Reviews with content warning for Sexism - The Nightingale

The Nightingale follows two French sisters - Vianne and Isabelle - throughout the duration of World War II. Vianne is about 25 years old; she is a wife, a mother, and entirely content in her life. Her husband is deployed to fight for France, and soon, the French surrender. Vianne's only goal is to keep her head down and mind the Germans long enough for the war to end and her husband to come home, but things aren't always that simple. Isabelle is the opposite of her sister. Eighteen years old and hell-bent on avoiding authority and rules, Isabelle sees the effect the war is having on her country and is longing to make a difference. Despite her sister's wishes, she launches herself into helping the French Resistance and soon finds herself more invested than she had initially thought. I finally picked up The Nightingale after seeing in recommended on nearly every Historical Fiction recommendations video on YouTube. People have been raving about this book since it came out and now I can see why. I was a tad worried about this book not living up to the hype but I was not disappointed and I am even more excited to read more of Kristin Hannah's work now!
Overall, Kristin Hannah does an incredible job of weaving these intense, emotional stories in a way that is so raw and beautiful. Her ability to transport the reader to the headspace of her characters in incredible. While reading Vianne's chapters, things feel tense and conservative, but Isabelle's chapters feel more unhinged and outgoing. I find Hannah's writing really accessible. Her stories are typically slower-paced, but they take place over a span of years, and by the end you realize how much the characters have actually gone through in such a short amount of time.
Vianne and Isabelle both share the role of the main protagonist, and their opposite personalities really shine through and make this a much more dynamic story, because there is a rule follower and a rule breaker. Both characters change immensely over the course of the book, in their bravery, selflessness, and resolve. Hannah also has a uncanny ability to write sisters who don't get along, but would do anything for one another, and that is brought to the forefront of The Nightingale as well. The sister bond between Vianne and Isabelle is so prominent despite the fact that they spend a majority of the war separated. I also thought it was interesting to watch the relationship between Vianne and her daughter, Sophie, develop as Sophie becomes older and begins to truly understand the war raging around her.
The Nightingale is set in German-occupied France during World War II. Hannah does an incredible job of showing the quick deterioration of the French countryside. It turns from rich and beautiful, straight out of a fairytale, to dreary and barren. Hannah's writing once again shines through as the overall atmosphere of the book continually adds to the emotion and gravity of the story.
The Nightingale explores themes of family, resilience, selflessness, and bravery during times of great tragedy, as well as remembrance afterwards. We watch the characters constantly be tested in their resolve, their love for one another, and their ability to protect the ones they love, no matter what it takes. We watch them hold the ones they love dear to their hearts, even as they are taken away. Hannah portrays these themes in a heart-wrenching, devastating way, but her themes always shine through. I couldn't help but feel for these characters throughout their story.
I would 100% recommend The Nightingale to anyone interested in a World War II, emotional novel. Although it started a little slow, the gravity of Europe's struggles during World War II is spellbinding and watching these women cope with the world they live in is something that I think everyone needs to understand.

Content Warnings

remy_licked_my_book's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

This is a 4.5 star read for me. Kristin Hannah has historically not been my favourite author so I tried to go into this story with low expectations. It started out and I remember saying to my friend, "I'm not connecting to either main character, I just don't like them". Oh man, was I wrong. This story blossoms into beautiful character development. Vianne, Isabelle, and Sophie all mature and use their resilience to transform into women who take care of themselves. Their bravery and strength are a shadow of the true bravery and strength displayed by any one and everyone affected by WWII. I really enjoyed the ending, I fell in love with the characters all over again and things were tied up very nicely. The back of the book where Kristin Hannah talks about what inspired the book was very interesting, I will definitely be checking out some of the memoirs that this story was based on!

Content Warnings

aasplund's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Content Warnings

the_literarylinguist's review against another edition

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emotional reflective relaxing sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

Fluid, easy prose that tells an important, little-known story. The role of women in WW2 has been hugely downplayed in history, and the true story behind this book is not one I've heard of. Hannah is a good storyteller and the romanticism of the resistance is always appealing, usually making for compelling reading. I'm in a class of people who believes the resistance shouldn't be glamourised, because less than 5% of France took part in it; there is a danger in rewriting history and erasing the memory of the French collaboration. Hannah certainly highlighted the suffering required by those within the resistance. I appreciated how she navigated the fine line between resistance and collaboration.

However, the writing and the plot were filled with cliches - good cop, bad cop, hiding place, romantic return, a resistance love affair. At times it felt unbelievable. The occasional flashback to US in the 1990s didn't work, was unnecessary and made very jarring interruptions in the story. I forgot they existed as soon as I began the next chapter. Clearly they were written to give a lead-up to the ending, but I feel the ending could have taken place in an epilogue. You do really root for the characters in this story, which is why the ending popularised the book.

I enjoyed reading The Nightingale and it is important to note how war is women's story, too. Yet there are much better French resistance books out there and this one was sadly overhyped for me.

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