The Nightingale: A Novel by Kristin Hannah (Epub)

Description

France, 1939 – In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says goodbye 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 girl, searching for purpose with all the reckless passion of youth. While thousands of Parisians march into the unknown terrors of war, she meets Gäetan, 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.

Goodreads Best Historical Novel of the Year • People’s Choice Favorite Fiction Winner • #1 Indie Next Selection • A Buzzfeed and The Week Best Book of the Year

User’s Reviews

Review Praise for The Nightingale:”Haunting, action-packed, and compelling.” ―Christina Baker Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author”Absolutely riveting!…Read this book.” ―Dr. Miriam Klein Kassenoff, Director of the University of Miami Holocaust Teacher Institute”Beautifully written and richly evocative.” ―Sara Gruen, #1 New York Times bestselling author“A hauntingly rich WWII novel about courage, brutality, love, survival―and the essence of what makes us human.” ―Family Circle“A heart-pounding story.” ―USA Today”An enormous story. Richly satisfying. I loved it.” ―Anne Rice”A respectful and absorbing page-turner.” ―Kirkus Reviews”Tender, compelling…a satisfying slice of life in Nazi-occupied France.” ―Jewish Book Council“Expect to devour The Nightingale in as few sittings as possible; the high-stakes plot and lovable characters won’t allow any rest until all of their fates are known.” ―Shelf Awareness”I loved The Nightingale.” ―Lisa See, #1 New York Times bestselling author”Powerful…an unforgettable portrait of love and war.” ―People

Reviews from Amazon users, collected at the time the book is getting published on UniedVRG. It can be related to shiping or paper quality instead of the book content:

⭐ This isn’t just chick lit or young adult, it’s BAD chick lit and young adult. I’ve read extensively about this era, nonfiction and also fiction, some great (All the Light We Cannot See, Winds of War & War and Remembrance) and some not so great but perfectly passable. I’m no book snob. Not so far into this I was in disbelief that it was a bestseller and written by an educated person. Every single character is a ridiculous cliche (the brooding but hunky Nazi, the mysterious French underground smuggler woman with a cigarette holder, the impetuous and impossibly beautiful heroine, on and on). I had to come to these one star reviews to feel sane and not alone.

⭐ It pains me to accept that Kristin Hannah’s writing style and I just don’t mix. Historical fiction? LOVE. Character-driven stories? LOVE. Thus, you would think her stories would be right in my wheelhouse. Wrong. Just like The Winter Garden, I DNF’d The Nightingale at around 20%. Why? I despise the characters. DESPISE THEM. Much of the tension between the characters, which drives the whole story, could easily be resolved with a simple adult conversation. Oh, the whininess though! The internal dialogue and subsequent actions are insufferable. For example [spoiler alert], in this latest offering, the eldest sister knows she owes her younger sister an apology for something in their past — something that directly drives this youngest sister’s reckless actions. And these actions have serious consequences! As in if sister doesn’t get her attitude under control, a Nazi could ruin their whole family! Oh, but what does eldest sister do? She states (in her insufferable internal dialogue) that she doesn’t have the strength for apologies right now — she only has the strength to “do everything in her power” to protect her daughter until her husband can return from the front. EVERYTHING EXCEPT have the one conversation that would actually help protect her daughter! Gah. Because of this inability to communicate, each character feels as if they have the depth of a puddle even with their oh-so-tragic backstories. I officially throw in the towel…

⭐ At the time I am writing this review there were over 37,000 reviews of this book. Over 80% were five stars. Obviously I’m in a minority in giving this book a bad review. In such a vast sea of reviews, I expect that my review will also sink like a stone to lie on the seabed unnoticed.This novel is set in France during WWII. The plot centers around the French Resistance and the persecution of the Jews in France.The author doesn’t seem to know much of the history of the French Resistance. For example, they completely missed the French movie The Sorrow and the Pity (the title in English). This movie presents a stark picture of the French during the war and after the war. Although the resistance was mythologized after the war, during the war there was very little resistance to the Nazis. Also, the French have a long history of antisemitism, which continues to this day.In this novel there is an active French resistance, with French people outraged at any hint of collaboration with the Nazis. In fact, many French people collaborated and the others just kept their heads down. The French resistance was far less active than the resistance in Czechoslovakia, Denmark or many other countries.The writing is not bad, but the complete butchering of history in a historical novel got to me. I’m sorry that I spent $2.99 on this book. I should have read the preview first. But I mistakenly trusted the vast number of positive reviews.

⭐ A novel with didactic pretensions, full of factual errors, cliches, and sentimental pathos. I have read countless accounts, as well as fictions on the subject of the Second World War and its effects on the occupied people. I am old enough to have been myself a part of that moment in European history. This is by far the most irritatingly inept attempt at giving a taste of everyday life or exceptional behavior during that moment among civil society. Worst of all, perhaps, is the exploitation of the subject, always shabbily researched and depicted, for cheap pathos. An example of how even well intentioned attempts may fail grotesquely if rigor isn’t applied to the treatment of such a subject.

