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400 pages of high schooler quality prose about WWII tragedy. I simply cannot. And I see others are saying, "Yes, the writing is not stellar, but the story!" But ... that's like, "Here is a trashcan full of cognac! It's so delicious. You really must drink this." But it's been served to me in a trashcan...
So disappointed. Sorry. Make it a movie. I'll watch it. I just can't read it. ...more
So disappointed. Sorry. Make it a movie. I'll watch it. I just can't read it. ...more
This may just be my favorite book of all times. It is a story beautifully told, with so much detail, not only that gives a sense of place, but also reveals the feelings, fears and desires of all the characters. I related very much to the main character, Isabelle who had such tenacity, such a desire to survive and make a difference. And her sister's transformation was nothing short of remarkable, from a weak, wanting to please, self-effacing personality, to one who also fought against the injusti
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Get ready for the water works. For all of you who put this on the DNF list - I almost did not like this book either. In the beginning, I was really annoyed with the main characters and could not connect with them. However, the final half of this book was very well written, organized, and made it worth the read.
Started as audiobook then loan expired. Continued in hardcover and went so much faster - maybe I wasn’t a big fan of the narrator?
Waited chapters and months for Vianne to take a stand, so glad it happened. Isabelle is a firebrand but not everyone can express her level of certainty or courage, maybe that’s part of why I so enjoyed that Vianne found her own path to what she stood for, complicated and gray as it was.
Relationships were well played - family, friends, lovers, enemies. Present day/fla ...more
Waited chapters and months for Vianne to take a stand, so glad it happened. Isabelle is a firebrand but not everyone can express her level of certainty or courage, maybe that’s part of why I so enjoyed that Vianne found her own path to what she stood for, complicated and gray as it was.
Relationships were well played - family, friends, lovers, enemies. Present day/fla ...more
I hated the main characters for the first 100 or so pages. Then somehow by the end I was crying for them. That's some powerful story telling to drastically change how a reader interprets characters.
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The story of two sisters, Vianne and Isabelle, living in France during WWII. Isabelle decides to join the resistance and ends up living in Paris. Vianne meanwhile is left at home with her Daughter Sophie while her husband is in a POW camp. A German officer comes to stay with them. I don't know how much of the details of the German occupation of France were true. What drew me into the story was the story of the sisters. I disliked the device of making you try to guess which sister lived to tell t
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The story of a family in Germany. How war can destroy and build people. Very good story.
Love historical fiction, but there's so much WW2 historical fiction I really get tired of it. Have avoided it completely for a long while. In June I came across The Golden Doves and have been fixated on WW2, again, ever since. What might it have been like for women in occupied France during this time of tremendous challenges? Though The Nightingale is considered fiction, it is well-researched, suspenseful, heart-breaking, gripping. The character Isabelle is based on the late Andrée de Jongh (191
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4 starts for literary writing and 5 stars for the compelling nature. I stayed up late, got up early, and cried through the final 30 minutes.
Jul 05, 2016
Brittany Gillis
marked it as to-read
Apr 15, 2018
Amy
marked it as to-read
Jul 22, 2018
Susie LaBelle
added it
Jun 22, 2019
Natasha
marked it as to-read
Nov 01, 2019
Stacey Matson
marked it as to-read
