Author: Kristin Hannah
# of Pages: 593 (ebook)
Genre: Adult, Historical Fiction, Romance
Rating: ★★★★☆
Synopsis: Despite their differences, sisters Vianne and Isabelle have always been close. Younger, bolder Isabelle lives in Paris while Vianne is content with life in the French countryside with her husband Antoine and their daughter. But when the Second World War strikes, Antoine is sent off to fight and Vianne finds herself isolated so Isabelle is sent by their father to help her. As the war progresses, the sisters' relationship and strength are tested. With life changing in unbelievably horrific ways, Vianne and Isabelle will find themselves facing frightening situations and responding in ways they never thought possible as bravery and resistance take different forms in each of their actions.
Review: A solid read!
I’ve only read one other Kristin Hannah book so far (The Women), and compare to that one, The Nightingale has protagonists with more compelling life journeys. However, the storytelling execution was weaker. The story has two 3rd person POVs: Vianne and Isabelle who live in France during WWII.
I didn’t know much about WWII from the French POV, so to hear about the suffering that even from those who weren’t specifically targeted by the Nazis was shocking.
The author has a knack for writing unlikable characters since I didn’t enjoy Vianne similarly to how I was frustrated with Frankie from The Women. Being forced to switch between Vianne’s and Isabelle’s perspectives broke the immersion and slowed the pace of the story because I kept wanting to read Isabelle’s perspective instead.
That being said, for the characters in general, I appreciate how not all of these characters are perfect. Despite their flaws, at least one character shows growth throughout the story that makes their personality flaws redeemable.
There’s also a mysterious first person perspective that takes place long after the war has ended. This narrative was unnecessarily interwoven with the third person narrative; it added nothing to the main story and could’ve been shortened into an epilogue.
In typical soap opera (but maybe Kristin Hannah’s recurring storytelling pattern), major events happen coincidentally timed to maximize shock value. It’s unrealistic in a way that’s sometimes cheesy, but I still enjoyed the plot despite this.
Although I wasn’t as engaged in this story as I was for The Women (although maybe I’m just a sucker for romance), The Nightingale succeeds where The Women failed: Vianne’s and Isabelle’s stories are stories worth telling.
