I can't give this book high enough praise. I read it because I fell in love with Kristin Hannah's writing when I read her most recent book "The Women". Ms. Hannah is a phenominal writer and I plan to read all of her works.
This book takes place in occupied France during WWII and is the story of two sisters who survive the horrors of the Nazi occupation in very different ways. There were many places in the book where I teared up but when I finished it, I put my head down and sobbed. There are not many writers who touch my heart this way and whose prose are so beautiful and so passionate: For instance "In love we find out who we want to be; in war we find out who we are." Amazng! The story unfolded slowly and clearly but was never boring. Each character was fully developed so that I felt that I was there - that I knew them and I was deeply concerned with what happened to them.
It took me several days before I could write a review because I was so moved. Don't pass up this book. It will stay with you for a long, long time.
The Nightingale
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars | 338,613 ratings
Price: 21.65
Last update: 01-11-2025
Top reviews from the United States
E. Piper5.0 out of 5 stars
INCREDIBLE
Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2024
JBenoit5.0 out of 5 stars
Epic and powerful story of survival and strength
Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2015
‘In love we find out who we want to be; in war we find out who we are.’
Wow… what a completely epic and powerful story this book was! This is a book that is subtle in its brilliance, it’s one of those books that gets even better the more you sit and think about it. I’m still kind of in awe as I sit here and reflect back on the sheer magnitude of everything that happened over the course of this book. This isn’t the type of book I typically read but I’ve heard so many people talking about it and with nearly 14,000 5-star reviews, how could I not check it out? I’m very glad I did because it was such a moving experience and it really makes you reflect on your own life and certainly will make you thankful for the freedoms we enjoy each day. It wasn’t over the top or gratuitous but it was a very real and honest portrait of life for women in France during WWII and the journey of two sisters as they set out on two very different paths towards survival and freedom in this horrific era.
The story centers around two sisters, Vianne Mauriac and Isabelle Rossingol. Vianne, the older and more responsible of the two is living a peaceful and happy life with her husband and daughter in the French countryside. At the threat of impending war, her life is upended when her husband, Antoine, is sent off the fight for France. As Germany begins to occupy France, Vianne is forced to learn how to survive in these new times and protect her young daughter, Sophie. Meanwhile, Isabelle, the younger more rebellious sister has spent much of her childhood being bounced from one boarding school to the next. After the death of their mother when she was just 4, Isabelle has been largely abandoned by her sister and their father. Neither one knowing how to handle the rambunctious girl. As the war starts, Isabelle is not content to sit back and watch as her beloved city of Paris is overtaken by the enemy. Longing to make a difference in the war, Isabelle makes some shocking choices that will forever alter the trajectory of her life.
“Tell my sister I asked about her. We parted badly.”
He smiled. “I am constantly arguing with my brother, even in war. In the end, we’re brothers.”
Vianne and Isabelle’s war-time experience was vastly different, but I was fascinated and inspired by each. Their situations and choices, combined with their tumultuous history, was the source of much conflict between the two. But I loved that when push came to shove, they were still sisters and that’s a bond that is pretty hard to break. I loved seeing how their paths would intersect over the course of the book, even when it was heartbreaking. As I read, I found myself waiting for the time when they would cross paths again. Their relationship was so complicated and well written, I was 100% invested in each of their journeys as well as the evolution of their relationship with each other.
“Kiss me,” she whispered. “Make me forget.”
“It’s not forgetting we need, Vianne,” he said, leaning down to kiss her. “It’s remembering.”
I found myself relating with Vianne on many levels. I can’t imagine having to live what she lived through, but I could picture myself making some of the same decisions she did. She was cautious and was one to try to fly under the radar in order to not draw attention to herself or her daughter. She did what she had to in order to survive but she wasn’t one to take unnecessary risks. There were few exceptions to this rule as time goes on, however, and I was so proud of some of the things she was able to do. Of course my heart also broke time and again for the things she had to endure or do. She was certainly a hero in her own right for the part she played in the war, and I think she deserved just as much recognition as her sister. And both of them deserved as much recognition as the men on the front lines. I was fascinated by all of the complicated relationship dynamics at play with her and the various men in her life, from Antoine, to Beck to her father and Von Richter. It was all so well done, I know I’m not doing any of it justice here!
“I hope you never know how fragile you are, Isabelle.”
“I’m not fragile,” she said.
The smile he gave her was barely one at all. “We are all fragile, Isabelle. It’s the thing we learn in war.”
