THE NIGHTINGALE takes place during World War 2 in France. It's the story of two sisters who spend little of the novel together, but nonetheless are called upon in ways peculiar to their personality to help in France's resistance to the Nazi occupation. Hannah does a great job of making the pages turn. The sisters are very different and separated by age, personality and place. Isabelle, the younger and more rebellious, immediately finds her way into to the resistance movement. Viane, a mother and wife, takes years to come to a belief that she must do something too.
The contrast between them was well done and well explained. The setting is excellent. The cast of characters is very satisfying.
If I were to find a flaw or two with the novel, small though they may be, it is that the sisters, both having had difficult childhoods, are a bit too noble, a bit too self-sacrificing, a bit too able to undertake successfully their difficult tasks. They seldom feel sorry for themselves.
Secondly, I felt we retread the same ground a bit too much. Two Nazis live with Viane for instance. One would have been enough.
However, these are small flaws in what is a very fine novel and well worth your time. By chance I took this book with me to Berlin and Poland and my trip to Auschwitz was made more real and more horrifying by the story I was reading.
8 comments:
Tha is a hell of a setting for reading such a novel! Read any other Hannah?
It does sound like a story that blends character development with the backdrop of the novel, Patti. This one interests me...
She is another of the (too many) authors I haven't read. Perhaps I mixed her up with Sophie Hannah (who is British, of course). According to Wikipedia, the movie rights were sold in 2015. No movie has come out since, but it is supposedly due to be released in December of next year, with Dakota and Elle Fanning as the sisters.
Diane's Book Club has read some Kristin Hannah novels, but I don't know if they've read this one.
This is the only one I've read.
I'm similar in that a writer that can make the pages turn allows me to forgive certain quibbles that I may have about plot, structure, etc. Thanks for the review on what sounds like a great novel.
David, how are you?
I'm good. Family too. Working the day job remotely and spending most online time on Twitter. But I kinda missed my friends around Blogger and decided to duck back in and see what's happening. Hope all is well with you.
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