Review + Moodboard: The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah | A Powerful Story of Two Sisters During WW2

Well, that was an emotional roller coaster. When I was finishing this, I was up until 11:00 pm, reading the last eighty pages of this, and when I was done, I just sat there, trying to comprehend what I had read. It was a lot to take in.

I received this as a birthday present from my older sibling (thank you to him!) and was instantly intrigued when I read the synopsis for it. A historical fiction novel about WW2, told from the perspective of the women? Count me in.

Title: The Nightingale
Author: Kristin Hannah
Genre: Historical Fiction, Adult
Series: None
Page Count: 564

“In love we find out who we want to be.
In war we find out who we are.

FRANCE, 1939

In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says good-bye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. She doesn’t believe that the Nazis will invade France…but invade they do, in droves of marching soldiers, in caravans of trucks and tanks, in planes that fill the skies and drop bombs upon the innocent. When a German captain requisitions Vianne’s home, she and her daughter must live with the enemy or lose everything. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates all around them, she is forced to make one impossible choice after another to keep her family alive.

Vianne’s sister, Isabelle, is a rebellious eighteen-year-old, searching for purpose with all the reckless passion of youth. While thousands of Parisians march into the unknown terrors of war, she meets Gaëtan, a partisan who believes the French can fight the Nazis from within France, and she falls in love as only the young can…completely. But when he betrays her, Isabelle joins the Resistance and never looks back, risking her life time and again to save others.

With courage, grace and powerful insight, bestselling author Kristin Hannah captures the epic panorama of World War II and illuminates an intimate part of history seldom seen: the women’s war. The Nightingale tells the stories of two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals, passion and circumstance, each embarking on her own dangerous path toward survival, love, and freedom in German-occupied, war-torn France—a heartbreakingly beautiful novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the durability of women. It is a novel for everyone, a novel for a lifetime.“

Content Warnings

war – concentration camps – gun and physical violence – death/murder – gore – sexual assault – rape – discrimination – physical abuse/torture – cancer – miscarriage (mentioned)

There are no spoilers in this review.

I was slightly intimidated when I first started this book. It’s over 550 pages and the writing was small. Nevertheless, I was excited to read it. I wanted to read some more historical fiction and novel about WW2 sounded interesting. The moment I started this, I couldn’t put it down. The Nightingale is a moving and powerful story, illustrating the war for all the women left behind.

“If I have learned anything in this long life of mine, it is this: in love we find out who we want to be; in war we find out who we are.”

This book was an eye-opening experience for me. WW2 and the Holocaust are often told from the perspective of the men; I didn’t know what the women had to face. After reading this, I realized that the women fought just as hard as the men. Throughout the war, women were forced to house Nazis, manipulated into betraying their friends, and deprived of necessary things for their survival. The main story follows Vianne and Isabelle, two very different sisters, and their journey through the war.

Vianne is nine years older than Isabelle, and the two sisters are in completely different life phases. Vianne, living in Carriveau, misses her husband, Antoine, who got drafted into the war, and is trying to survive the harsh conditions at home with her eight year old daughter, Sophie.

On the other hand, Isabelle is a rebellious eighteen year old, very much landing in the “not like other girls” trope. She’s just gotten kicked out of yet another school in Paris and her father is not happy about it. She doesn’t want to sit around and wait for the war to finish itself; she’s itching to make a difference herself.

“If you’re going through hell, keep going.”

I love the fact that Kristin Hannah included Beck as a regular German solider. She presented him as just a man. He missed his family and his home; he followed orders because he didn’t want his family to get hurt. I don’t think Beck’s storyline should’ve ended as it did. Even with the bad things he did, I feel like he deserved a better ending.

Kristin Hannah’s writing is vivid and expressive. The emotions displayed were raw and real. The characters’ surroundings came to life around me; the description and imagery were presented so well. The storyline was interesting and engaging. There wasn’t a time, I recall, where I felt bored or uninterested in the plot. Some parts were hard to read; The Nightingale is about very dark times, so if you want to read this, I highly suggest reading the content warnings beforehand.

“Wounds heal. Love lasts. We remain.”

Overall, The Nightingale was a compelling story, filled with emotion. I would highly recommend this if you’re looking for a historical fiction novel about WW2 or just one from a different perspective. It’s not all the time that we see the war from the soldiers’ families point of view.

My Rating: 4.5/5 dragons

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Moodboard

This is my first moodboard I’ve actually finished. It’s on a sad topic, but I had a lot of fun making it.

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Have you read The Nightingale? Is it on your TBR?
What are some historical fiction novels you recommend?