We may all be fragile, but Isabelle did not let that stop her or hold her back from setting out to make a difference in the war! She was a fighter and pretty fearless. Many of her decisions gave me anxiety but I also had huge respect for her for all that did was doing and the risks she took to try to free her country. She may have been impulsive and reckless a lot of the time but her passion and love for her country radiated from the pages of the book, I could feel it in my soul. Her relationship with Gaetan was heartbreaking and beautiful all at the same time. It really captures the risks of giving your heart to someone in a time of war. As I said, her journey was very different from her sister’s but her experiences were equally (if not more) horrific as her sister’s. But it was her strength and her will to survive that captured my heart and inspired me throughout the entire story!
I struggled with how I was going to review this book, and I know that I haven’t done a great job of capturing the depth and impact of this book. It’s really one that you have to experience for yourself. It’s painful and heartbreaking at times but it’s also inspiring and uplifting. While this is a work of fiction, it’s hard to think that people actually had to live through this during the actual war. I can’t even imagine, but like I said earlier, it’ll definitely make you thankful for the lives we have now. This book deals with loss, hardships and personal and human atrocities but it’s in the message of survival and redemption where it truly shines. I loved how it all comes together at the end, it’ll really hit you right in the heart! It was just perfectly done. I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it for anyone looking for a story with an epic feel that features very real relationships and celebrates the strength and resiliency of the seldom talked about heroes of the war, the women!
“It’s hard to forget,” she said quietly. “And I’ll never forgive.”
“But love has to be stronger than hate, or there is no future for us.”
Wow… what a completely epic and powerful story this book was! This is a book that is subtle in its brilliance, it’s one of those books that gets even better the more you sit and think about it. I’m still kind of in awe as I sit here and reflect back on the sheer magnitude of everything that happened over the course of this book. This isn’t the type of book I typically read but I’ve heard so many people talking about it and with nearly 14,000 5-star reviews, how could I not check it out? I’m very glad I did because it was such a moving experience and it really makes you reflect on your own life and certainly will make you thankful for the freedoms we enjoy each day. It wasn’t over the top or gratuitous but it was a very real and honest portrait of life for women in France during WWII and the journey of two sisters as they set out on two very different paths towards survival and freedom in this horrific era.
The story centers around two sisters, Vianne Mauriac and Isabelle Rossingol. Vianne, the older and more responsible of the two is living a peaceful and happy life with her husband and daughter in the French countryside. At the threat of impending war, her life is upended when her husband, Antoine, is sent off the fight for France. As Germany begins to occupy France, Vianne is forced to learn how to survive in these new times and protect her young daughter, Sophie. Meanwhile, Isabelle, the younger more rebellious sister has spent much of her childhood being bounced from one boarding school to the next. After the death of their mother when she was just 4, Isabelle has been largely abandoned by her sister and their father. Neither one knowing how to handle the rambunctious girl. As the war starts, Isabelle is not content to sit back and watch as her beloved city of Paris is overtaken by the enemy. Longing to make a difference in the war, Isabelle makes some shocking choices that will forever alter the trajectory of her life.
“Tell my sister I asked about her. We parted badly.”
He smiled. “I am constantly arguing with my brother, even in war. In the end, we’re brothers.”
Vianne and Isabelle’s war-time experience was vastly different, but I was fascinated and inspired by each. Their situations and choices, combined with their tumultuous history, was the source of much conflict between the two. But I loved that when push came to shove, they were still sisters and that’s a bond that is pretty hard to break. I loved seeing how their paths would intersect over the course of the book, even when it was heartbreaking. As I read, I found myself waiting for the time when they would cross paths again. Their relationship was so complicated and well written, I was 100% invested in each of their journeys as well as the evolution of their relationship with each other.
“Kiss me,” she whispered. “Make me forget.”
“It’s not forgetting we need, Vianne,” he said, leaning down to kiss her. “It’s remembering.”
I found myself relating with Vianne on many levels. I can’t imagine having to live what she lived through, but I could picture myself making some of the same decisions she did. She was cautious and was one to try to fly under the radar in order to not draw attention to herself or her daughter. She did what she had to in order to survive but she wasn’t one to take unnecessary risks. There were few exceptions to this rule as time goes on, however, and I was so proud of some of the things she was able to do. Of course my heart also broke time and again for the things she had to endure or do. She was certainly a hero in her own right for the part she played in the war, and I think she deserved just as much recognition as her sister. And both of them deserved as much recognition as the men on the front lines. I was fascinated by all of the complicated relationship dynamics at play with her and the various men in her life, from Antoine, to Beck to her father and Von Richter. It was all so well done, I know I’m not doing any of it justice here!
“I hope you never know how fragile you are, Isabelle.”
“I’m not fragile,” she said.
The smile he gave her was barely one at all. “We are all fragile, Isabelle. It’s the thing we learn in war.”