⭐ Almost 36,000 reviews and 86 percent are five stars. What’s THAT about, I thought. So I read the book, and now I know what the raves are all about. This book is one of the best, if not the best book I have ever read. Hannah writes like an angel. The book isn’t a fast read, at least not for me, because I would go back and reread a sentence just to enjoy the mastery with which it was written. Hannah’s style doesn’t try to be high literature, but the result is. She writes beautiful scenery and background, but not so much as many authors do. Her characters, well, I felt like I knew them, like old friends, not without flaws, but perfectly developed.So I add my five-star review to the others. Read this book. It will take you away from whatever you’re doing. This was my first book from Kristin Hannah. It won’t be my last

⭐ Amateur novellist tells tear jerker.I expected so much more. The premise for the story was promising: the role of women during WWII France. But the author quickly fell into clichés. The characters have no depth whatsoever.The sub-themes have been so overused that it clearly shows a lack of imagination: the idealist young girl who longs for love and approval from her father, PTSD from WWI, first love, sibling rivalry. Mix it all in, give it a good shake and voilà: best seller!The plot is O.K., but the writing is unbearable. I felt like watching an episode of The Bold and the Beautiful.One last thing: I am French and I have to say that the author’s description of everyday life during WWII felt terribly inaccurate.There are so many good books out there. You can do better.

⭐ Wow, I just finished this book and I wanted to like it but it was a disappointment. Did the author made a list of all negative things that could happen and then created the characters so that they could all just be miserable?I know this author loves to write stories that make people cry (which is fine) but this book in particular was just ridiculous. For example, the part where Isabelle dies is just stupid… she should have died sooner, there is no way somebody could survive what she endured, it felt forced, as If the author was trying just to add even more misery to the story.

⭐ So where do I start with this book… Oh I know! I really didn’t like this book! Now wait just a minute before you throw a shoe at the screen. I’ll tell you why I didn’t like this book and why I gave it the rating I did. First let’s start with the rating. I rate my books on how well they are written, originality of the story line, character development, pacing of the story, among other things. This book had all these attributes by the bucket load. Exceptional writing, unique story line, complex characters. Which is why I gave it five stars.Now to the fun part. Why I didn’t like this book. The honest answer is it made me feel too much. Now you’re are probably wondering how can I not like a book like that? This book made me feel happy, sad, scared, grateful and a bit guilty as well. I was born to a generation and a country that didn’t have to face the horrors of war. I hear about the destruction that wars bring in the news and I change the channel. Why? Because it makes me sad. This book teaches us how fragile life can be. One day you might be enjoying a beautiful day in the sun and the next something unimaginable might happen to you and the people you love.I didn’t t like this book because it made me face my own inadequacies head on. How I should show the people that I love how much I love them more often. How I should treasure every minute that I am blessed to have them in my life. How I should endeavor to be brave and face the challenges that life throws my way. So be brave, love more, take chances but above all enjoy every minute of this fickle life because each and everyone of them is precious.

⭐ I very much enjoyed Kristin Hannah character development and story. This book is written better than many books about WWII. The reader experiences the struggles and fear of those living in a Nazi occupied country. I am very, very troubled however. When I read about Isabelle organizing an escape route for airmen whose planes were shot down in France and then escorting them safely to Spain with the assistance of reluctant Basque, I had to stop because I clearly remembered reading this before. I vaguely also remember a black white movie or documentary about this. I searched and found the once read story of the Belgium, Andree de Jongh who actually did what the fictional character Isabelle did in the novel. Much, much, much of the book parallels de Jongh’s true story – the description of the heroine; the number of people (118 by de Jongh and 117 by Isabelle) escorted through this escape route: this escape route having a code name (Nightingale in the book and Comet in real life); the description of the airmen’s instructions on the train and staying behind the heroine when they walked in German occupied cities; de Jongh’s/Isabelle father executed by firing squad; the reaction of the airmen to this female who was going to be the one who to lead them out of France; de Jongh’s/Isabelle’s invisibility to the Germans because she was “just” a woman: collaborating with the British to fund the escape of airmen from France; de Jongh’s/Isabelle’s capture in the Pyrenees by the Nazi’s then interrogation and Nazi’s disbelief and rejection of the idea that a woman was capable of doing this; and de Jongh’s/Isabelle’s imprisonment in Ravensbruck women’s concentration camp. Why am I troubled? I searched the book, several interviews with the author and Ms. Hannah website and there was no mention of specific name “Andree de Jongh.” Hannah acknowledged on her website that her search led her to “a story of a young Belgian woman who created an escape route out of Nazi occupied France.” I strongly believe that the author should have dedicated, credited or acknowledge the name of Andree de Jongh in the book where it was easily visible to the reader. de Jongh is as invisible to the author as she was to the Germans and in a book that celebrated the bravery of women during war. Was Vianne’s character based on a brave woman who also deserved bold recognition? This makes me sad.

⭐ This author is to literature what Thomas Kinkade is to painting. Could not finish the book. Self indulgent drivel.

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