DESCRIPTION:
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.
REVIEW:
The Nightingale, has been by far one of the most touching novels I have read lately. It has been on my TBR pile for, I am ashamed to admit, over 9 months now. It has been sitting there, quietly waiting its turn to impress me.
I don’t regret one bit postponing this one, for it delivered big time and made amends for all disappoints through the last 9 months. This book owned my heart. The ending ripped my heart out and left me mourning. Two packs of tissues were needed and a deeply appreciated ice cream box was well exploited. It is a story that you’d never forget.
I would cancel on any prior engagements for reading this deep, loving story about the strength, endurance, sacrifice, and courage of women in the darkest of time. This book is honest in portraying the events that occurred to these characters, but not overly graphic. It doesn’t need to be. The things that happen, and they way they are told are so powerful that you feel them. There are some scenes though that are hard to read because they are quite painful and I’ll warn that there may be triggers for some people, but then again, this is a story that takes place during a brutal war. There’s everything you can expect from such a story – brutal firefights, prison camps, beatings, near starvation, sacrifice… but there is also hope, resilience, survival. As I neared the end of the book, during the last few pages, tears began to pour down my face. It was achingly beautiful.
I cannot say enough good things about this book, it is a true masterpiece of WWII years, and although it is a work of fiction, there is so much realism to it, it took me totally away to that period of time. Ms. Hannah very definitely outdid herself with this book.
THE QUIDNUNC 