We may all be fragile, but Isabelle did not let that stop her or hold her back from setting out to make a difference in the war! She was a fighter and pretty fearless. Many of her decisions gave me anxiety but I also had huge respect for her for all that did was doing and the risks she took to try to free her country. She may have been impulsive and reckless a lot of the time but her passion and love for her country radiated from the pages of the book, I could feel it in my soul. Her relationship with Gaetan was heartbreaking and beautiful all at the same time. It really captures the risks of giving your heart to someone in a time of war. As I said, her journey was very different from her sister’s but her experiences were equally (if not more) horrific as her sister’s. But it was her strength and her will to survive that captured my heart and inspired me throughout the entire story!
I struggled with how I was going to review this book, and I know that I haven’t done a great job of capturing the depth and impact of this book. It’s really one that you have to experience for yourself. It’s painful and heartbreaking at times but it’s also inspiring and uplifting. While this is a work of fiction, it’s hard to think that people actually had to live through this during the actual war. I can’t even imagine, but like I said earlier, it’ll definitely make you thankful for the lives we have now. This book deals with loss, hardships and personal and human atrocities but it’s in the message of survival and redemption where it truly shines. I loved how it all comes together at the end, it’ll really hit you right in the heart! It was just perfectly done. I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it for anyone looking for a story with an epic feel that features very real relationships and celebrates the strength and resiliency of the seldom talked about heroes of the war, the women!
“It’s hard to forget,” she said quietly. “And I’ll never forgive.”
“But love has to be stronger than hate, or there is no future for us.”
Kindle Customer5.0 out of 5 stars
Incredible
Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2024
The story itself was very well written. The characters come alive and you feel like you know them. The setting, the various circumstances each character lived were so well done, so real. I highly recommend this book. It's not a story I will soon forget.
M. Hughes4.0 out of 5 stars
Good outweighs bad
Reviewed in the United States on October 17, 2015
I came across this book by accident, but I liked both the premise and the period (WWII was the first history to intrigue me, and although I've discovered dozens of other fascinating periods since, there's nothing like your first love), although I'll confess to a lack of familiarity with the author. Apparently she's quite popular for her fiction, although the other few books I've looked up seem to be more contemporary chick-fic, which would explain why I hadn't read them. This one is set in German-occupied France, although in some misplaced bow to modern political sensibilities, the author insists on referring to the Germans as "Nazis" about twice as often as "Germans."
The good: Ms. Hannah is a fine writer. Her prose alternates between lyrical and sweet, and hard-hitting action. She does a good job with both. I especially liked her chaotic description of the roundup of Jews in various towns and cities. She brought home the anguish of the victims as well as the confusion of the bystanders.
Her characters are pleasing: the two sisters who are the book's protagonists (as well as the modern-day narrator, one of the two sisters, but much older, and seeming almost like a different character entirely. You don't find out which sister it is until the end, although there are both valid clues and red herrings thrown in to keep you guessing) are vividly drawn, and you can easily understand their motivations and what drives them. Their father is harder to get to know, but then the daughters didn't get to know him that well either, so it works. Isabelle, the more "in-your-face" of the two girls, starts off overpowering--I wanted to slap her a few times early on, just because she was more annoying than the "impulsive and spirited" girl you're supposed to believe she is. But she gets better. Vianne, the older, "responsible" sister starts off ordinary but comes out of the coccoon beautifully as the book progresses. Both the sisters end up working with the French Resistance in different ways. One of them is code-named "the NIghtingale"--hence the book's title.
Minor characters--Isabelle's lover Gaetan, Vianne's husband Antoine, Vianne's best friend Rachel, and the two German officers who billet in Vianne's house, are well-drawn. The first one, especially--although it's never explicitly stated, he's one of the Germans who isn't a Nazi, and who finds himself conflicted about the things he has to do in his role as an occupation officer.
Other readers have complained about anachronisms. There are a few. One of the sisters said "hassle" at one point, which threw me entirely out of the story; the OED states that the word didn't come into being until the mid-1940s and was almost exclusively a US expression, so why the heck a French girl was using it in 1940 is beyond me. Someone else griped about Isabelle's familiarity with driving. I don't have a problem with that. My mother grew up during WW2 and she could drive; so could her sister. That's not a big deal. The biggest problems for me, the things that keep me from giving the book all five stars, are these:
1. At some point Isabelle starts sounding like Errol Flynn on steroids. The whole "it's a rotten job, but someone's got to do it" business. (No, the quote is not used, but it's clearly implied.) Oh, I've crossed the Pyrenees 27 times, three times in the last month alone. Better get a cup of coffee before I cross them again. Okay, let's go.
2. It's hard to keep the chronology straight, especially where the children are concerned. Sophie and Sarah are best friends, and I believe the same age, but Sophie seems far older. And Ari is constantly described as "the baby" and he usually seems to be asleep. But when he leaves in 1945, he sounds far older than he should be.
