The Nightingale
The Nightingale by Kristen Hannah
June 2024/ July 2024
4 out of 5
“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.”
“Men tell stories. Women get on with it. For us it was a shadow war. There were no parades for us when it was over, no medals or mentions in history books. We did what we had to during the war, and when it was over, we picked up the pieces and started our lives over.”
Here is a small blurb from Amazon’s book synopsis, that I believe gives you just enough information to want to read it.
“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.”
“Today’s young people want to know everything about everyone. They think talking about a problem will solve it. I come from a quieter generation. We understand the value of forgetting, the lure of reinvention.”
Dual timeline
World War II/ Romance/ Family Dynamics
Historical
This book is hard to give an good review on as I believe it is an amazing book, but I read it at the wrong time and couldn’t put my entire attention on it. It is a long book and the beginning of the book is a bit slow. I think this book would be better read in the winter time, when I have a longer attention span and more time to read. Summer reading is more for shorter books, and quick, easy reads; not something that has a lot of depth to it and needs to take time to understand the whole story.
So, at this time that is all I will write, until I can re-read it and give it more of an honest opinion.
“Some stories don’t have happy endings. Even love stories. Maybe especially love stories.”
