Nightingale Point

Luan Goldie

This story is based on an Israeli cargo plane crashing into one of the Bijlmer tower blocks in Amsterdam. But because it is set in London it has resonances of the Grenfell Tower fire. It's a story about the survivors, how they cope with the trauma and how it impacts on the rest of their lives. It is a harrowing tale - but it is full of hope and the resilience of the human spirit.

Extract

He pictures flat thirty three on the ninth floor. The place him and Tristan, aged fourteen and nine, redecorated with their nan a few days after their mum's funeral. Each room was coated in white paint in an effort to erase the devil Nan saw in every corner. Malachi was so proud that he was tall enough to paint over the blackened patch of ceiling above the toaster, the result of him trying to make himself and Tristan dinner. It was satisfying to erase the past by simply covering it up and bringing new things in.

Parallels