The Nightingale

Kristin Hannah has written a significant novel concerning the German occupation of the town of Carriveau in France during WWII. Kristin highlights the lives of Vianne Mauriac (who twice had German officers billeted at her home; one a somewhat gentleman, the other a nightmare) and her rebellious younger sister, Isabelle, who eventually joins the French Resistance and acquires the code name...The Nightingale. With Kristin holding the number of main characters to about six people, she created great empathy for all involved. This novel was the most sentimental and tragic story that I’ve read in along time. Of course all books or novels involving the German occupation are sad, but this novel is noteworthy. I recently read Tilar J. Mazzeo’s The Hotel on Place Vendome (see my review of 5/4/2014) and Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See (see my review of 12/30/2014). Although these novels were very engaging, they didn’t leave me with the woebegone feeling that I had when I finished Kristin Hannah’s novel. Great job, Kristin. Okay, enough...what’s the story about? In 1939 France, war is in the air. Vianne, her husband Antoine and daughter Sophie enjoy life in the country until Antoine gets notice from the Vichy government headed by Marshal Phillippe Petain (WWI hero) that he is in the army now. Vianne can’t believe that the Germans will invade France, but they do. Marshall Petain, for some undefined reason, gives in quickly. Meanwhile, Vianne’s sister is expelled from school again. Isabelle became rebellious after her and Vianne’s mother died and as their father lost interest in them and began to drink heavily. Isabelle leaves her father and Paris to move in with Vianne. On her way to Carriveau, the Germans drop bombs and Isabelle meets Gaetan, a French Resistor who thinks she is too young to fight. Isabelle arrives at Vianne’s home the same time the Germans arrive in town. They are in the “occupied zone”, while the surrendering Marshall Petain is in the German friendly “free zone”. A German Captain Beck decides to billet at the sister’s home. He tells Vianne that her husband Antoine is a POW and she will never see him again. Isabelle is defiant to Capt. Beck, while Vianne wants no trouble in the house in order to protect her daughter Sophie. Isabelle meets French Communist Resistor, Henri Navarre, who talks her into secretly distributing “mutinous flyers” from Gen. de Gaulle, who is operating out of London. Vianne, a local teacher, is asked by Capt. Beck to list the names of the teachers at her school who are Jews, Communist, Homosexuals, Freemasons or Jehovah’s Witnesses. Not wanting trouble, Vianne gives him the names including the name of her best friend and neighbor, Rachel, who is a Jew. She regrets giving Rachel’s name to Captain Beck, but realizes that he would have found out anyway, which would have caused her family grief. Isabelle heads to Paris to get involved in the French Resistance and moves in with her father who objects. On page 161, “she had delivered her first secret message for the Free French.” Isabelle is now using the name, Juliette Gervaise and her contact is a weird woman named Anouk. When Isabelle finds a downed RAF pilot, her modus operandi is born. This is where the story ignites all the way to the finish line. There is so much sadness in the ensuing pages, but also a feeling of satisfaction as the French underground continues to befuddle the Germans. There is so much to tell the readers, that I wish this was a book report instead of a book review. But the good thing is that the readers can now go out and get themselves a copy of Kristin Hannah’s scintillating novel to read over and over again. This is the best novel that I’ve read this year, but we still have almost three months left this year. As Vianne might say, “nous verrons.” (we shall see)

Simply the best book! Top five reads. Sad but so hard to stop reading

A moving tribute to the women of the Resistance who dared to lose everything to save Jewish children and downed Allied airmen in WWIII Nazi-Occupied France. This novel begins gorgeously: "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." Some reviewers here have delved into the storyline with some wonderfully evocative summaries, which you can read to get a real sense of what this book is about. Others have preferred to structure their review more traditionally, in a critique, which I will also endeavor to do. This book is so fabulously rich in its narrative, its characters and its subject matter. It is no easy read, in the sense that because the author is so very adept at bringing the setting and characters to us (the backdrop being Occupied France during the horrors of the Nazi occupation of WWII) all but the most insensitive readers will feel the harrowing pain of the situation down to their bones. There is the physical pain of the privation of an entire people--French citizens--particularly women and children. There is the fragility yet incredibly enduring strength of very many different kinds of love, and the destitution of lost or fragmented love. And perhaps most of all, there is the emotional agony of choices made, and those that are not made. And as we discover, sometimes a seemingly simple decision takes on monstrous enormity while some really huge choices are often more easily made. So often it is easier to act when the situation is black and white, rather than so many shades of grey. This story may in essence be about two young women and their own reactions to the occupation of France, but it is most of all the story of the immeasurable bravery of the real-life French people, so many of them women, who took a stand against the Nazis and saved Jewish children and downed Allied airmen who bombed the Nazi occupation and eventually forced Hitler's retreat, surrender, and cowardly suicide. The central question the reader is confronted with time and again is: "could I, would I dare to do even a fraction of what these incredible women were able to do?" Can you love your country enough, and believe against all seeming odds in her ultimate survival, to risk your life and the lives of your friends to bring these downed Allied airmen to a distant safety that they may continue the fight? Can you love your child so much that you risk everything to try and ensure she does not grow up in a place, among a people, in which no neighbor or friend will even try to save a Jewish child? The two sisters, Vianne and Isabelle, go on very different journeys to find their way to the Resistance: the younger, Isabelle, is described as impetuous and from the beginning has a remarkable will and need to fight on the behalf of the Free French--but how, and what can she do as a woman of the time? Vianne is drawn into the Resistence much more slowly, unwillingly (and for good reason; she is protecting her daughter), but is ultimately just as courageous as her sister precisely because of the circumstances that are part of her life. I cannot say enough about how thoroughly well developed and believable each character is (and I include here not only Vianne and Isabelle), and how much you come to care for them. Like several other reviewers, I read this story in one sitting, riveted and unable to put the book down. This book is fiction, and yet here we see the beating heart of history; the true stories of the French Resistance. It is an incredible testament to the skill of this author that the reader can hear not only the fictional characters distinctive voices, but the many voices from the journals and accounts she used to construct this novel. This book will undoubtedly make you cry at times, but the journey through this most painful of historic times to see these triumphs is so well worth it.

The story was a little hard to follow in the beginning. It took a little while for the author to flesh out the characters so you can understand who is who. However, after the first few chapters, the story started to make sense and I was able to understand who is who. I’m glad a stuck with the rest of the book because the story got really interesting. I realized the beginning just gave the background info on the characters and then it all flowed well together in the end. If not for the confusing beginning, I would have given 5 stars. It’s still an excellent story that’s worth reading. I got glued to the book once the story started to make sense. It’s very touching and made me learn a lot about World War 2. Because of this book, I realized that historical fiction, specifically WWII historical fiction, has become my favorite genre. It got me back into my old hobby of reading after not doing much leisure reading for the past few years. I look forward to reading more of this author’s novels. They are on my reading list.

One of the best books I’ve read based on WW2. The incredibly moving.

brilliant book and very descriptive of life during the occupation

Beautiful!! I got so invested in the story and characters that made me weep!! I really enjoyed and recommend this book!

Berättelsen utspelas under andra världskriget och är mycket fängslande och känns väldigt trovärdig. En härlig men sorglig berättelse, som berikar våra erfarenheter och manar till eftertanke. Mycket välskriven!

If you love historical fiction, this is a must-read! The Nightingale takes you down the paths of two sisters living very different lives during WWII. It's emotionally gripping leaving you wonder, "which direction would I have taken", if in their shoes". This story brings to light the courage and bravery of women during the war. It is knowledgeable, heart-wrenching and unforgettable!