BOOK CLUB

N I G H T I N G A L E

kristin hannah

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Set in France 1939 in the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac is forced to say goodbye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. Unknowingly about to face the Germans herself. In droves of marching soldiers, in caravans of trucks and tanks, in planes that fill the skies and drop bombs upon the innocent, the Nazi's invade France. When Vianne is forced to house a German captain, she and her daughter must live with the enemy or lose everything. Vianne is faced with choice after choice as a means of survival.

Vianne’s sister, Isabelle, is a rebellious eighteen-year-old girl, searching for purpose with all the reckless passion of youth. While thousands of Parisians march into the unknown terrors of war, she meets Gäetan, a partisan who believes the French can fight the Nazis from within France, and she falls in love as only the young can…completely. But when he betrays her, Isabelle joins the Resistance and never looks back, risking her life time and again to save others.

Kristin Hannah, bestselling author, captures the epic panorama of WWII and illuminates an intimate part of history seldom seen: the women’s war. The Nightingale tells the stories of two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals, passion and circumstance, each embarking on her own dangerous path toward survival, love, and freedom in German-occupied, war-torn France–a heartbreakingly beautiful novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the durability of women. It is a novel for everyone, a novel for a lifetime.

A highly recommended read. This book is deeply moving and fantastically beautiful.

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Rating: 10 / 10