REVIEW + GIVEAWAY: The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

Author: Kristin Hannah
Publication: February 3, 2015
By: St. Martin's Press
Amazon | Goodreads 
5 Stars!

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 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 France is overrun, Vianne is forced to take an enemy into her house, and suddenly her every move is watched; her life and her child’s life is at constant risk. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates around her, she must make one terrible choice after another.

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 the compelling and mysterious 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. When he betrays her, Isabelle races headlong into danger and joins the Resistance, never looking back or giving a thought to the real--and deadly--consequences.

With courage, grace and powerful insight, bestselling author Kristin Hannah takes her talented pen to the epic panorama of WWII 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.

~ My Thoughts ~

Wow, this book was just---wow!

THE NIGHTINGALE is a heartbreaking and beautifully told story about love, forgiveness and heart.
 

I can't even begin to fathom what women like Vianne and Isabelle had to endure during the war. Both are forced to make unimaginable choices, ones I'm not sure I would be able to make. Through alternating POV, Kristin Hannah shows us facets of life before, during and after the war. We get to see how the characters grow and change and struggle to find some sense of normalcy once the war is over. This story was incredibly difficult to read at times, and while I shed quite a few tears, I was left with an overwhelming sense of hope by the time I finished.

 

Long time fans of Kristin Hannah will enjoy this, as will fans of Jojo Moyes' The Girl You Left Behind. 

~ About the Author ~

Photo Credit: Charles Bush

Kristin Hannah is the New York Times bestselling author of twenty-one novels, including the blockbuster Firefly Lane and #1 bestsellers Night Road and Home Front. She is a former lawyer turned writer and is the mother of one son. She lives in the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii with her husband.

 Website | Facebook | Goodreads

~ Giveaway~

One copy of THE NIGHTINGALE  
U.S. Only