ms. instead of Miss or Mrs.), this was a gripping read. Upon doing a little research myself, I found that this author did a bang-up job with her accuracy. Be sure to read the author's notes at the end.

I had heard about the nightmare that was the fire at Cocoanut Grove nightclub, but I really had no idea of the devastation it wrought. The first quarter of this book will grip you and horrify you. 492 lives lost in one of the worst ways possible - fire, smoke, locked emergency exits and toxin inhalation, crushed bodies, etc. But I digress.

This is not only a story about that horror, but it is also the story of three women who meet during this tragedy and, due to circumstances, become friends, learn to grow, and reach goals they never thought they would reach.

While this story starts as a tragedy, it does have a happy and satisfying ending.

*ARC supplied by the publisher Gallerybooks/Simon & Schuster, the author, and NetGalley.


View all my reviews

Summary: "The lives of three heroic women collide in the wake of Boston’s 1942 Cocoanut Grove nightclub fire in this inspiring and uplifting novel from the author of Grace of the Empire State.

1942: Alice, an aspiring wife and mother, is hiding a happy secret and decides an evening at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub with her boyfriend George is the perfect way to celebrate. Inez, a young reporter, knows the Cocoanut Grove is as popular with the rich and famous as it is with young revelers, and she’s eager for a hot tip. Nina, the ambitious head nurse at a nearby hospital, is halfway through her shift and hopes it will be a quiet night.

But when a single spark at the club quickly explodes into a blazing inferno, all three of their lives change in an instant. A novel of survival, healing, and hope for fans of The Nature of Fragile Things and The House Is on Fire, The Nightingales of Boston is a novel that explores persistence, courage, and female friendship in the face of the unthinkable.