Book/Character Review: The Nightingale | by Samantha Patino

Kristin Hannah, the brilliant author of The Nightingale, creates characters in her book that are hard to forget. This book takes place during the horrendous time of World War II, in France, and vividly describes how each of the characters dealt with the major changes that they were faced with. Some characters quietly accepted the changes, and others spoke out against everything. Isabelle, an interesting, but lovable character of pure fearlessness, was shunned away from everyone she has ever loved, especially her father and yet she still did everything in her power to do the right thing. From handing out anti-Nazi pamphlets, to bringing downed, Allied airmen across the border, Isabelle faced everything without fear to do everything she believed to be the right thing . Isabelle's older sister Vianne, lived a hard childhood, similar to her sister, but she was later saved by her close friends and her future husband. Even though Vianne also felt the pain of being left behind by her father, she still left Isabelle to spend her life with true-love Antoine. Once the Nazis come to invade Vianne's hometown, Vianne accepts the change and keeps her mouth closed. Towards the end of the war, Vianne redeems herself by saving small Jewish children and getting them fake identity papers and putting them into the church's orphanage. Many readers, myself included, find Isabelle an easy to love character since so many aspire to be her, and it is easy to feel sympathetic. Throughout the book, I felt sorry for her, since she is constantly let down by the ones she loves,always forgotten, even though she is doing such great things. On the other hand, Vianne is lovable but I sometimes felt she was not always there for her family. From the very beginning, Vianne left Isabelle behind and throughout the book she pushed Isabelle away. In the end Vianne redeemed herself by trying to nurse Isabelle to health right before she passes away, and following in her sisters footsteps by going against the Nazis.

Captain Beck, a Nazi soldier stationed at Vianne's house, is a very intriguing character. Although he worked for the Nazis, he showed Vianne his good side by helping her and her friends live. Kristin Hannah developed this character by making him miss his family back in Germany, but also falling in love with Vianne. Normally, a reader would grow to hate the enemy, but with Beck he was the enemy but also helped and really didn't believe the Germans were doing the right thing. He helped Vianne and her neighbors and he tried to do the right thing. I grew to love Beck and was very upset that he ended up dying. Overall, The Nightingale is a fantastic book with interesting characters, and I would recommend this book to everyone. This book made me come to love all of the complex characters, and I found it very hard to say goodbye to them when closing the back cover.