The Nightingale

Narrator Polly Stone gives voice to this incredible story of women's lives in France during WWII. Sisters Vianne and Isabelle are complete opposites. Vianne, the older, is settled with a family of her own and a husband away at war, while Isabelle is full of fire and wants to fight for France. Stone's even delivery gives an eerie feel to a story that has a lot of action and activity as it alternates between the point of view of Vianne and that of Isabelle. While the dialogue for each sister is very different--calmer and sweeter for Vianne and more passionate and clipped for Isabelle--Stone's voices sound similar, making it difficult at times to know that the point of view has changed. A strength of the narration is that Stone's French accents add authenticity and a sense of place to her reading. E.N. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine

December 1, 2014
“In love we find out who we want to be; in war we find out who we are,” Hannah’s narrator, Viann Mauriac, proclaims as she looks back on her life in France. The bestselling author hits her stride in this page-turning tale about two sisters, one in the French countryside, the other in Paris, who show remarkable courage in the German occupation during WWII. Through Viann we learn how life was disrupted when husbands and fathers were forced to enlist while the Germans took over their towns and villages, billeting themselves in people’s homes, gorging on food, and forcing the starved locals to wait in endless lines for rations. Viann’s younger sister, Isabelle, always rebellious, joins the resistance in Paris, finds love with another resistance fighter, and risks her life guiding downed British and American paratroopers over the Pyrenees and out of France. Viann does her part too, saving 19 Jewish children by hiding them in a convent. Despite having a German officer in her own home, she also takes in a Jewish baby—her best friend’s son—when his mother is sent to a concentration camp. The author ably depicts war’s horrors through the eyes of these two women, whose strength of character shines through no matter their differences. Announced first printing of 350,000 copies.