Stephanie Sullivan: Review - The Nightingale

May 12, 2021

TITLE: The Nightingale

RATING: ★★★★★

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Summary (from Goodreads): 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 good-bye 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, searching for purpose with all the reckless passion of youth. While thousands of Parisians march into the unknown terrors of war, she meets Gaëtan, 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.

REVIEW: True to Kristin Hannah’s storytelling, I was sobbing by the time I finished this book. She has an unparalleled way of pulling her readers into her stories and leading them through every possible emotion. I don’t know how she does it, but I’m always left in awe of her talent. The Nightingale is a heartbreaking tale of love, war, family, sorrow, strength, and survival. If you aren’t deeply touched in some way by what Vianne and Isabelle go through, then you should seriously check your pulse. I highly recommend this book to everyone - just make sure you keep the Kleenex within reach.