In Safety She Sings: "The Nightingale" by Kristin Hannah

According to Welsh author Ken Follett, "World War II is the greatest drama in human history, the biggest war ever and a true battle of good and evil. I imagine writers will continue to get stories from it, and readers will continue to love them, for many more years." This statement could not have described my feelings about "The Nightingale" by Kristin Hannah any better.  It was, without a doubt, one of the most powerful WWII books I've read in a really long time and had me entranced for days after I finished reading it.

When "The Nightingale" was released, my SLC bestie, Luci read it and promptly recommended it to me. At the time I wasn't reading as much so it went on my Amazon Wish List in hopes that someone would buy it as a gift.  For almost 3 years it sat on my wish list waiting, waiting, waiting. Then I walked in to our local used book store and it was on the shelf.  I snatched it up and added it to the reading list for April's blog posts.  Little did I know how much of an impact it would have on me.  And as a bonus, it has a STUNNING cover.  Old news that I'm a sucker for a stellar cover.

The plot is set in the countryside of France as well as Paris in 1939. At the beginning of the book we are introduced to two sisters, Vianne and Isabelle, who are the quintessential definition of bi-polar in their views of the war. Vianne, the older sister, is married and sends her husband off to the front lines fairly early on in the book.  Isabelle is a fierce fighter against the Hitler regime and she quickly realizes that living with her sister for any period of time is not in her best interest, but also goes against her beliefs in the resistance efforts. While Vianne is forced to entertain a Nazi soldier who is living in her home, Isabelle makes her way to the front lines of the resistance, and begins her work as the Nightingale, a wanted spy and smuggler of Jews and ally soldiers.  One of the code phrases for when Isabelle has safely delivered her group of refugees is "The Nightingale sings." They also say, "in safety she sings" which is why I gave this post that title. The imagery used by the author to describe Isabelle's missions are spellbinding.  There were a few times I felt like I was in the forest with her and the group while they were trying to sneak across the border to neutral territory.

This book, much like "Girl in the Blue Coat" brought a very realistic perspective to the master manipulation that the Nazi soldiers used to convince people of their ways.  Vianne lives in constant fear and her actions definitely show it. She is also easily persuaded and finds herself questioning her moral compass because she so desperately misses her husband and the first Nazi soldier living in her home fills some dangerously-present emotional gaps. It's a tangled web she weaves and eventually there are some hard life lessons that she must learn because of it.

This is the first fiction book in awhile that I pulled a bunch of quotes from to use in a blog post. I've tried to stay away from the more philosophical posts because that was more my writing style on my previous blog.  However, this book broke that rule on numerous occasions and the quotes were just too powerful not to share with my readers.  I think the author did an amazing job at writing material that so eloquently applied to modern day while simultaneously describing a very dark piece of world history.  Here are a few of the quotes that really spoke to me.

“We are all fragile. It’s the thing we learn in war”

"Don’t think about who they are. Think about who you are and what sacrifices you can live with and what will break you.”

“I think, as this war goes on, we will all have to look more deeply. These questions are not about them, but about us.”

“How can I possibly sleep at a time like this?” He sighed. “You will learn that a lot of things are possible.”

“In love we find out who we want to be; in war we find out who we are”

I debated if I would put the quotes in context for my readers, but I think I'm leaving them written as is and hope that will encourage you to read the book! As an American and the granddaughter of a man who fought in the second World War, I am so grateful for the sacrifices made by MANY to bring down a regime of people who thought genocide was acceptable.  I'm also grateful for the many men and women who are currently defending my freedom and who continue to face the questions listed above. War has changed my generation thanks to the tragic events of 9.11.2001 and we must never forget how important our freedom is and what it takes to defend it.

My recommended reading group would be age 16 and above.  It's a definite PG-13 read with relationship elements, including sex and some really heavy thematic elements surrounding the Nazis and the brutality of World War II.

The Moral of the Story: Defending your honor can be dangerous and painful, but ultimately the end goal is bringing safety to those who may not have the ability to sing because their world has been torn to shreds by the enemy.

Happy reading, my amazing, geeky lovelies!
-R

Missed last week's book review? Click here to read it!



Other Books by Kristin Hannah