Set in France during the second world war, The Nightingale tells the story of two sisters who are very different but both heroic in her own way. Vianne, married with a young daughter, experiences the war as a villager whose husband has gone to fight the Germans. Her sister, Isabelle, becomes involved in the French resistance. The story begins with a modern day event of an elderly woman moving out of her home and into assisted living. her son is helping her move and is surprised when she insists on taking an old trunk from the attic. This trunk is full of momentos from the era, things (and events) which her son knows nothing about. The reader does not find out until the end of the book which sister is still alive to tell the tale.
Narration switches from Vianne to Isabell. Their perceptions of each other are often vastly distorted. Vianne thinks Isabelle is simply headstrong and rash, never thinking before she acts. Isabelle believes Vianne is simply a coward. The trials they must survive during Nazi occupation are often horrific for both sisters.
This book, like All the Light We Cannot See, provides an important viewpoint of the war that is not often discussed: how it affected simple people who had to endure occupation and fighting. I highly recommend this book.
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