The Nightingale
The Multimillion Copy Bestseller from the Author of The Women
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4.7 • 1K Ratings
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- £5.99
Publisher Description
The bestselling Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick
'One of the greatest storytellers of our time' – Delia Owens, author of Where the Crawdads Sing
Soon to be a major motion picture, The Nightingale is a multi-million copy bestseller across the world. It is a heart-breakingly beautiful novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the endurance of women.
'I always thought it was what I wanted: to be loved and admired. Now I think perhaps I’d like to be known'
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.
Kristin Hannah's The Nightingale is a novel for everyone, a novel for a lifetime.
‘A rich, compelling novel of love, sacrifice and survival’ - Kate Morton
‘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 gripping tale of family, love, grief and forgiveness’ - Sunday Express
The Nightingale has sold more than 4 million copies globally, TIME, February 2021
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Gorgeously written, The Nightingale is a feast of images, scenes and emotions that whirl off the page. Set in WWII France, the novel tells the story of two sisters with very different personalities forced to draw upon their strengths and find their own path to resistance under the German occupation. We were completely absorbed by the development of Viann and Isabelle’s relationship and the tense, moving portrait of two women’s courage during one of history’s overwhelmingly dark periods.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"In love we find out who we want to be; in war we find out who we are," Hannah's narrator, Viann Mauriac, proclaims as she looks back on her life in France. The bestselling author hits her stride in this page-turning tale about two sisters, one in the French countryside, the other in Paris, who show remarkable courage in the German occupation during WWII. Through Viann we learn how life was disrupted when husbands and fathers were forced to enlist while the Germans took over their towns and villages, billeting themselves in people's homes, gorging on food, and forcing the starved locals to wait in endless lines for rations. Viann's younger sister, Isabelle, always rebellious, joins the resistance in Paris, finds love with another resistance fighter, and risks her life guiding downed British and American paratroopers over the Pyrenees and out of France. Viann does her part too, saving 19 Jewish children by hiding them in a convent. Despite having a German officer in her own home, she also takes in a Jewish baby her best friend's son when his mother is sent to a concentration camp. The author ably depicts war's horrors through the eyes of these two women, whose strength of character shines through no matter their differences. Announced first printing of 350,000 copies.
Customer Reviews
Thought provoking and powerful
A well researched and thought provoking book. A moving way to honour the memory of the vital work women undertook in the Second World War adding the importance of loss, and Love winning over hate. It also reminded me of the importance of standing up against oppression and challenging unjust systems and structures that create suffering and oppression.
Harrowing, but worth the read!
Great book!
A masterpiece
Breathtaking and a book I will never forget ! What a brilliant story!! Loved every page. Cried so much but understand so much more about the struggles of the French women in war!
Truly a brilliant book reminding us of the strength and resilience of all women x