After I finished Kristin Hannah's The Nightingale, I had to sit with it for quite a few days before writing the review. It affected me deeply; every character stays with you long after the story is done.France in 1939 -- as the readers, we know what's coming. The characters may have an inkling, but they could never guess the magnitude of what stands before them. Vianne Mauriac's husband is sent to the Front, but she never believes that the Nazis will invade France. When the inevitable happens, Vianne is forced to take in an enemy officer; every day brings one danger after another.
Vianne could not be more unlike her sister, Isabelle. While Vianne wants to keep her head down and not draw attention to herself, Isabella wants to help the resistance any way she can, no matter the consequences. She also falls deeply in love with a fellow fighter, Gaeten.
One can't even imagine all the dangers faced in The Nightingale, and it is made all the more horrifying by the fact that much of this really happened. But through Isabelle's determination to fight and Vianne's motherly desire to save her daughter at all costs comes a book that is also powerfully uplifting. I couldn't recommend it more.
MY RATING - 5
