The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

The Nightingale

by Kristin Hannah

The Bestselling Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick

Soon to be a major motion picture, The Nightingale has captured the hearts of millions of readers becoming a number one bestseller across the world. It is a heart-breakingly beautiful novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the endurance of women.

This story is about what it was like to be a woman during World War II, when women’s stories were all too often forgotten or overlooked . . . Vianne and Isabelle Mauriac are two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals and passion and circumstance, each embarking on her own dangerous path towards survival, love and freedom in war-torn France.

It is a novel for everyone, a novel for a lifetime.

‘A rich, compelling novel of love, sacrifice and survival’ Kate Morton, author of Homecoming

‘Movingly written and plotted with the heartless skill of a Greek tragedy, you’ll keep turning the pages until the last racking sob’ Daily Mail

‘I loved The Nightingale . . . great characters, great plots, great emotions, who could ask for more in a novel?’ Isabel Allende, bestselling author of The House of the Spirits

‘A griping tale of family, love, grief and forgiveness’ Sunday Express

The Nightingale has sold more than 4 million copies globally, TIME, February 2021

Reviewed by luddite on

4 of 5 stars

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This is a book laden with gut punches and familiar tropes of WW2. The writing is heavy-handed in big chunks, and you can guess the broad trajectory of the plot. Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

Pick it up for a familiar-yet-good WW2 story and blaze through it all quickly.

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  • 27 August, 2018: Reviewed