I love Kristin Hannah's style of writing. She is descriptive to the perfect amount--you feel as though you truly know and understand the characters, but you are not given so much detail that you are wading through it trying to get to the most important information. The Nightingale, a book about two sisters (Vianne and Isabelle) and their lives during WW2, is told exactly in this rich, descriptive way that I have come to love and appreciate about Kristin Hannah. I left the story feeling attached to each character, feeling bit exhausted (of course, so were the characters), and feeling so grateful for the life I lead.
Vianne and Isabelle's story is set in France during the onset of WW2, although the first chapter opens the story in 1995 and returns to that year every so often, leading readers to understand that someone is recalling the details we read as a flashback. Vianne is married with a child, Sophie; Isabelle has been removed from yet another boarding school for her wild behavior. As the war progresses, we find Vianne's husband being send off to fight, her (and Isabelle's) father closing his bookshop and getting a job, and Isabelle yearning to fight against this war. It is this desire that leads her to become The Nightingale, a woman who leads over 100 servicemen back to their homes and back to fighting against the Germans. Neither her father nor her sister know that she has taken on this very dangerous job.
Unfortunately, since Isabelle chooses this path for her life, Vianne is left behind with her daughter Sophie, trying to make the best of a very bad situation. A German soldier takes residence in her home and actually is very kind to both her and Sophie, but one bad thing after another happens to Vianne and Sophie and their neighboring family anyway, making it a hard life to live for quite a while. When the second German comes to take up residence in the home, Vianne's life gets even more difficult. It is then that I had a hard time reading the book. It broke my heart and made me sick to my stomach all at the same time.
I won't tell you what happens in the story, although we all know how WW2 ended, so that won't be a huge surprise. What impacted me the most about this story was Vianne's story. Isabelle's work for the resistance was foreign enough for me that I could distance myself from her struggles and not become too emotionally involved. I could only imagine how scary her life was at times as she snuck from place to place, trying to escape the Germans, lying to get from one country to another. I was proud of her and fearful for her as I turned every page. But Vianne, the sister left behind who was just simply trying to be a teacher and a mother was the character I most related to in this book. And because in history classes you rarely get a glimpse into the lives of the ordinary women who were left to resume life as best as they could, Vianne's story was a new one for me. Her days of trying to find food and clothing, trying to teach children who wondered why they were in school at all, trying to help our friends who were French, but also Jewish, trying to stay strong when German soldiers lived in her home, ate her food, slept in her bed, and searched for The Nightingale was the storyline that most touched my heart and reminded me of how very lucky I am to be the woman I am in the years in which I have been blessed to live. Vianne's story was the one that left me in tears. Her story was the one that I could not imagine having to live. She was stronger than strong in so many ways. She was a nightingale of her very own. I doubt I could ever be that strong, if faced with a similar situation (which I hope to God never happens).
The more and more stories that I read that are set in the times of WW2 have impacted me more than I thought possible. As I have mentioned in post after post, I really did not learn much about WW1 or 2 in high school. We simply ran out of time to get more than just the basics. I am so glad that social studies curriculum has changed over the years and my girls are getting a much more in-depth view of this war and the people whose lives it ultimately changed forever. I am also beyond words happy that we live in a world that is much more tolerant and understanding than the one Vianne and Isabelle had to live in.
The Nightingale is an amazing story of the strength of two women at a time when strength was hard to come by. Read it. You won't be disappointed.
Happy reading, everyone!
:) Dodie
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