Genre Fiction
![Kristin Hannah - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B000APANXE.jpg)
The Nightingale: A Novel
A #1 New York Times bestseller, Wall Street Journal Best Book of the Year, and soon to be a major motion picture, this unforgettable novel of love and strength in the face of war has enthralled a generation.
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 World War II 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.
Goodreads Best Historical Novel of the Year • People's Choice Favorite Fiction Winner • #1 Indie Next Selection • A Buzzfeed and The Week Best Book of the Year
Praise for The Nightingale:
"Haunting, action-packed, and compelling." ―Christina Baker Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author
"Absolutely riveting!...Read this book." ―Dr. Miriam Klein Kassenoff, Director of the University of Miami Holocaust Teacher Institute
"Beautifully written and richly evocative." ―Sara Gruen, #1 New York Times bestselling author
"A hauntingly rich WWII novel about courage, brutality, love, survival―and the essence of what makes us human." --Family Circle
"A heart-pounding story." ―USA Today
"An enormous story. Richly satisfying. loved it," ―Anne Rice
"A respectful and absorbing page-turner." ―Kirkus Reviews
"Tender, compelling...a satisfying slice of life in Nazi-occupied France." ―Jewish Book Council
"Expect to devour The Nightingale in as few sittings as possible; the high-stakes plot and lovable characters won't allow any rest until all of their fates are known." ―Shelf Awareness
"I loved The Nightingale." ―Lisa See, #1 New York Times bestselling author
"Powerful...an unforgettable portrait of love and war." ―People
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 World War II 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.
Goodreads Best Historical Novel of the Year • People's Choice Favorite Fiction Winner • #1 Indie Next Selection • A Buzzfeed and The Week Best Book of the Year
Praise for The Nightingale:
"Haunting, action-packed, and compelling." ―Christina Baker Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author
"Absolutely riveting!...Read this book." ―Dr. Miriam Klein Kassenoff, Director of the University of Miami Holocaust Teacher Institute
"Beautifully written and richly evocative." ―Sara Gruen, #1 New York Times bestselling author
"A hauntingly rich WWII novel about courage, brutality, love, survival―and the essence of what makes us human." --Family Circle
"A heart-pounding story." ―USA Today
"An enormous story. Richly satisfying. loved it," ―Anne Rice
"A respectful and absorbing page-turner." ―Kirkus Reviews
"Tender, compelling...a satisfying slice of life in Nazi-occupied France." ―Jewish Book Council
"Expect to devour The Nightingale in as few sittings as possible; the high-stakes plot and lovable characters won't allow any rest until all of their fates are known." ―Shelf Awareness
"I loved The Nightingale." ―Lisa See, #1 New York Times bestselling author
"Powerful...an unforgettable portrait of love and war." ―People
Editorial Reviews
Praise for The Nightingale:
"Haunting, action-packed, and compelling." ―Christina Baker Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author
"Absolutely riveting!...Read this book." ―Dr. Miriam Klein Kassenoff, Director of the University of Miami Holocaust Teacher Institute
"Beautifully written and richly evocative." ―Sara Gruen, #1 New York Times bestselling author
"A hauntingly rich WWII novel about courage, brutality, love, survival―and the essence of what makes us human." ―Family Circle
"A heart-pounding story." ―USA Today
"An enormous story. Richly satisfying. I loved it." ―Anne Rice
"A respectful and absorbing page-turner." ―Kirkus Reviews
"Tender, compelling...a satisfying slice of life in Nazi-occupied France." ―Jewish Book Council
"Expect to devour The Nightingale in as few sittings as possible; the high-stakes plot and lovable characters won't allow any rest until all of their fates are known." ―Shelf Awareness
"I loved The Nightingale." ―Lisa See, #1 New York Times bestselling author
"Powerful...an unforgettable portrait of love and war." ―People
"Haunting, action-packed, and compelling." ―Christina Baker Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author
"Absolutely riveting!...Read this book." ―Dr. Miriam Klein Kassenoff, Director of the University of Miami Holocaust Teacher Institute
"Beautifully written and richly evocative." ―Sara Gruen, #1 New York Times bestselling author
"A hauntingly rich WWII novel about courage, brutality, love, survival―and the essence of what makes us human." ―Family Circle
"A heart-pounding story." ―USA Today
"An enormous story. Richly satisfying. I loved it." ―Anne Rice
"A respectful and absorbing page-turner." ―Kirkus Reviews
"Tender, compelling...a satisfying slice of life in Nazi-occupied France." ―Jewish Book Council
"Expect to devour The Nightingale in as few sittings as possible; the high-stakes plot and lovable characters won't allow any rest until all of their fates are known." ―Shelf Awareness
"I loved The Nightingale." ―Lisa See, #1 New York Times bestselling author
"Powerful...an unforgettable portrait of love and war." ―People
Readers Top Reviews
Closet Romantic
I give this book 3½stars. It's not the amazing work that so many people seem to think. Maybe they should read more wsr fiction (or even fact). European stories written in American English, using American idioms and ideas annoy me. This is one reason this book dropped a star. Also a couple of research issues. It's not a spoiler to say that antibiotics weren't in common use until the very end of, and after WW2. They were still being discovered and researched when mentioned briefly in this book. I am also uncertain where a French person would have found a shower curtain (not going to tell you what it was used for). French plumbing still leaves a lot to be desired and I doubt whether there were many showers, with or without curtains in small town France in the 1940s. To the story - it's one that has been told many times before and as such this is not a book that reveals unknowns. It's about survival rather than death and it is well written. For me, the final two chapters were excellent. But I prefer Sebastian Faulks for a well written war novel.
CalypsoRustyJames
The Nightingale is the story of two sisters caught up in occupied France during the second world war. Both have remarkable stories to tell. In part the book is a frame narrative with one sister reflecting back forty years from 1995. The identity of the narrator i.e. which sister is not revealed until toward the end of the novel, although it is fairly obvious from the third chapter. The research for the book is lamentable. There are glaring historical, cultural and geographical inaccuracies that detract from the story. There are also plot errors and straightforward mistakes littering the text. It would be unfair to expose the main errors as it will spoil the plot for anyone wishing to read the book, but for example, the main town in which the story is set, the fictional Carriveau, starts in German occupied France not far from Orleans or Tours. Toward the end of the story it has moved a few hundred miles south to be near Oradour sur Glane, not far from Limoges. Members of the French resistance forget which are pseudonyms and which are real names. Laurence Olivier is considered an appropriate name to avoid attention. A giant steel wheel becomes a stone wheel in the course of just one paragraph. The author appears to have cobbled together scenes from most of the famous second world war novels: Schindlers List, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, The Book Thief. At one point it appeared as if a Tale of Two Cities was going to make an appearance. The effect is of a massive cliché and a desperate lack of originality. There is an obsession in making the two heroines stronger than the men. For example, a starved, weakened nineteen year old woman is made out to be stronger than young, fit, well trained airmen. The writing itself varies in quality. At times, especially at the beginning, it isn’t bad, but it does become repetitive and sentimental. There are times it descends from an historical novel to become something of a farce like the TV series Allo Allo, and becomes something of an insult to the brave women in particular who fought with the resistance in the second world war. However, what the book does have is an engaging story line, hook and pace. Although risible and sentimental in places, it is never boring and I read it to the end. The shame is that with a few more edits and better research, it could have been something special.