3. The German hunt for the Nightingale intensifies to the point that when one of the sisters is picked up by the Gestapo, the girls' father decides to turn himself in, claiming to be the Nightingale. Now picture this: an old drunk smelling of brandy staggers in and says "I'm the Nightingale, the person who single-handedly set up an allied airmen escape route through all of France and ran it for two years." The Germans instantly believe him. They don't question the smell of booze, they don't even interrogate him. Let's get this straight--the real Gestapo would have spent days torturing him until they got the location of the escape route and every safe house, coffee house, and outhouse along the way. These guys just said, "Oh, okay, you're him. Well, I guess we need to shoot you now." If I'd had the book in paperback I probably would've thrown it across the room at that point, but fortunately, it was on Kindle, so I kept reading, and despite that hiccup I did enjoy the book.
There is a little violence, mostly implied but some is pretty graphic. There's also sexual content, but it's minor and toned-down. And hey, it's a war, there's bound to be some violence, right?
The ending feels a tad rushed, but if you go back and read it again it's pretty satisfying. So the good outweighs the bad.
The good: Ms. Hannah is a fine writer. Her prose alternates between lyrical and sweet, and hard-hitting action. She does a good job with both. I especially liked her chaotic description of the roundup of Jews in various towns and cities. She brought home the anguish of the victims as well as the confusion of the bystanders.
Her characters are pleasing: the two sisters who are the book's protagonists (as well as the modern-day narrator, one of the two sisters, but much older, and seeming almost like a different character entirely. You don't find out which sister it is until the end, although there are both valid clues and red herrings thrown in to keep you guessing) are vividly drawn, and you can easily understand their motivations and what drives them. Their father is harder to get to know, but then the daughters didn't get to know him that well either, so it works. Isabelle, the more "in-your-face" of the two girls, starts off overpowering--I wanted to slap her a few times early on, just because she was more annoying than the "impulsive and spirited" girl you're supposed to believe she is. But she gets better. Vianne, the older, "responsible" sister starts off ordinary but comes out of the coccoon beautifully as the book progresses. Both the sisters end up working with the French Resistance in different ways. One of them is code-named "the NIghtingale"--hence the book's title.
Minor characters--Isabelle's lover Gaetan, Vianne's husband Antoine, Vianne's best friend Rachel, and the two German officers who billet in Vianne's house, are well-drawn. The first one, especially--although it's never explicitly stated, he's one of the Germans who isn't a Nazi, and who finds himself conflicted about the things he has to do in his role as an occupation officer.
Other readers have complained about anachronisms. There are a few. One of the sisters said "hassle" at one point, which threw me entirely out of the story; the OED states that the word didn't come into being until the mid-1940s and was almost exclusively a US expression, so why the heck a French girl was using it in 1940 is beyond me. Someone else griped about Isabelle's familiarity with driving. I don't have a problem with that. My mother grew up during WW2 and she could drive; so could her sister. That's not a big deal. The biggest problems for me, the things that keep me from giving the book all five stars, are these:
1. At some point Isabelle starts sounding like Errol Flynn on steroids. The whole "it's a rotten job, but someone's got to do it" business. (No, the quote is not used, but it's clearly implied.) Oh, I've crossed the Pyrenees 27 times, three times in the last month alone. Better get a cup of coffee before I cross them again. Okay, let's go.
2. It's hard to keep the chronology straight, especially where the children are concerned. Sophie and Sarah are best friends, and I believe the same age, but Sophie seems far older. And Ari is constantly described as "the baby" and he usually seems to be asleep. But when he leaves in 1945, he sounds far older than he should be.
3. The German hunt for the Nightingale intensifies to the point that when one of the sisters is picked up by the Gestapo, the girls' father decides to turn himself in, claiming to be the Nightingale. Now picture this: an old drunk smelling of brandy staggers in and says "I'm the Nightingale, the person who single-handedly set up an allied airmen escape route through all of France and ran it for two years." The Germans instantly believe him. They don't question the smell of booze, they don't even interrogate him. Let's get this straight--the real Gestapo would have spent days torturing him until they got the location of the escape route and every safe house, coffee house, and outhouse along the way. These guys just said, "Oh, okay, you're him. Well, I guess we need to shoot you now." If I'd had the book in paperback I probably would've thrown it across the room at that point, but fortunately, it was on Kindle, so I kept reading, and despite that hiccup I did enjoy the book.
There is a little violence, mostly implied but some is pretty graphic. There's also sexual content, but it's minor and toned-down. And hey, it's a war, there's bound to be some violence, right?
The ending feels a tad rushed, but if you go back and read it again it's pretty satisfying. So the good outweighs the bad.