My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Two different sisters with a broken relationship forge different paths in Nazi occupied France. Vianne and Isabelle Rossignal lost their father when he returned home from WWI, suffering from trauma. Not long afterwards, they lost their mother. Their father leaves the two of them to be raised by other people, having little to no contact with them for years. The loss of her mother and the absence of her father caused Vianne to retreat and neglect her younger sister, Isabelle. Something that Isabelle has never forgotten or forgiven.
By 1939, Vianne is happily married with a daughter. Isabelle is rebellious and wild with no regards to the rules. After Hitler invades France, the country becomes a shadow of its former self. Vianne's once happy life ends when her husband enlists and leaves, then her home is billeted by two Nazi officers. Soon she sees loved ones disappear and must fight to survive. No longer able to witness any more loss, Vianne quietly begins to deceive the enemy to protect the innocents of France.
Isabelle, desperate to fight back and reclaim her home, finds herself aiding the underground Resistance. Overtime, she becomes an absolute asset to the Resistance, seeing as the enemy would never suspect a woman with enough courage (or foolishness) to outsmart them. Vianne and Isabelle wage their own private wars against Hitler, believing that the Nazi's have severely underestimated the strength of the people of France.
Due to my WWII study and research, it was a no-brainer that I was going to be interested in The Nightingale. I loved the characters of Vianne and Isabelle. Both sisters, so different and yet so passionate for their loved ones and their home. This is the second book that I've read about the French Resistance and say what you want about the French, they were a tough people that didn't go down without a fight. In spite of the novel's size, the story was captivating and I really felt that I was fighting this war alongside Vianne and Isabelle.
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