Nightingale

A moving and masterful novel about sex, death, passion and prejudice in a sleepy village in the south of France

Marguerite Demers is twenty-four when she leaves Paris for the sleepy southern village of Saint-Sulpice, to take up a job as a live-in nurse. Her charge is Jerome Lanvier, once one of the most powerful men in the village, and now dying alone in his large and secluded house, surrounded by rambling gardens. Manipulative and tyrannical, Jerome has scared away all his previous nurses.

It’s not long before the villagers have formed opinions of Marguerite. Brigitte Brochon, pillar of the community and local busybody, finds her arrogant and mysterious and is desperate to find a reason to have her fired. Glamorous outsider Suki Lacourse sees Marguerite as an ally in a sea of small-minded provincialism. Local farmer Henri Brochon, husband of Brigitte, feels concern for her and wants to protect her from the villagers’ intrusive gossip and speculation – but Henri has a secret of his own that would intrigue and disturb his neighbours just as much as the truth about Marguerite, if only they knew …

‘As refreshing as it is rare … Nightingale is a deft debut; gritty, unsentimental but deeply moving, aglow with compassion’ (Guardian)

‘For a story about a dying man, this is a book with plenty of life and passion in it …  A rollercoaster of a read with serious intent’ (The Times)

‘An elegantly formed and gripping debut’ (The Sunday Times)

‘An exquisitely-observed debut from a writer to watch’ (Francis Spufford, author of Golden Hill)

‘An engrossing, mysterious, tender and disquieting book, alive to the agony of private sorrow … A debut of real significance’ (Edmund Gordon, author of The Invention of Angela Carter: A Biography)

‘A breathtaking book. In the absolute literal sense, it took my breath away’ (Robin Oliveira, author of My Name is Mary Sutter)

‘An extraordinary novel. Richly atmospheric and beautifully paced, the book draws the reader through a tangled, sclerotic world of bigotry, pain and quiet despair, and from this finds the possibility of redemption, hope, and love’ (Jo Simpson, author of Longbourne)

‘Stunning … A book about family, sexuality, death and, ultimately, living’ (Prima)

‘Like a modern day Francois Mauriac ... Kemp casts a direct and penetrating gaze on the ambiguous sexuality and guilt that underlie our actions. An unusually accomplished first novel’ (Sheila Kohler, author of Once We Were Sisters)

‘Nightingale immerses the reader not only in a decaying house in the South of France, but in the human psyches of those struggling to survive there … A luscious, filmic novel’ (Catherine Simpson, author of Truestory)