Some books tend to be amazing; they stick in your mind for a long time because they moved you in a way you’ve never felt before. The Nightingale was one of them and it has become one of my favourite books I’ve read this year. You know now that I’m passionate about history and I love to read a good book on the WW2 topic. But be careful with those, they are heavy and heart-breaking as they tend to be based on real events, even if it’s a fiction. This one was a fiction, but it was still based on the reality of France during WW2. As a French who lived in the countryside and now in Paris, it was hard to see my country depicted like this. It’s not like in the movies, at all…

The Nightingale is the story of two sisters. Lianne lives in the countryside with her husband and daughter, she cares for her family and she is loving towards those she loves. Isabelle lives in Paris, she is brave and fearless, young but has strong conviction and wants to change the world. She does not settle into anything, she needs more. And one day, the war starts. Lianne’s husband must go and fight while she has to stay at home and take care of everything alone and survive as best as she can. She has to handle a lot of issues throughout the years and she becomes unrecognizable. Her sister is turning into someone else as well, but who doesn’t during the war? They both had to do hard choices in order to survive, do good and help people.

This book was so interesting because of all the details and precision. It shows the horrors of the war, but also how it was a war of women. Both women in this book are changing because they saw and lived things that made them stronger. They both decide to help those who need it because they can. That’s who they choose to be, and I think it’s amazing. It was not just war for a few months and a country cut into halves with French living side by side with Germans. No, it was a war were women needed to survive, to eat, to live through winter, to co-exist with Nazis. Women whose husbands did not return, women whose friends were Jews and were sent away for ever. It was the resistance, the camps, the bombing and the “nice” Nazis. It was all of that and this book shows it all. And for that, you must read it if you can.

I would advise this book for people who are interested in the war, who are capable reading a heavy book with difficult moments that could make you cry. But you must read this book if you have the opportunity because it’s important to always remember this war.

Have you read it yet? Tell me what you thought of it or if history books are your jam?