The Nightingale, Kristin Hannah

The Nightingale, Kristin Hannah

This book was incredible. It's hard to believe it's fiction. I make a point of reading books, both fiction and nonfiction, about World War 2, as a way to remember what happened and honor those who suffered. 

This is the story of two sisters, Vianne and Isabelle Rossignol, and happens during the occupation of France by the Nazis. Vianne has a husband, child, and home, and Isabelle is much younger, but wild and impulsive, and has been kicked out of multiple finishing schools for her uncontrollable personality. Both have been rejected by their cold father, and their mother has long been dead. The two don't know how to be sisters. Isabelle needs Vianne's love and affection, and Vianne is so wrapped up in her own life and responsibilities she has none to give her.

Then they are personally affected by the Nazi occupation. As their village is occupied, and Vianne's husband, who went to war, is in a POW camp, a Nazi officer billets at her home. Although he is polite, Isabelle understands that all Nazis are venomous snakes, and she can barely control her tongue around him. Vianne decides to be as quiet and compliant as possible, to protect her daughter and keep her home. Isabelle gets involved with the underground resistance, and decides it's best for everyone if she goes to Paris. 

From here, their stories differ, but yet both find ways to help fight the Nazis. Isabelle rescues fallen airmen and gets them out of the country, and becomes "The Nightingale". Vianne does not really try to do anything dangerous as she is trying to protect her daughter, but as Jews are being taken away to concentration camps, some of the mothers ask her to take their children. This is the beginning of her work, taking orphaned Jews and hiding them away in a safe place. 

I did not cry in this book, but I was on the verge of tears in many places. The heartbreak, the struggle with doing what one must to survive as well as protect others,  the loss, even exploring the idea of a Nazi officer who knows what he must do is morally wrong, and believes that once, he used to be a good man, really made this story come to life. This has to be one of the best WW2 fiction books I have read. If you have not read it yet, do it before you go see the movie.