When I read the preview for THE NIGHTINGALE, I knew it was
going to be
an emotional story and I knew it was going to make me cry.
All of Kristin
Hannah's books have always made me cry. I had no idea I
would be
sobbing and be an emotional wreck after finishing it. The
last name of both
women in this heartbreaking novel means Nightingale in
French, hence the
name of this wonderful story.
Kristin Hannah's latest book, THE NIGHTINGALE is the story
of two sisters
and how each reacts to the challenges of living in France
under Nazi
occupation. The sisters grew up in the years after the
Great War and both
saw and felt the destructive effects of that war on their
family and those left
behind. Their father returned from World War I a very
different man than the
one who left. Then shortly after that, their mother died.
Their father could
not or would not care for his daughters and they were
deposited on
relatives, schools and others, growing up with little
familial love and
connection.
While THE NIGHTINGALE is focused on the lives and
different
personalities of the two sisters and how each in their own
way responds to
the horrors of war, the question at the very heart of the
book is - would I risk
my life and when and most important, my child's life - to
save a stranger?
Despite the often numbing effects of war and the constant
threat of death,
compassion and love underscore the characters' decisions
and actions.
Needless to say, the story brings a strong emotional
response. So keep
the tissues handy.
THE NIGHTINGALE will stay with you for a long time after
you finish
reading it. I have no idea when I will be able to read
another book, but right
now I can't stop thinking about this one. There were
several times I found
myself desperately wanting to keep reading, to find out
what would happen
next, but I was afraid to turn the page, scared of the
possible fates awaiting
these characters. Kristin Hannah has a magical way of
telling dramatic
stories about women, friendship and family.
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 a German captain requisitions Vianne's home, she and her daughter must live with the enemy or lose everything. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates all around them, she is forced to make one impossible choice after another to keep her family alive. 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 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. But when he betrays her, Isabelle joins the Resistance and never looks back, risking her life time and again to save others. With courage, grace and powerful insight, bestselling author Kristin Hannah captures 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.
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