BOOK REVIEW | THE NIGHTINGALE BY KRISTIN HANNAH

HISTORICAL FICTION | WWII | SISTER BOND | MOTHERHOOD | ROMANCE

From the Cover

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 in German-occupied, war-torn France— a heartbreakingly beautiful novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the durability of women.

Bookish Thoughts

I chose The Nightingale because I am already a big fan of Kristin Hannah’s writing. I’ve read The Great Alone and The Four Winds. The Great Alone is among my top five favorite books. It was a pretty sure bet that I would love The Nightingale as well.

A little flash of delight occurred when I opened the book to find one of the main character’s names is Vianne, which is also my daughter’s name.

“Vianne Mauriac left the cool, stucco-walled kitchen and stepped into her front yard. On this beautiful summer morning in the Loire Valley, everything was in bloom. White sheets flapped in the breeze and roses tumbled like laughter along the ancient wall that hid her property from the road. A pair of industrious bees buzzed among the blooms; from far away, she heard the chugging of a train, and then the sweet sound of a little girl’s laughter.”

I chose the name Vianne for my daughter when reading another lovely book set in France, Chocolat. I was pregnant at the time and fell in love with the main character, single mother, Vianne Rocher. I was smitten with her strength, passion, and most of all steadfast devotion to her daughter Anouk. She was exactly the kind of girl-mom I longed to be.

I couldn’t imagine a more perfect name for my daughter. As if fated by the book, my Vianne is a huge chocolate lover. Her favorite? Ferrero Rocher. Coincidence? Probably not. LOL

Deeper Dive

Three Specifics I loved About The Nightingale

1. The Setting: The idyllic countryside of France as it morphs into a war-torn landscape that not even its inhabitants can recognize. The generational home of Vianne as its simple luxuries are plundered by the Germans, the garden gives everything until there’s nothing left but frozen earth, the once cheerful road outside their home promises arriving danger, the town once bustling now barren.
2. All of the Female Relationships: I am always drawn to books with beautifully written strong female relationships. This one had them all. Mother/Daughter — Vianne’s fierce protectiveness of her daughter Sophie. Sisters— Vianne and Isabelle’s complicated journey. Vianne is thrust into mothering Isabelle after their mother had died, and Vianne has suffered a miscarriage — their enduring love for each other prevails despite their past being fraught with misunderstanding and resentment. Female Friendship — Isabelle’s friendship, trust, and reliance on her fellow female resistance fighters.
3. Isabelle’s Extreme Bravery: Isabelle’s family thinks of her as stubborn, headstrong, and troublesome. She’s discounted as being impetuous and unpredictable. The transformation of Isabelle the girl, once kicked out of finishing school for not properly eating an orange, to a young woman who serves as a spy and a guide for downed allied pilots over the treacherous Pyrenees mountains across the border to the safety of Spain is truly remarkable. From guide to prisoner of war, Isabelle’s journey makes you feel like you are right there with her— terrified, unsure, starving, freezing. It’s truly awe-inspiring that she is based on a real heroine of WW11.

Favorite Quotes

“Women get on with it. For us it was a shadow war. There were no parades for us when it was over, no medals or mentions in history books. We did what we had to during the war, and when it was over, we picked up the pieces and started our lives over.”

***

“Lately, though, I find myself thinking about the war and my past, about the people I lost.

Lost.

It makes it sound as if I misplaced my loved ones; perhaps I left them where they don’t belong and turned away, too confused to retrace my steps.

They are not lost. Nor are they in a better place. They are gone. As I approach the end of my years, I know that grief, like regret, settles into our DNA and remains forever a part of us.”

***

“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.”

Let’s try and remember to channel our inner Isabelle. Hopefully none of us will ever have to face the things that she faced but we can fight the good fight in our own lives. We can—Be Brave! We can— Do a little something each day that scares us.

Au revoir,

Mariah