Will I love The Nightingale?

This book was my introduction to Kristin Hannah, and she has had me hooked ever since.

The novel follows two sisters in occupied France during World War II. They live separate lives, make impossible choices, but each finds a way to resist. Just when you think the story cannot demand more of these women, it does. I read with my heart in my throat.

The book feels achingly current. Authoritarianism, the fear it manufactures and the humanity it tries to grind down, is as recognizable now as it was in 1940s France.

I loved that the characters weren’t passive victims.… show more.

At the time of writing, this is the last book I read, in the couple of weeks before the 80th anniversary of VE Day. Powerful is the only way to describe it.

I think it’s the ordinariness of the characters, particularly the main protagonists, that makes it so powerful. None of them had any training or expertise that would have helped them to ‘fight’ back, to resist; they are just ordinary people doing extraordinary things, which is what happened during the Second World War, particularly in occupied France.

It’s a reminder that we should never forget our history—even when it… show more.

This book is about change and how we can adapt based on necessity, and figure out what is required. Even in the chaos of war, there is choice based on morals, love and the will to survive.

I loved the strong characters who never wavered in their determination to figure it out. 

This book completely immersed me into the tragedy of WWII. I loved the sisters' stories and loved how they each had their own way of dealing with life's horrific events. I did learn a lot of history, but mostly, I learned how people faced pure evil - it's a sobering but important lesson. I loved how Kristin Hannah paced the story as well...it was riveting and well-written. I cried at the end, which is rare, but it was a hopeful cry! This is a book that has stayed with me long after I turned the last page and I highly… show more.

This novel left me feeling both teary-eyed and ennobled. Superficially, it is about two French sisters living through the Nazi occupation of France during World War II. At its root, however, Hannah deconstructs the essence of survival.

I loved how her characters frame the book’s cosmic questions: What would you do to survive? What compromises would you make? Is it better to fight back aggressively or resist passively? The sisters are of different temperaments and personalities. Each answers these questions differently, painfully. I found myself haunted by these themes long after I put The Nightingale back on the shelf. You… show more.

I read this book quickly. Its historically informative and inspirational quality caught my interest immediately. From the first chapters, the author brings us into World War II France, which will become a tangled web of occupation by the Nazis.

I discovered in this powerful story a relationship between two sisters that weaves secrets of the heart and key decisions. The characters are caught in a difficult situation: a predicament that reflects the struggle experienced by many people in France during the war years. The story stimulates a sense of empathy and curiosity about what will come next.

The historical setting… show more.

Though this is a novel rather than nonfiction, it takes readers into the heart of Nazi-occupied Paris and weaves a powerful love story of two sisters, Isabelle and Vianne, in wartime.

Vianne is forced to take a German Commander into her home for lodging as her husband is being kept in a Nazi prison. Isabelle meets a young partisan who believes that the French people can wage war against the Nazis from within France.

The settings are beautifully handled, and the characters are well-rounded. The book vividly brings to life the horrors of war: starvation, death, and the Holocaust. Based… show more.

This is another story that will tear your heart out.

I think this book is an eye opener about what was life for ordinary people in Nazi occupied France during WWII. It’s another book about how women had to make choices, balancing their own survival with their moral compass.

I loved the disfunctional relationship between the two sisters, who were abandoned by their father and grew up with different lives. 

I loved this one. To me, The Nightingale should go down as one of the best war books ever written and a classic.

The story describes female courage during wartime, both subtle bravery and gallant heroism. Two sisters, with varying personalities, flaunt strength in completely different manners. And where sometimes you favor one lead character over another in a book, here, the excellent character development had me loving both women.

Hannah is one of the best writers I have read. I could not put it down. Her cadence and beats are simple yet exquisite. She doesn’t overwrite. She captures the… show more.

Occasionally, a book affects you profoundly: as a reader, writer, and person.

As a reader, the characters were part of my life. The ebb and flow of conflict, resolution, and tension was captivating. While reading this book, I slowed down instead of speeding up, to savor every emotion with intensity.

As a writer, Ms. Hannah uses language to convey heart-wrenching emotion. This is the joy, despair, hope, love, anger, and rage I want to share in my stories.

As a person, stories let us inspect the complex intricacies of humanity. It’s inspiring, moving, and encouraging. This one evocatively demonstrates the… show more.