Remember the Nightingale is here!

After holding onto this book for months, and releasing more sneak peaks and trailers than I ever have, it is here! You can purchase the e-book version directly from Amazon here. Currently, if you’d like to buy direct from Hartprints Bookstore, you can save $5 on the price + receive free shipping!

I’ve also fleshed out the story section with a complete book club discussion guide and an interview with me that gives a little bit more about the research that went into the book and thoughts about its themes and additional resources if you’re in crisis or want to learn more about Rwanda or the 1994 genocide.

At the heart of the novel are two characters: Evariste and Gaeton who have known each other all their lives and deeply love one another. What are we willing to do for love, what does forgiveness mean, how do we survive overwhelming obstacles — these are some of the questions explored with this novel. It was at times both painful and beautiful to write.

I can’t wait to hear what you think!

About the Book:

Gaeton and Evariste have known each other since infancy. One is a Hutu, the other is a Tutsi, but their families live in harmony. Evariste is a dreamer: she sees life as a dance, a choreography of nature, tradition, and romance that blend to create joy. Gaeton’s past is marred by violence that beget life-altering loss: his father and brother were murdered in the Tutsi revolt when he was young and his life since has been one of survival. Except when he’s around Evariste. From the moment he first met her, she was his princess. A practical boy not given to dreams, he’s fascinated by Evariste’s ability to dream in a landscape of instability, and he looks for ways to safeguard her dreams. His first gifts: a rattle, a crown made of flowers, and his protection against unsavory characters, one night in the city to watch him dance in the Intore, the Heroes Dance. The Hutus and Tutsis are not meant to mingle, but these two know they are destined to be together. Nothing could shake their bond.

Or, could it?

For their home is a small village three hours south of Kigali, Rwanda in 1994, and the assassination of President Habyarimana unleashes decades of resentment, discrimination, hatred and unspeakable evil so intense that over the span of one hundred days, at least eight hundred thousand Tutsis would be murdered by friends, neighbors, pastors, and even their own family members. When people are labeled as cockroaches and state sponsored rape squads are dispersed, what is love? For Gaeton and Evariste, one day out of the one hundred will destroy innocence, kill fairy tales, and leave a chasm that only a miracle could bridge. When Gaeton is faced with an impossible choice, his decision will have catastrophic consequences.

Years later, one is released from jail; the other lives ostracized and in severe poverty; dreams are childish fancies. And yet an ember remains for one. With the end of gacaca trails coinciding with the celebration of Jubilee, an event where grievances are meant to be forgotten and wrongs set right, one sets out to prove that forgiveness is stronger than evil, and love is worth fighting for.

Early Reviews

“We couldn’t stop talking about this book. Every chapter gave us something to cry over, debate, or reflect on. The symbolism of the nightingale? Stunning. The characters? Real. The hope? Beautiful. 10/10 for discussion and emotional depth.” – Hannah N – Reviewer in Chapter Chats

“I held my breath the entire time along with these characters. Their pain felt like my own, and their healing became mine too. This book broke me open and stitched me back together. Reading this is an emotional roller coaster. There are parts that take you to the depths of an emotional hell but it then pulls you back up and inspires you. This is Tiffini Johnson at her finest.” Vince W – Storytimer and author of The Prettiest Liars.

“As someone who has walked through both physical and sexual trauma, this book spoke to me in a way few novels ever have. It honors the strength of survivors without erasing their pain. A gift of a novel I didn’t even know I needed until I read it” – Anonymous reader

Finished Remember the Nightingale and my heart is full. Grief, resilience, first love, betrayal, memory, and music—all wrapped in prose that sings. – Kinsley A – Storytimer in Chapter Chats