Sign up for our newsletters to receive our Most Anticipated Books of 2025!

Read advance reader review of The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

Summary |  Excerpt |  Reading Guide |  Reviews |  Beyond the book |  Read-Alikes |  Genres & Themes |  Author Bio

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

The Nightingale

by Kristin Hannah
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus (4):
  • Readers' Rating (55):
  • First Published:
  • Feb 3, 2015, 448 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Apr 2017, 592 pages
  • Rate this book

About This Book

Reviews


Page 1 of 5
There are currently 31 member reviews
for The Nightingale
Order Reviews by:
  • Nancy D. (West Chester, PA)
    A Different View of WWII
    This was the first book by Kristen Hannah that I have read and now I want to go back and read her earlier books. The plot was engaging and the twists were good and yet believable.The characters were well drawn and engaging. I enthusiastically recommend this book
  • Mary O. (Boston, MA)
    A Pageturner!
    I love to read historical fiction and get totally absorbed in the characters and times. The Nightingale is an engrossing, well developed account of two sisters in WWII occupied France. One of the BEST reads I have had lately. Never a dull moment!!!
  • Jennifer F. (SARATOGA, CA)
    Compelling page turner
    Kristin Hannah transports the reader into the scenes of the small villages of occupied France in such a way that you relate to the main characters of her novel, The Nightingale. Whether or not it is a true story, it's filled with enough real relationships and tragedies that the heroic story of the Nightingale is a heartfelt view into the life of fear and hiding that was WWII France. The characters were very realistic and relatable and the plot was very compelling. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
  • Arden A. (Longboat Key, FL)
    Unsung Heroines
    This is an excellent rendering of the dire circumstances innocent people had to tolerate during the German occupation of France in WWII. It is hard to fathom the interminable suffering that took place under the Nazi regime. Two sisters come face to face with the horror of war, and both find ways to make a difference.

    Wonderfully told story, totally engaging, and the saddest part is that even if it is a novel, we know too well the awful truth of what happened, and that the author has embedded that truth in this novel.
  • Andrea S. (Lafayette, IN)
    Powerful story of war and family
    I read this book almost without stopping the last 200 pages because I became so involved in what was going on. The characters were well developed and believable. The horrors of war were the backdrop for this book that shows the strength of the human spirit. To know that the book is based on a true story makes it even more powerful. Book clubs will find much to discuss with this book.
  • Elizabeth K. (Glenshaw, PA)
    The Nightingale
    I found myself thinking of these characters even when I was not reading the book. The story of the Germans occupying France during World War II has been told many times, but Kristin Hannah painted a vivid picture of the characters and the times. I easily pictured the countryside in the Loire Valley and the city of Paris.

    Sisters Viann and Isabella, who seemed very different, bonded in the dire circumstances. Morals during war become a matter of necessity.

    A beautifully told story.
  • Debbie-Lyn C. (Kitty Hawk, NC)
    The Nightingale
    The Nightingale is a revealing story of the horrors and passions in occupied France during World War II . I was spellbound as the author brought to life the courageous undertakings of 3 young French women. I have a deeper appreciation for the heroism, daily struggles and losses needed to survive. The characters in this book will remain with me long into the future.

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: The Capital of Dreams
    The Capital of Dreams
    by Heather O'Neill
    "Sometimes war can set a woman free," declares Sofia Bottom's larger-than-life intelligentsia mother...
  • Book Jacket: The Lion Women of Tehran
    The Lion Women of Tehran
    by Marjan Kamali
    Seven-year-old Ellie, living in Tehran in the 1950s, has just lost her father. She and her single ...
  • Book Jacket: Clear
    Clear
    by Carys Davies
    John Ferguson is a principled man. But when, in 1843, those principles drive him to break from the ...
  • Book Jacket: The Mighty Red
    The Mighty Red
    by Louise Erdrich
    Permit me to break the fourth wall. Like any good reviewer, I aim to analyze a book dispassionately,...

BookBrowse Book Club

Book Jacket
Babylonia
by Costanza Casati
From the author of the bestselling Clytemnestra comes another intoxicating excursion into ancient history. When kings fall, queens rise.
Book Jacket
The Memory Library
by Kate Storey
Journey through the pages of this heartwarming novel, where hope, friendship and second chances are written in the margins.

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    The Secret History of the Rape Kit
    by Pagan Kennedy

    The story of the woman who kicked off a feminist revolution in forensics, and then vanished into obscurity.

  • Book Jacket

    Going Home
    by Tom Lamont

    Going Home is a sparkling, funny, bighearted story of family and what happens when three men take charge of a toddler following an unexpected loss.

Book Club Giveaway!
Win My Darling Boy

My Darling Boy by John Dufresne

The story of of a man whose son collapses into addiction and vanishes into the chaotic netherworld of southern Florida.

Enter

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

Y C L a H T W but Y C M H D

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.