For a long time I couldn’t decide which one it was and by the time it was revealed I was in tears at the sadness and pathos of it all. Interspersed at intervals the narrative moves to 1995 as one of the sisters is invited and goes to a reunion. Hannah spares no details and I struggled to read the details of what people can do to those they consider their enemies. Isabelle takes desperate risks as she helps British and American airmen to freedom over the Alps to Spain. Vianne was faced with the dilemmas of whether to collude with the Nazi officers billeted in her house and whether to help her Jewish friend to escape before she could be taken off to the concentration camps. This is a story of courage, of love and of the determination to survive under dreadful and appalling conditions – the horrors and dilemmas of living in an occupied country under Nazi rule, with rationing, curfews, and the dangers of being caught helping or of being a Resistance fighter. She joins the Resistance Movement, whereas Vianne, married, stays at home looking after her daughter whilst her husband goes off to war.
The younger sister, Isabelle is beautiful, impetuous and a rebel. It tells of two French sisters and their experiences during the occupation of France in the Second World War. The Nightingale is one of the most moving books I’ve read and I was emotionally drained by the end of the story. With life changing in unbelievably horrific ways, Vianne and Isabelle will find themselves facing frightening situations and responding in ways they never thought possible as bravery and resistance take different forms in each of their actions. But when the Second World War strikes, Antoine is sent off to fight and Vianne finds herself isolated so Isabelle is sent by their father to help her.Īs the war progresses, the sisters’ relationship and strength is tested. Younger, bolder Isabelle lives in Paris while Vianne is content with life in the French countryside with her husband Antoine and their daughter. And I can see why.ĭespite their differences, sisters Vianne and Isabelle have always been close. The audiobook of The Nightingale won the Audiobook of the Year Award in the fiction category.
Additionally, the novel won the coveted Goodreads and People’s Choice Awards. The Nightingale, in 2015 was voted a best book of the year by Amazon, Buzzfeed, iTunes, Library Journal, Paste, The Wall Street Journal and The Week.
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