The Nightingale Sings - Charlotte Bingham

...here goes………..

The Author ~ A well known novelist, Charlotte Bingham wrote her first book at the age of nineteen. It was her autobiography!! Since then, with help from her husband, actor and playwright Terence Brady, she has penned comedy and drama series, plays and films for both England and the States.
It is her most recent novels that has brought her the most acclaim though ~ ‘Love Song’, ‘To ...
...‘Change of Heart’ which won the 1994 Romantic Novel of the Year Award. Oh and this one……..’The Nightingale Sings’.

The Book ~ Currently retailing at £5.99, and published by Bantam Books, this is the sequel to ‘To Hear a Nightingale’. There are 639 pages and each one is guaranteed to have you itching to turn it over and see just what the next one has to offer. As I am not an avid fan of ... more

Well, here we are again then? Another book op from yours truly. I’ve just completed this book and thought it best to write this while its still fresh in my mind, here goes………..

The Author ~ A well known novelist, Charlotte Bingham wrote her first book at the age of nineteen. It was her autobiography!! Since then, with help from her husband, actor and playwright Terence Brady, she has penned comedy and drama series, plays and films for both England and the States.
It is her most recent novels that has brought her the most acclaim though ~ ‘Love Song’, ‘To Hear a Nightingale’, ‘In Sunshine or in Shadow’, ‘The Business’,’ Nanny’, ‘Stardust’, ‘Debutantes’, ‘Grand Affair’, ‘Blue Note’ - her latest offering, and ‘Change of Heart’ which won the 1994 Romantic Novel of the Year Award. Oh and this one……..’The Nightingale Sings’.

The Book ~ Currently retailing at £5.99, and published by Bantam Books, this is the sequel to ‘To Hear a Nightingale’. There are 639 pages and each one is guaranteed to have you itching to turn it over and see just what the next one has to offer. As I am not an avid fan of Bingham, this is only my second one, the first being the first in this two 'parter'. All I can do is to state as I find, I have no other of her novels to base my opinion on when it comes to her style of writing. She is your typical romance writer, we have love, we have feelings, we have family feuds, and we have Horses, although this time, we had the added excitement of crime and intrigue. And I must admit, at times I thought I was in the middle of a Dick Francis with regards to the story line!! For me this story had a great finish and more than complimented the great start to the story as found in the book ‘To Hear a Nightingale’.

The Story ~ Once again Cassie Rosse has to over come hurdles (no pun intended) in both the world of Horse Racing, and her private life. At the end of the last and in the beginning of this part of the story, Cassie has just become the first woman to train an English Derby winner with her homebred horse, The Nightingale. But the triumph of winning is quickly over shadowed as Cassies world, and for those around her, become the scene of a story line that would rival any Dick Francis novel. All at once it seems that there is nothing to be done to stop the downward spiral of events that again threatens to destroy Claremore, her famous horse, her life, her world and the future of all. Through all of this she must also try to leave the long shadows of death cast by her husband, Tyrone, whom she knows that she shares the success of all that she has achieved since his untimely death. Not only does she have to fight her memories, but she has to do battle with her emotions as she finds herself torn between two different men, both extradionary men in separate ways.

This story is the first of its kind that I have read, at least I think so?? A mixture of what is primarily romance but with the added extra of a crime and suspense, albeit on a smaller scale. I usually pick either genre, but have never come across a story that can carry both off at the same time. There is just the right amount of intrigue, and I have to admit I did take a peak at the last page and conclusion while still half way through it!!! Did me no good though, jumped to conclusions and still got the ending wrong!!

Just one little niggle here regarding this book, and its not a big one by all means, but nowhere does it state, back or front, that this book is a sequel. Which may be a bit of downfall for somebody who is choosing his (I really wouldn’t have thought that this was a typical guy book, but I could be wrong!!??) or her first ‘Bingham’ book. Especially if they read and love it and then discover the 1st part.

Don’t make the mistake in reading this book before you have read the first instalment of this story. You really will not benefit and be able to appreciate the rest of the story if you do so. You have to read and understand the depth of Cassies feelings and emotions, whether they be love or hate, that she feels for all those around her. Bingham doesn’t seem to capture them, or to go into as much detail in this book as she did in the first part. But this in no way detracts from the story, I’m guessing that she assumes that her readers would have had read the first part ‘To Hear a Nightingale’?? I have and it makes no difference! If you want you can read this book first, I ain’t being bossy, merely advising you, it will still be a very good read, but I say do it in order………….!!!
 

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