This book is Kristin Hannah's masterpiece. It was recommended to me by a friend who said it is being considered for major book awards. Before this, I thought of Kristin Hannah as a popular writer of fiction that appeals mainly to women, about relationships between sisters.

This book is about two sisters, but it is also set in the historical context of World War II France. The two sisters, Isabel and Vianne live different lives as the war begins to approach.

Vianne is married, with a child and Isabel is a wild child who flits from boarding school to boarding school. After WWI, both girls were rejected by their father, who was messed up and depressed by that conflict. The death of their loving and beloved mother only worsened the relationship with their surviving parent.

Vianne's husband, Antoine, is sent off to war and is quickly taken prisoner in Germany. As Vianne tries to survive, her sister arrives, but is not really welcome. A German Captain requisitions their house and so they must live in the same house as a representative of the enemy, albeit a somewhat kindly one.

Isabel, feeling less than welcome in a place that never felt like home, leaves to pursue other adventures back in Paris. She goes on to fight the war in her unique way, leading downed airmen to safety over the mountains into spain, time after time. The code name for her in her mission is "The Nightingale" as that is the translation of the family last name, also. Vianne stays at home and looks out for her daughter and her Jewish friend and her children, and ultimately saves many Jewish children from death at the hands of the Nazis.

They both have to make difficult choices in order to survive what happens to them in the war and many times their survival, and that of their loved ones, is threatened.

This is a powerful, and, at times, a very brutal book, with a lot of killing and even rape. That is the way it was with the Nazis - you never knew what they would do next to torture the French people. Toward the end (last 150 pages) I could not put it down and that hasn't happened much with books these days. The last one I remember where that happened was "The Girl on the Train."

the ending and I don't usually like endings of modern books. This one seemed perfect, although there is a tremendous surprise at the end. I kept wondering if that might be the case, but I won't give it away here. I sort of figured logistically that it couldn't be possible, (What I was suspecting as I read) but looking back, I missed a few details here and there that made it altogether probable and possible.

the fact that the later life of the main character (won't give that away here) is not fully explained. I guess it is possible that it worked out that way, but I would have liked to see more on the why and wherefore of all that.

it is well written, historically accurate (best I could tell) and powerfully moving. I wouldn't hesitate to read it because she's a "popular" woman's author. Some people get all caught up in that snobby, judgmental stuff and can't see the forest for the trees.

So what if she is successful? It doesn't mean she can't write a profoundly moving and powerful piece of fiction. I liked it just as much as I liked the Pulitzer Prize winning, "All the Light We Cannot See."

If she is smart enough to write a bunch of books that sell to millions of readers, then she is smart enough to write a classic novel. I sort of think she has done that here.

I will look forward to the upcoming movie and hope that Hollywood does the story justice.

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Created Jan 13, 2016 at 9:32am • Submit your own review...