There is nothing like discussing an unforgettable book! At Peaches Book Club, Charlie and I had our very first buddy read and discussion for The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah and I’m so glad about our choice of book. This is a beautiful, heart-breaking story set in World War II time and it offered us a lot to reflect upon – the time period as well as what we would do in the situations that Vianna and Isabelle faced in the book. Take a look at the synopsis below and then dive into our thoughts about the book.
In love we find out who we want to be.
In war we find out who we are.
FRANCE, 1939
In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says good-bye 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, searching for purpose with all the reckless passion of youth. While thousands of Parisians march into the unknown terrors of war, she meets Gaëtan, 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.
Content Notes: Depiction of war, death, loss of loved ones, loss of a child, abandonment, miscarrying (off-screen), violence, gore, anti-Semitism, talk of suicide, cancer, slavery, labor camps, sexual assault, rape, and abuse.
Thoughts on The Nightingale
Written in two timelines, The Nightingale tells the story of two sisters – Vianne and Isabelle. They could not be more different. Both of them were quite young when their mother passed away and have had to look out for themselves since their father did not want much to do with their upbringing. Vianne is older and is married by the time World War II starts to brew. Isabelle is in her late teens, unhappy with the education she has received. She wants to be seen. She wants to do something. When the war begins and Vianne’s husband is drafted, Isabelle comes to live with Vianne and her niece, Sophie. From there, as readers, we get insights about the ways in which wars change us.
On War
The Nightingale has a set of discussion questions at the back of the book which we used to talk about the themes in the story. Isabelle and Vianna respond to the war in different ways. We agreed that everyone was fighting a different war, depending on who and where they were. The soldiers had their duties cut out for them, Vianne, as a mother, had the sole responsibility to take care of her daughter and make sure she is safe. Isabelle, as a free spirit, had more freedom in how she wanted to fight the war – support her sister or do something more impactful on her own. Isabelle chooses the latter and starts to help fallen air pilots get back to Britain. The motivations behind these different paths were quite different – while Vianna just wanted to survive, Isabelle wanted to be seen.
It is not fair to compare what Vianne and Isabelle went through. Both were in acutely difficult situations and saved as many lives as they could to the best of their abilities. Housewives, in general, are underestimated because it is assumed that all they do is housework. Vianne is the perfect example of someone who breaks the bonds around her, without ever leaving her city or joining the battle field, and does what needs to be done. She is compassionate and cares deeply about her friends and children, and seeing how many lives were lost in the war, every life that the sisters saved, especially children, matter so much. Kristin Hannah portrays these emotions and challenges so well that it is impossible now to feel for Vianne.
On the Individual vs the Group
I have read a number of World War II books and each one brings up a new perspective. The Nightingale dug deep into life during the German occupation of France and how German soldiers would live with the French in their houses. This created a number of problems – there was resentment that their house was no longer their own and could be used by the German army as needed, there was also mistrust that the Germans were watching their every move and trying to gather information about the people. All that was true and looking at the German soldiers through the lens of the war made one want to stay clear of them at all times.
But as Charlie and I learned through Vianne’s experience, the Germans were not always bad people. They too had families back home and had wanted to serve their country and joined the war out of patriotism. That does not mean that they agreed with every directive and command that they were given. Through Beck, we learned about the tug of war that happens internally when we are forced to do what we don’t agree with and how we can possibly justify it to ourselves.
Even though Beck was German, we both felt a sort of kingship to him and were sad about the way things turned out. A similar forbidden friendship was also portrayed in The Paris Library with equally severe repercussions.
On Life Lessons
Don’t think about who they are. Think about who you are and what sacrificed you can live with and what will break you.
The Nightingale, Pg 165
One of those lessons is that no matter how much we hate our family for neglecting us, we will always love them. The sisters’ relationship with their father was a rough one. They both felt abandoned after their mother’s death. However, the war brought them closer in an unexpected way. They had their moments with their father where they understood him and he was apologetic about the past.
This book exposed the many levels at which war is fought. It doesn’t just happen at the war fronts, it happens at the grocery store with rationed supplies, it happens at home when people get sick and are not eating enough, it happens in dark places when women are taken advantage of. It is natural to not want to talk about any of the things that happened when the war is done and somehow, get a fresh start. The people that weathered the storm together will have stronger bonds and unspeakable secrets but they also know that the truth will destroy everything – and there really isn’t a lot left to destroy in a person after the war.
Overall, The Nightingale is a memorable book that will stay with us forever. It already holds a special place in our heart because it was our first read together. We were unable to put it down and incapable of not reading it with misty eyes, if not full-on tears. Below you will find our collective rating for the book (and since it is Peaches Book Club, the rating is out of Peaches!) and Charlie’s short take. Following that, my reading experience graphic, concise review and Goodreads and Amazon links.
Peaches Book Club Rating: 🍑 🍑 🍑 🍑 🍑
Charlie’s Quick Take
This book in three words 📚 : War, Family, Love
Inspiration Quotes 💭
- “In love we find out who we want to be, in war find out who we are.”
- “The past has a clarity I can no longer see in the present.”
This novel is devastating and beautiful. I cried a few times. I loved how both sisters fought for what was right and never gave up. It was my first historical fiction and will certainly not be my last.
Kriti’s Quick Take
** The Nightingale is now available in stores. Be sure to check your local library and support them. **
Amazon Print
Amazon Kindle
Charlie and I hope that if you have not read this book yet, you will pick it up and share your thoughts with us! Thank you so much for joining us today. We will be back with thoughts on The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue next time. 🙂
Cover Photo by Pika Alyani on Unsplash
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