The Nightingale / Kristin Hannah

In this gritty tale from the Second World War, two sisters follow quite different paths of resistance that challenge them to the core. When the Nazis invade France Vianne tries to hold things together in her small town in the Loire Valley, her husband a POW. Her always rebellious sister Isabelle pursues a seemingly more dangerous calling with the French Underground, traveling around France and crossing the Pyrenees repeatedly to Spain, guiding downed English pilots to safety.

This novel is so jam-packed full of history and events, that the reader barely has time to process one thing before something else more tragic and catastrophic comes along. It is war after all. I suppose I wish there had been a bit more character development instead of broad brush strokes that defined the different personages. And I sort of think Ari didn’t speak with the voice of a three-year-old, which mildly bothered me.

From a history standpoint this was a good read, but I think the major shortcoming was that the characters remained a little two-dimensional for me.

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