The Nightingale, by Kristin Hannah

3 not the right fit for me stars!!

I really hate to give any book below a 4 star rating.  Giving Kristin Hannah a 3 star is killing me because she is a wonderful author.  If you look at the Goodreads ratings for this book are a 4.53!!  I just did not connect to these characters the way I needed too.  The loss of connection and forced outcome of some situations in the book is what made it three stars for me.

On to the things I liked about this book besides the gorgeous cover!!  While it took them some time the characters did overall develop and become different people.  In the beginning I wasn’t sure they would.  Vianne and her love for her husband and child were one of things I could feel throughout this novel.  The things she does during this war while waiting on her husband to come home were extraordinary.  I loved the history sculpted throughout these books some of it believable happening to a character while some of it seemed to much.  The tree branch with ribbons was such a beautiful touch.

I’m sorry to say but Isabelle got on my nerves.  Even though later on she is actually doing something quite spectacular.. she still only does things for herself.  It never seems through the whole book until near the end that anything she did was for the other people. It always seemed like she did everything so she could have more attention. I did like her character growth toward the end….

Overall I really enjoyed how Kristin Hannah broke out of the mold and told a story from the women’s perspective of WWII.  You can tell she really did her research for this book and it shows.  Again this is only my opinion I suggest you go and read the book for yourself.  Those of you who know Kristin Hannah from her romance writing be forewarned this is not a romance novel.

Goodreads link here.

book blurb..

Hardcover, 1st Edition, 440 pages

Published February 3rd 2015 by St. Martin’s Press

Original Title The Nightingale

ISBN 0312577222 (ISBN13: 9780312577223)

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