*Figurative sirens wailing* ALERT! Spoilers ahead, read at your own risk.
Now, before I get into my review, let me set the stage for why I decided to read this book in the first place. During my sophomore year of high school, my English teacher told me that I just had to read this book because it was just that fantastic. So, I asked her how long it was, and she said, “oh, about 600 pages give or take,” and immediately I checked out, because who has the time to read a 600 page book when you’ve got homework and sports practice to attend to, right? Well, flash forward to winter break of my freshman year of college where I had an excess amount of time on my hands and a desolate amount of assignments, impending deadlines, and sports practices; I found myself thinking a 600 page book didn’t seem so daunting. And to make the case even stronger for trying my hand at reading this book, I had a 12 hour road trip on the horizon with nothing to do but either stare out the window or read. So, I ventured to the bookstore, 10 minutes before it was supposed to close, thinking to myself that they likely wouldn’t even have this book in stock. But when I walked in the door, the first thing I saw was The Nightingale on display, so I decided it was fate and I knew it was time for me to give this book a try. And I am so glad I did.
The Nightingale is a historical fiction novel written by Kristin Hannah, a former lawyer turned novelist from right here in the Pacific Northwest. Fun fact: Hannah is a University of Washington alum! She has written over 20 novels throughout her career, but The Nightingale is her best-selling work yet, with more than 4.5 million copies sold and distributed worldwide. The Nightingale tackles the dangerous, courageous, and heart-wrenching story of two sisters, Isabelle Rossingnol and Vianne Mauriac, fighting to resist the Nazi occupation in France during World War II. I didn’t think that I was a fan of historical fiction before reading this book, but The Nightingale proved me wrong. I was utterly enthralled by Hannah’s recapture of the details of the war, of the sometimes difficult realities of sibling relationships, of the fear that French citizens, Jews, and people all over the world felt amidst the height of the Nazi regime, and of the struggle to define and engage with love during a time of complete despair and destruction. This book made me question the nature of humanity and simultaneously restored my faith in it. Hannah has such a beautiful way of communicating that people can do really horrible, evil things, but they can also do really courageous and wonderful things for the betterment of people who are not as fortunate as they are either because of their birthright or because of circumstance. The duality of humanity was something that was difficult for me to grapple with while reading this book, but it was also something that I came to appreciate by the end of it.
Hannah alternates retelling the details of the war through the perspectives and realities of Isabelle and Vianne. Isabelle is the younger and bolder of the two sisters, and is the one who is most outwardly angered by the Nazi occupation of France and the horrific actions the Nazis were taking against their fellow French citizens and the Jews. Vianne is the older, more sensible and frankly fearful of the two sisters, she is a mother to her daughter Sophie and her first priority is to protect her daughter’s wellbeing and innocence. Isabelle and Vianne have always had a tumultuous relationship, their mother died when they were young and their father couldn’t take care of them on his own, as he was a veteran of the first world war and was forever scarred and changed as a result of it, and so Isabelle was sent away to various boarding schools throughout Europe, and Vianne left to find her soulmate in a man named Antoine in Carrivaugh, France. Isabelle spent all her young adult life feeling rejected, unlovable, and angry. Vianne spent her formative years in love and desperate to start a family. Their lives were so different, they didn’t know how to relate to one another, and so they didn’t. When the war first began, Isabelle was immediately inspired and felt it was her duty to help France fight the German forces, while Vianne wanted nothing to do with the war or anything that could put her daughter in harm’s way. Isabelle couldn’t understand how Vianne could be so cowardly when their country needed people to step up and help, and Vianne couldn’t understand how Isabelle could be so bold and put her life on the line for people she didn’t even know. The sister’s approaches to the war varied greatly, but eventually they realized they both could and did help save France and ultimately the world from the evil that was the Nazi regime in their own ways. Isabelle first began distributing anti-Nazi, war-resistance propaganda throughout France, and later led fallen airmen from the United States or from Britain fighting against Germany, across the French-Spanish border, so that they could return to the war and continue to fight for the freedom of all those persecuted by the Nazis. Isabelle’s work was extremely dangerous and entirely courageous; she put her life, her family, and her sanity on the line to fight for what she believed was right and I can’t help but admire her immensely for that. Vianne, at first, avoided engaging with the resistance efforts in any way shape or form, but as the war progressed, and as she lost her friends, and family, she knew that she couldn’t continue to sit back and do nothing for fear of putting her daughter in danger. So, she began to hide orphaned or abandoned Jewish children in a local orphanage to keep them from being sent away to concentration camps, and to hopefully preserve their innocence from the inevitable evil plaguing their world.
Hannah magnificently captures the bravery both of these women demonstrated, while also highlighting the very real fear they felt everyday that they resisted the war effort and the appalling motivations of the Nazis. Hannah also describes how in a time of war, people reevaluate their relationships, they question and dismantle any resentment they are holding against their family members, friends, and loved ones, they redefine what love truly means. Isabelle and Vianne are a prime example of this, as the war goes on, they find themselves releasing their anger towards each other and craving resolve instead. They realize that love is multifaceted, not black and white, and most of all they realize that it has to be unconditional because you never know when and if you are going to see someone again. I found the development of their relationship throughout the novel to be an incredibly valuable source of knowledge about the meaning of love and of family, and I found myself thinking that love is simultaneously the most beautiful thing we can engage in, and the most dangerous and heartbreaking thing we can engage with. It is beautiful to love and be in love with someone. It is in many ways the purpose of our existence here, to love, but it is also dangerous and heartbreaking to love someone if you can’t be sure you will see them tomorrow. I had never thought about love in this way before reading this book, and now I can’t see it any other way.
The Nightingale is a masterpiece of sorrow, love, courage, and resilience, and worth the nearly 600 page read, as far as I’m concerned. Hannah’s writing is impeccable and invaluable; I learned so much about myself and humanity in reading this book. It made me question what I would do if I were in Isabelle or Vianne’s shoes. Would I put my life on the line for my country and for the livelihood of Jewish people? Or, would I cower away to ensure that me and my family would survive? I enjoyed so much the experience of asking myself these questions and of conjuring revelations about love and the duality of humanity. I have never been so deeply impacted by a book, and there is still so much that I didn’t say in this review that is explored in this story that changed my perspective on the world and on relationships in a myriad of ways. I would recommend The Nightingale to anyone and everyone who is looking to expand their mindscape, ask themselves difficult questions, and learn about a maddening and deeply sorrowful period in human history. The Nightingale is by far my favorite book that I have ever read, and I know that if you give it a try, it will be yours too.
