The Nightingale By Kristin Hannah
Review by Maxine Bough
Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale is a historical fiction novel that follows the impossible choices two sisters make while navigating the struggles of Nazi-occupied France during World War II. Rather than focusing on the front lines, this novel tells the stories of the battles fought on the domestic front, those often overlooked in history. The Nightingale departs from historical book stories of sabotage and armed combat and instead shows the part of the war won through civil resistance. The story also features perspectives not often present when it comes to discussing wartime resistance. By focusing the story on the home front, Hannah asserts that the French Resistance was more than military operations; it was also a gendered, domestic struggle that forced women to survive and take a stand.
The two protagonists of the novel are sisters Isabelle and Vianne. Isabelle is established as a stubborn, independent character, often getting in trouble for those traits. This rebellious streak goes from immaturity to heroic defiance as she grows through her experiences of the war. During the war, she began working with the French Resistance, starting with small tasks like spreading resistance papers and delivering letters. Eventually, she starts hiding downed airmen to protect them from being found and arrested by the Nazis. These efforts eventually led her to develop an escape route with coordinated safe houses, transportation, and a hike through the mountains to get the airmen to Spain. Isabelle personally traveled the dangerous route with the men repeatedly and developed a working relationship with the British government.
While Isabelle’s version of resistance represents the organized, direct resistance, Vianne’s story tells of an equally vital role of resistance that relies on endurance and patience. For the majority of the book, Vianne condemns Isabelle’s desire for resistance. Vianne does everything she can to keep her daughter safe, even when a Nazi soldier is billeted in her home. However, when women, including her best friend, begin to be deported, Vianne feels obligated to do something to keep their children safe as well. Reluctantly, she rescues the children of those being deported and brings them to the local convent, where she and the Mother Superior work to hide the Jewish children. The novel emphasizes the contrast of Isabelle’s rebellious, outspoken nature and Vianne’s quiet endurance. Despite their differences, both sisters saved lives and represent the contributions of real women who went unknown and underappreciated.
One of the main themes of this book is the idea of women as heroes. Part of the reason women played such a critical role in the resistance was that they were often overlooked or seen as incapable. One example within the novel is when Isabelle is captured for her connection to the “Nightingale”, the codename used for her escape route for airmen. Her father claims he was the Nightingale to protect her from questioning and torture. Isabelle tries to stop him and admit that she was truly The Nightingale, but the soldier merely scoffs and says a woman wouldn’t be capable of that kind of work (pg 479). This underestimation of women is part of what made them so valuable for dangerous missions. Another example from the novel is how Vianne saved so many children while living with a high-ranking German officer. Because the officer saw her for little more than her housekeeping and her body, she was able to get the children forged papers, to the convent, and keep an eye on them by teaching there (pg 456, 475). However, many townspeople saw Vianne housing a German officer as compliant, despite the mistreatment and abuse she suffered while being forced to house him. Despite the added difficulty of saving children while living with a Nazi, Vianne continued her work, not for recognition, but for the future of those children. These women represent many more women who resisted and made a difference during the war, yet their stories so often go untold. Both storylines show how women utilized society’s perspective to complete heroic feats that saved lives.
The literary choice to show two perspectives also allowed for a more dynamic view of the war. Isabelle’s storyline helped tell the story of the women who helped save the lives of downed Allied pilots. Isabelle represents the work done by women like Andrée de Jongh and the “Comet Line”, a real escape line that trekked over the Pyrenees mountain into Spain. Andrée de Jongh risked her life to lead over 400 Allied soldiers to the safety of Spain. Similar to Isabelle, de Jongh was captured and put into a concentration camp (Rossignol). Vianne’s perspective tells the story of the many women left at home during the war who had to survive however they could. She tells the experience of women forced to billet with soldiers and the suffering that sometimes came with it. These women faced food scarcity, raised children, and were treated poorly by German officers. Both women, while different, represent the real lives of many women who lived through the war.
Occasionally, the novel features a third perspective. We follow the story of an elderly woman facing terminal cancer and trauma related to the war. Through the novel, we learn that she has been secretive about her past with her son, her only living family. When she is invited to Paris for a reunion honoring the Nightingale, she realizes she can’t keep running from her past. She attends the reunion with her son, where we learn that she is Vianne. She describes her sister’s heroism, reunites with one of the children she saved, and tells her story to her son. While more sentimental than historical, this third perspective gives the reader a glimpse into the lasting trauma and even generational effects that the war left on families.
While The Nightingale leans into romantic and sentimental tropes of the historical fiction genre, the story’s strength lies in the detailed exploration of the domestic front of the war. Hannah’s novel details the reality of hunger, living conditions, and constant surveillance, particularly for women. The balance of historical storytelling with the feminine perspective highlights the stories of so many women who made an impact during the war and went unappreciated. From the quiet defiance of women like Viane to the blatant resistance of Isabelle and the escape route, the novel shows that both were important in the history of France. The book also offers a glimpse into the struggles of life after the tragedy and loss of war. By focusing on the large scale of World War II on the lives and choices of these two sisters, Hannah shows the intimate reality of the cost of survival. I would recommend The Nightingale to anyone who is interested in historical fiction with an emphasis on the importance of domestic movements to survive and resistance over traditional battlefield confrontations.
Works Cited
Hannah, Kristin. The Nightingale. St. Martin’s Press, 2015.
Rossignol, Isabelle. “Legacies: Pondering the Path from Isabelle Rossignol to…” American Academy of Ophthalmology, 1 June 2021, https://www.aao.org/lifetime-engaged-ophthalmologist/perspective/article/legacies-pondering-path-from-isabelle-rossignol-to.
Maxine Bough is a senior student, Teaching Major in Mathematics.