The Nightingale. Kristin Hanna 2015 438 pages. This novel by a well-known fiction writer was on the list for a book club I belonged to; If not for that, I probably would not have read it, (I tend to avoid books that achieve bestseller status, as authors and publishers are capable of crass manipulation to get on those lists), but I am glad that I did read this one. The writing style is superb and the analogies, metaphors, and similes are memorable. The long history, going back to Greek mythology, of the nightingale and the song of the nightingale as symbols of both love and danger are wonderfully maintained. There are so many layers of irony that it made me marvel at the writer’s skillf=. Nothing in the plot is predictable far in advance, a feature that I find unusual in modern novels. Set in wartime France beginning in 1940, but with interspersed chapters set in Oregon in 1995, when one of the major characters is old and dying, the plot is complex and the characters are equally so. There are no absolutely good guys and few absolutely bad guys, unusual in war fiction. It is impossible to describe the plot and characters in more detail without giving away too much, but there are realistic and gruesome wartime tragedies interspersed with daring and heroic adventures on behalf of the French resistance, along with tender romance and family intrigue. Some scenes such as that of a child dying from a stray bullet wound with her mother helplessly watching had this usually stoic adult male sobbing uncontrollably. Realistically and unusually, some Nazi soldiers are not characterized as the embodiment of evil but the victims of circumstances and propaganda, who carry out their duties with reluctance and sensitivity. Paradoxically, some of the book club members found the plot and the whole story unrealistic as have some on-line reviewers. But I loved this book and highly recommend it. And it is a big step up from the Harlequin-like romances of Hanna’s previous novels.

One thought on “The Nightingale. Kristin Hanna 2015 438 pages. This novel by a well-known fiction writer was on the list for a book club I belonged to; If not for that, I probably would not have read it, (I tend to avoid books that achieve bestseller status, as authors and publishers are capable of crass manipulation to get on those lists), but I am glad that I did read this one. The writing style is superb and the analogies, metaphors, and similes are memorable. The long history, going back to Greek mythology, of the nightingale and the song of the nightingale as symbols of both love and danger are wonderfully maintained. There are so many layers of irony that it made me marvel at the writer’s skillf=. Nothing in the plot is predictable far in advance, a feature that I find unusual in modern novels. Set in wartime France beginning in 1940, but with interspersed chapters set in Oregon in 1995, when one of the major characters is old and dying, the plot is complex and the characters are equally so. There are no absolutely good guys and few absolutely bad guys, unusual in war fiction. It is impossible to describe the plot and characters in more detail without giving away too much, but there are realistic and gruesome wartime tragedies interspersed with daring and heroic adventures on behalf of the French resistance, along with tender romance and family intrigue. Some scenes such as that of a child dying from a stray bullet wound with her mother helplessly watching had this usually stoic adult male sobbing uncontrollably. Realistically and unusually, some Nazi soldiers are not characterized as the embodiment of evil but the victims of circumstances and propaganda, who carry out their duties with reluctance and sensitivity. Paradoxically, some of the book club members found the plot and the whole story unrealistic as have some on-line reviewers. But I loved this book and highly recommend it. And it is a big step up from the Harlequin-like romances of Hanna’s previous novels.”

1. This is another one that I read and loved! You are right, Hanna’s earlier books are more the Harlequin type. I have read several books from French authors set in WWII and this one is right up there with “La Bicyclette Bleue” by Régine Desforges and “Toute ma vie sera mensonge” by Henri Troyat.

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