Nightingale's Song (Beautiful Dead) [Paperback]

Kate Pennington (Author)

Book Description

Series: Beautiful Dead | Publication Date: September 1, 2007

The setting is Whitby in the mid 1700s. Maggie Nightingale spends her evenings singing in her father's tavern, the Anchor Inn. The inn is a haunt for local ruffians, thieves, and smugglers, and Maggie overhears many a dark plan hatched over ale at night. She never imagined that such plans could threaten her very existence, and see her wrongly accused of murder. Togther with notorious smuggling villain, Thomas Hague, Maggie's only escape from public hanging comes in the form of a ship bound for America, The New World. But will the shadow of death follow Maggie Nightingale across the ocean, and haunt her for the rest of her life?

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Kate Pennington is a pseudonym of a best-selling author, whose books have sold in the millions. She is also the author of Tread Softly, Brief Candle, and Charley Feather.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Paperback: 242 pages
• Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton (September 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0340878754
• ISBN-13: 978-0340878750
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 6.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,493,427 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Adventure in a new world, November 12, 2007

By 

guitarchick24 (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: Nightingale's Song (Beautiful Dead) (Paperback)

Thirteen-year-old Maggie Nightingale is known in York for her beautiful voice, which she uses nightly at her father's inn. The inn is a favorite haunt for smuggles, thieves, and other rogues, and Maggie and her father are often privy to many secrets and plots. Maggie's life changes one night when infamous smuggler Tom Hague takes her as a safeguard on a smuggling operation that goes awry. When Maggie's father dies as a result, Maggie is left an orphan with no one to champion her - so when she is captured along with Hague, she faces hanging although she is innocent. She and Hague escape to America to start a new life, but the shadows of the past keep looming over their heads.

I found this book in the YA section and thought the premise sounded interesting. After reading the book, though, I think it should have been more appropriately shelved in the children's section. It makes for a fun adventure story, but older and more critical readers will find it sadly lacking.

If you're looking for a historical novel, this is not it. While it is set in England and America during the time of exploration and settlement (1600s/1700s), the author doesn't really describe the historical setting. The focus is entirely on Maggie - and since Maggie is a character that leaves something to be desired, it makes it a hard sell.

The problem is, Maggie is not admirable. She's not anything, she's just sort of there. Perhaps it's her youth, but she just lets herself get caught up in the events that unfold around her and doesn't try to fight back in any way. For a good portion of the book, she keeps saying, "My fate is caught up with Hague's. Whatever happens to him happens to me." So while he hatches scheme after scheme (to escape jail, to get to the New World), she just goes along with it. Hague doesn't have some big secret to blackmail Maggie into staying with him, or hold some sentimental item of hers. All he has is the fact that he kidnapped her and that everyone thinks they're both guilty.

I would have liked to see Maggie fight back a little - perhaps, when she makes friends on ship, to entrust them with her secret. Or maybe to try to dupe Hague in some way. But she spends the majority of the novel in fear, and the latter half on the run (and in fear), and it's hard to respect her, since she doesn't seem to have the spirit of adventure needed in, well, an adventure novel.

It's a good book for a younger reader (ages 7-10, maybe) who wants a light historical adventure. But if you're older or a critical reader, skip this one.