Genre: Historical Fiction

Published on February 3, 2015 by St. Martin's Press

448 Pages

TITLE & AUTHOR: The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

PLOT: This enchanting story centers around two sisters, Isabelle and Vianne, and their perilous efforts to survive the German Occupation of France during World War II.

Vianne, the practical and reserved older sister, is forced to survive the war with her daughter at home and watch her beloved husband go off to fight for France as a soldier. Vianne does her best to mind her own business for a while, but eventually joins the efforts to hide Jewish children to protect them from the Nazis, who were beginning to ship away Jews from her town right and left. In her efforts to save these children, she is also faced with horrific heartbreak along the way, including having to open her home to German soldiers and trying to assist her best friend in escaping the Nazis.

Isabelle, the fiesty, rebellious, younger sister, is determined to free France from German occupation, even if she dies trying. This entails joining a group of rebels to help rescue ally soldiers whose planes were shot down in France. Isabelle's journey through the war is one of determination, grit, romance, and sacrifice. And just when Isabelle thinks that she has experienced the worst, she ends up in a concentration camp, which forces her to do anything and everything she can to survive to see her sister one more time.

The story ends in 1995 when Vianne and her son fly to France to attend a reunion on Isabelle's behalf. Up until that night, Vianne's son Julien had been unaware of the noble work that his mother and aunt engaged in during the war. Even though Vianne lost so much during the war, including her best friend, father, and beloved sister, she opens up to her son with a fierce love that helped her survive all those years ago.

THOUGHTS: I've read a lot of books this year, and in my life, and I have to say that this is my new favorite book. Kristin Hannah is an incredible storyteller and makes each character in this book come to life. I could go on and on about this book, but I'll share a few of the moments in this book that touched my heart the most.

First, how incredibly brave of these two women to do everything that they did. Isabelle is a force to be reckoned with and is my new favorite literary character, for sure. Even at the young age of nineteen, she never stopped fighting for what she believed in, regardless of how dangerous it was. Tears were streaming down my face reading about her time in the concentration camp. Her grit and determination to survive was so inspiring and reminded me of what it means to be brave. Vianne also underestimated her own bravery and survived things that no one should have to endure. I was so glad when these two brave sisters could embrace once again.

Second, I was intrigued by Hannah's character development of Beck, the first SS soldier that lives with Vianne and her daughter. I didn't want to like him because he is a German soldier invading Vianne's house, but he started to grow on me as a human. I liked how his character highlighted how complex humans are and how many things are not black and white.

Overall, this was an incredibly well-written story that I think that everyone needs to read :)

RATING: 5/5 STARS