PDF The Nightingale A Novel Kristin Hannah Books

Product details Paperback 608 pages Publisher St. Martin's Griffin; Reprint edition (April 25, 2017) Language English ISBN-10 1250080401

The Nightingale A Novel Kristin Hannah Books Reviews

• 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
• 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.
• 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.
• The Nightingale opens with this amazing first line
  
  “If I have learned anything in this long life of mine, it is this In love we find out who we want to be; in war we find out who we are.” - pg 1
  
  This story is about what it’s like to be a woman during war. The author says on her website that “In war, women’s stories are all too often forgotten or overlooked.” I had never thought about how true that really was until I read this book. Vianne and Isabelle are two sisters that we follow through World War II. One stays home and takes care of her kids and one helps in the war effort. Their story showed me that this statement is not true
  
  “And it’s a fact that women are useless in war. Your job is to wait for our return.” - pg 26
  
  What a beautiful reminder not overlook women and their strength. Even as a woman, I'm guilty of doing that sometimes.
  
  Since this is an historical-fiction story, I felt like there should have been an afterword talking about what was historical and what wasn’t. But don’t worry I’ve googled it all for you ) The Nightingale is inspired by a real person, Andree de Jongh. Don’t go read her biography before reading this book unless you want to be spoiled. Andree de Jongh and her corresponding character in the book were themselves inspired by a real nurse named Edith Cavell who served during World War I. You should read about her too )
  
  I love pictures and the author has some beautiful pictures of places that inspired the locations in her book.
  
  I’m a geek for any reference to art or culture, so when I saw a reference to “drab-eyed, dark-clothed people who looked like they belonged in an Edvard Munch painting.” (pg 239) I had to look it up. He’s most famous for doing The Scream.
  
  You’ll love the writing in this book. It’s beautiful. I highlighted so many good quotes that I can’t share them all. This might be my favorite one
  
  “Lately, though, I find myself thinking about the war and my past, about the people I lost. Lost. it makes it sound as if I misplaced my loved ones;” - pg 1
  
  The Nightingale deserves all the hype and awards it's gotten. You should read it.