“‘Well, hello,’ Goldie said. The words sounded friendly enough, but Anna saw the range of emotions flash across her grandmother’s face – joy followed by a recollection of the chill between them, followed by wariness. She assessed Anna, then opened the door wider.”

Anna, a comic book artist in Memphis, has been summoned by her grandmother, Goldie, to New York. She wants Anna to drive her (in her Rolls-Royce no less) to San Francisco to return some exquisite Japanese art to an old friend. Before this, Anna and Goldie hadn’t spoken for five years, mostly because she disapproved of Anna’s husband Ford who had died of leukemia a few years ago. And the problem is that Goldie kind of was right – Ford and Anna were too different, and they might not have worked out.

“No, it wasn’t only Ford’s death that continued to torment her; it was all the ugliness that they’d endured before he died as well. Even when was still healthy, their relationship had troubled them. Weekends, when should have been fun, had devolved into drawn-out disagreements over how best to allocate their precious time. Should they go out and listen to jazz (Ford’s inclination) or stay home and eat popcorn while watching DVDs (Anna’s)? Whatever they decided led to a clash between one person’s guilt and the other’s resentment. Even if your marriage didn’t receive a catastrophic diagnosis, was that a way to spend your life? And then, if it did, things got worse.”

Anna knows that she needs to move on. But she can’t. She still wears Ford’s wedding ring, but not her own. She’s concerned about the complications that come with romance – in her case, the fear of losing someone she loves again. So she’s stuck. And she needs a change, and that comes with the roadtrip.

“She needed a change. The thought of seeing Goldie again raised her anxiety in every way, but at the same time she suddenly felt an enormous sense of relief and possibility.”

Of course one of the first things that Goldie says to her is: “You didn’t get fat.” Ouch.

So anyway, this art of Goldie’s, which Anna and her sister Sadie used to call ‘The Nightingale Palace’, is a wood-bound book of pictures, presented to a man who had been on Admiral Perry’s expedition that forced open trade routes to Japan. The prints include Hiroshige landscapes, often with glimpses of Mt Fuji and Kunisada prints of domestic scenes of men and women. Anna remembers gazing at the pictures as a child, and this early exposure to the art might have inspired her love of storytelling and illustration.

The art is also linked to Goldie’s mysterious past, and more is revealed in flashbacks as the two women make their way across the country. Goldie moves to San Francisco from Memphis in 1940. She finds a job as a salesgirl at the Feld’s department store, quickly becoming an excellent seller:

“Goldie wasn’t a beauty in the way that film stars of the day were beautiful, with their fair complexions, angelic smiles, and easy grace. Goldie had olive skin, thick brown hair, and dark circles around her deep-set eyes that gave her the haunted look of a waif in a silent movie. Her body, though, was elegant and curvy, her eyes bright, her expression quick, her mouth full of sultry charm. The thing about Goldie that most impressed her customers at Feld’s, however, was the fact that she had an almost magical way with clothes. No matter what she put on, it looked like something out of Harper’s Bazaar. The simplest shirt or the slimmest, plainest skirt had the look of Paris couture as soon as she slid them onto her body. The wealthy San Francisco matrons who shopped in the store recognized that quality in Goldie and wanted it for themselves. During her first week, posted in millinery, she sold seventeen hats.”

She eventually becomes good friends with Mayumi Nakamura, who does window displays at Feld’s and whose father Hiroshi is creating the iconic Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park. She also meets Henry, Mayumi’s older brother, who imports artwork from around the world.

Essentially, The Secret of the Nightingale Palace is a story of tough love, of family relationships, a road trip tale. It took me a while to warm up to the characters, as it starts out on a bit of a melancholic note (young widow), and with some awkward head butting (stubborn grandmother, equally stubborn granddaughter). But the flashbacks of Goldie’s time in San Francisco, her friendship with Mayumi, her beginning to understand what it’s like to be Japanese in the US after Pearl Harbor, and most of all, her relationship with her granddaughter, all this grows on you, and the story just blossoms. All the way until that somewhat unexpected ending. Luckily it was the kind of ending that puts a smile on a reader’s face.

The Secret of the Nightingale Palace isn’t typically the kind of book that would attract me, but I’m glad I read this lovely book.

A great read. ( )

Not great but I did really like the ending. ( )

This is probably the best book I've received thru the Early Review program! It came close to making my 5 star list.

I loved the story of Goldie and Anna traveling cross country together in Goldie's Rolls Royce. I could just see her in her designer clothes, holding her cell phone in her lap, nagging at Anna, her granddaughter for the "bad" choices she has made.

The relationships among all the characters felt very real. I enjoyed the setting of the Japanese Tea Garden and its caretaker very much. I thought the unexpected ending was a joy to read. Thanks, Ms Sachs for a lovely trip! ( )

I read this book three months ago, but for some reason I never got around to finishing the review. I feel bad because even though I know I liked the book, I don't remember all the details of why. This will teach me to wait to long before writing reviews.

To start off, this book is right up my alley. Historical fiction, two stories from two different times woven together, a little romance, and a big secret. Plus, I am a sucker for Japanese culture. This book had it all, and it was done well.

As with any book with multiple story lines, I ended up liking one over the other. This time (as usual) I enjoyed the "old" story better, which in this case was Goldie's. However, Anna's story was important for this novel. She gave the framework necessary for Goldie's story to be told. In the beginning, I didn't like Anna much, but she grew up and grew on me. I was proud of her at the end. I think the minor story of her and Dr. Naveen Choudary showed how she changed during the road trip.

Goldie's story was amazing. There was no way I could put the book down while I was reading about her. I wanted to live in the 1940's and I wanted to know her. This is the beauty of historical fiction. When I read I like to be whisked away into the story. Ms. Sachs firmly planted me back in time and I didn't want to leave.

Even though I didn't want the book to end, the ending was my favorite part. I didn't see it coming, but I was so happy about how it turned out. I confess to shedding a tear or two.

Thank you to Library Thing for giving me the opportunity to read and review this lovely book. ( )

I received this from the librarything Early Reviewers program I requested this book because the description sounded like something I would love but I just couldn't get past the unlikable characters. When it finally got to the historical part of the story I thought it would get better but it didn’t at all it just got boring. So this one is a did not finish I just couldn’t do it. Life is too short!