For Recommendation Week I want to recommend a book that I
put down tonight feeling completely drained but satisfied—maybe not happy, but
satisfied—with the ending. It is a
masterpiece and one of the most moving books I have ever read.
Kristin Hannah’s The
Nightingale is the story of two sisters who live in occupied France during
World War II. The quote that will stick
with you from start to finish is this:
“In love we find out
who we want to be: in war we find out who we are.”
In recent years we have had two other historical fiction
works that deal with occupied France—Sarah’s
Key, and All the Light We Cannot See. I liked both of them, but I liked this one
the best of the three.
I would love to tell you more about it but don’t want to
spoil it. Trust me on this one and get
on the library’s waiting list. It is
worth the 449 pages. If you are going to
listen to it as an audiobook, you can push the speed up to at least 1.5, as the
French narrator is very slow.
This is a picture from Hannah’s website of one of the venues
that inspired the novel.
THE REST OF THE STORY: Last night when I listened to what I thought was the end of the book, the audiobook suddenly stopped. It was done. I thought and thought about the book and realized that Hannah had given enough clues for us to know how the book ended. At first I felt complimented that she would leave her ending in my hands to figure out. A wondered about the book all night and decided that there must be another paragraph or two: she wouldn't have trusted everyone to concoct an ending from her clues. I got up and walked to Walmart at 6:30 as part of my morning walk to find a copy of the book and see for myself if there was another paragraph. Walmart didn't have it.
ReplyDeleteI came home and downloaded the library audiobook onto Dad's phone. He is now listening to it. (The book had prompted a long conversation last night.)
It might not surprise you to know that I was the first customer through the doors at Barnes and Noble this morning. After I found the book--no longer on the best seller shelf but on the new fiction shelf--I found one of those comfy chairs. (I learned from Daniel and Andrea many years ago that you can sit down at Barnes and Noble and read FOR FREE.) I had not only missed a few paragraphs, Kristin Hannah took about eight pages to wrap up the story. I had indeed concocted most of the final details but she threw in a few surprises for me. For the record, it took me 24 minutes to read those few pages. We all know that I am a slow reader, but it also could have had something to do with the condition of my eyes while reading. (Another cool thing about B&N is that you can cry FOR FREE as well, and nobody gets mad.)
When I told Heather how much I liked the book this morning, she was surprised that I liked a Kristin Hannah book. She has read several but has never recommended one to me because she didn't think they were my style. That just goes along with one of the themes of the book--we may not really know our parents at all.
I hope a few of you will pick up this gem. The wait list is long, but if I can find it in paperback, I intend to buy it so that I can pass it around.
I love reading the recommendation and I love THE REST OF THE STORY! I am so glad you went and finished the book in Barnes and Noble. Very strange that the audio book cut out. I am on the waiting list now for the book!!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely makes me interested!
ReplyDeleteI want to read it!! :) Looks awesome, Mom!
ReplyDeleteI want to read it!! :) Looks awesome, Mom!
ReplyDeleteI'm on the waiting list!
ReplyDelete