The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

As a middle schooler, I find it difficult to save time for reading outside of the books required for school.  Yet on Saturday, I finished The Nightingale, which I must say, was worth the precious time I spent indulging in its plot.

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah is a story filled with sophistication and emotion, primarily focusing on the themes of love and loss.  Starring two sisters, Vianne and Isabelle, both of whom lead very different lives, the story is set in France during World War 2 and tells the experiences of these two women who have loved and simultaneously lost what mattered most during the war.  

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Isabelle and Vianne’s mother passed away long ago, after their father, Julien returned from the war.  Since the war, he has not returned the same man.  He abandoned his children after Mother’s death, and Isabelle barely remembers her.  Julien sends Isabelle away to various school [all of which she was expelled for her notoriously mutinous behavior], and Vianne marries.  Despite the war, Isabelle cannot help but wonder whether she will ever be loved.  Her father’s abandonment of her furthers her belief that she travels this world alone, which drives her to aide the French against the Nazis.  Meanwhile, Vianne couldn’t have imagined living a better life before the war, until her husband is drafted.

Vianne must care for the German soldiers billeting at her home while her husband is off at war.  She witnesses the her most dearest friends be deported.  Vianne learns to rebel, by saving Jewish children and sending them to an orphanage.  Isabelle, on the other hand, infamous since childhood for being rebellious, goes off to Paris to aid the French rebels against the Nazis by leading fallen airmen across the Pyrennes mountain range to the Spain, where they can be sent back to their home countries to continue fighting.  Both put their lives on the line to do what they believe is right, unsure whether their traitorous acts, punishable by death, have been discovered.

These two plots, manifest to the reader as separate, finds a way to intertwine, bringing the sisters closer together than ever.

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I would absolutely recommend this book, for its sophistication will keep the most agitated readers on their toes, its harmonious blend of love and loss will keep a broad span of readers interested, its endless surprises never fail to surprise the reader [they made me very frustrated sometimes!] and Kristin Hannah’s vivid and at times, vulgar descriptions of the effect of the war on France will situate in readers to each scene as if he/she were there. An absolute must-read.