Historical Fiction Annotation

The Nightingale

By

Kristin Hannah

Synopsis

   In 1995 an unnamed widow, who is dying from cancer and soon moving to nursing care by request of her surgeon son Julien, narrates a passionate story of survival centered around the lives of two sisters living in France during World War II.  The story begins with the older sister in her twenties and the other in her late teens.   The older sister, Viann, lives in a generational family home near a French village with her husband Antoine and her young daughter Sophie.  The younger sister, Isabelle, is rebellious and continuously runs away from boarding and finishing schools returning to her father who lives in Paris.  Although the personalities of these two sisters are like night and day, they both share the grief of losing their mother at a young age and the rejection of a father who suffers from a form of post-traumatic stress disorder from his service in the Great War.   As World War II breaks out, each of the family members are drawn into the war torn years and are forced to fight for survival.  Antoine is called to duty holding the Maginot line against invading Germans leaving Viann alone with Sophie.  Isabelle is biting at the bit to serve in some way and can’t stand just sitting and doing nothing.  As the Germans take over the small village where Viann lives, she is forced to billet German officers in her home and stand in ration lines each day for the little food that she and her daughter receive.  Isabelle joins the Resistance which is an underground group who is risking its’ neck to smuggle downed Allied pilots to safety.  It is during this time that Isabelle is given the code name ‘The Nightingale’.  As the war trudges on through the years, timid Viann finds herself giving up her dignity at times to save herself and her daughter, but she also finds bravery she never knew she had in order to save others.  On the other hand, Isabelle is going through heroic and sometimes reckless measures to save Allied soldiers.   Through the pain and suffering the family members are drawn back together toward the end of the war to heal from wounds that are not only physical but emotional.  It’s not until 1995, that the massive impact the sisters’ actions had during war are revealed.  It’s also at the end of the story when the mysterious narrator is unveiled to the reader.

Elements of an Historical Fiction

Pacing –This novel is unhurried with moments where the pacing picks up allowing the reader to get drawn into the characters’ lives.

Characterization – Although the characters are not true historical figures, the fashion, language, and mannerisms of these characters molds them into real people that readers feel they get to know on a personal level. 

Story line – The story is not based on famous historical figures, but common people of the World War II era caught up in the event of the war.  It tells of the everyday actions that take place alternating chapters or sequences of the story from one sister to the other. 

  

Frame/Tone – The frame work for this story is steeped in historical accuracy concerning the culture, custom, and beliefs of World War II French citizens as well as their Nazi German counterparts.  The tone is anxious and foreboding with a sense of danger around every corner. 

Style – This book has an anonymous narrator (until the end) that tells the story of the sisters from their eyes and alternating chapters or sequences of the story between the two.  The language is accurate for the 1940s with no unexpected modern day slang or idioms popping up.

Read-A-Likes

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

The Plum Tree by Ellen Marie Wiseman

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See