April 30, 2016

The Nightingale


The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
Fiction
2015 St. Martin's Press
Finished on January 21, 2016
Rating: 4.5/5 (Very Good!)

Publisher's Blurb:

In love we find out who we want to be.
In war we find out who we are.

FRANCE, 1939

In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says goodbye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. She doesn’t believe that the Nazis will invade France...but invade they do, in droves of marching soldiers, in caravans of trucks and tanks, in planes that fill the skies and drop bombs upon the innocent. When France is overrun, Vianne is forced to take an enemy into her house, and suddenly her every move is watched; her life and her child’s life is at constant risk. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates around her, she must make one terrible choice after another.

Vianne’s sister, Isabelle, is a rebellious eighteen-year-old girl, searching for purpose with all the reckless passion of youth. While thousands of Parisians march into the unknown terrors of war, she meets the compelling and mysterious Gäetan, a partisan who believes the French can fight the Nazis from within France, and she falls in love as only the young can...completely. When he betrays her, Isabelle races headlong into danger and joins the Resistance, never looking back or giving a thought to the real--and deadly--consequences.

With courage, grace and powerful insight, bestselling author Kristin Hannah takes her talented pen to the epic panorama of WWII and illuminates an intimate part of history seldom seen: the women’s war. The Nightingale tells the stories of two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals, passion and circumstance, each embarking on her own dangerous path toward survival, love, and freedom in German-occupied, war-torn France--a heartbreakingly beautiful novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the durability of women. It is a novel for everyone, a novel for a lifetime.

I've only read one other book by Kristin Hannah (Distant Shores) and although that was many years ago, I remember it was the classic "fluff" or "chick-lit" beach read. When a friend gave me her ARC of The Nightingale, gushing about what a good book it was, I remained hesitant. I had recently read All the Light We Cannot See (Anthony Doerr) and wasn't too anxious to read another book about World War II, and to be honest, I prejudged the ability of Hannah to impress me with such a serious topic. Doerr's novel was so impressive that I was certain Hannah's book would only be a disappointment. So, it went on a shelf where it sat for over a year. The Nightingale become a best seller and very popular with book clubs and yet I still resisted. I don't remember who it was (probably a blogger, a friend or a customer), but somebody finally convinced me to give the book a try.

Wow. 

I am so glad I took a chance on this book! It may have started off with the feeling of a comfort read, but as the pages flew and I became more engrossed, the less it felt like "women's fiction" and more like a serious novel, in the same vein as The Book Thief and All the Light We Cannot See. I became captivated with the story, eager to get back to it at the end of the day, and found myself with tears in my eyes as I turned the final page. I wasn't ready to say goodbye to the characters, so I immediately added the audiobook to my wish list and hope to get to it in the coming months.  This is one that is definitely worthy of a second read.

On Forgetting:
If I have learned anything in this long life of mine, it is this: In love we find out who we want to be; in war we find out who we are. Today's young people want to know everything about everyone. They think talking about a problem will solve it. I come from a quieter generation. We understand the value of forgetting, the lure of reinvention.

Final Thoughts:

I wish I had thought to jot down some notes about my impressions of this book as soon as I finished. I'm afraid this review doesn't do the book justice. It really is a very, very good novel and one that touched me deeply. Highly recommend!

14 comments:

  1. My sister loved this book too. I need to get her copy of it.

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    1. Kathy, I hope you enjoy it! I just finished another great book about WWII. Have you read Jodi Picoult's The Storyteller? It was a great audio!!

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  2. I am really looking forward to this... I am glad you enjoyed it because I was hesitant because I had read Hannah before and she was not my thing.

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    1. Kelly, I was surprised that it was so good, since I'd pretty much assumed Hannah was more of a romance/women's fiction author.

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  3. Great review and now I am definitely thinking of giving this one a try. I had read a couple of her books years ago and you are right, I thought she was more of Chick-lit author. I do read those books but I was not sure how she would have handled a subject matter like this one but glad to hear it definitely lives up to the expectations!

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    1. Iliana, I was quite impressed with her handling of such a serious subject. As I mentioned in another reply, I've just recently finished Jodi Picoult's historical novel, The Storyteller, and thought it was excellent! If you haven't read that one, I highly recommend it!!

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  4. I haven’t read any of her books, but when I do, The Nightingale will be the one.

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    1. Robin, I think you'd enjoy this one. Not sure about any of her others, though.

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  5. Just finished this book. Very wow.

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    1. Susan, I know! I thought it was so good and will someday give it a second reading.

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  6. I've been resistant to this book because my mom loved it. We have *very* different tastes in books. She loves sweet romances and I read almost anything except romance. But she's aware of that so she rarely recommends books to me. So many people have loved it and recommended it that I finally caved and bought a copy! Now we'll see when I finally get around to reading it. Great review!

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    1. Jen, I think you're safe reading this one. Not at all "romancy."

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  7. Your thoughts seemed much the same as mine Les. I resisted this one for over 5 years and it wasn't until reading and loving Four Winds this year that I felt compelled to read this one - glad I did. I stopped reading her earliest novels as they all seemed about sisters, which for some reason, never having a sister just 2 older brothers, I couldn't relate to? I did recently purchase: The Night Road by Hannah which sounds really good (an older book -https://www.amazon.com/Night-Road-Kristin-Hannah/dp/0312364431) Hope to get to it soon.

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    1. Diane, I'm eager to read Four Winds and will look forward to hearing what you have to say about The Night Road.

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