The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah with a side of Pizza

"Have you read the book, book club is back! 

We gathered at The Stuffed Olive in Waxhaw, NC to share a meal, laughs and discuss “The Nightingale” by Kristin Hannah.

“The Nightingale” by Kristin Hannah opens with this statement; “If I have learned anything in this long life of mine, it is this: In love, we find out who we want to be; in war, we find out who we are.” This got my attention, did this grab yours?

As I mentioned in my last post about our book club we decided to try something different this year and meet at some of our local restaurants rather than host from one of our homes. We always love getting together and look forward to catching up, sharing lots of laughs, great food and our thoughts about the book.

Meeting and discussing the book at a restaurant has a completely different vibe than meeting at one of our homes. Still enjoyable, but at one of our homes it’s just plain comfy. Also, I love writing about what our host prepared for the evening. Stay tuned we may change back to hosting at home.

We settled in at The Stuffed Olive, ordered pizza and got down to the business of discussing our book.

Kristin Hannah is one of our groups favorite authors and again she does not disappoint us. The Nightingale is set in France during World War II and although we have all read many history books about war WW II, this book is focused on two sister’s perspectives, experiences and about the struggles that the women and children face. Back then women were usually not on the front lines shooting guns, but they were fighting a different kind of battle in their homes and villages. And some women, like Isabelle found a way to join the resistance, I won’t share the details and spoil the story, you will just have to read The Nightingale.

In The Nightingale, Kristin Hannah’s  story tugged at my heart strings, brought tears to my eyes, an ache to my belly and I could almost feel the chill in my bones. The story is about Women in war and it is set during World War II in worn torn France during the German occupation.

Kristin’s writing takes me to a place where I can only imagine what is was like to experience the screeching of the air raid sirens, the cold harsh winters, the anger, loneliness, hunger and despair that people felt during WWII and any war zone.

To me the story is about the women’s hope for the war to end, for husbands to find their way home and to get back the simple pleasures of life they experienced before the war. Basic survival was the goal for the day. And in war everyone is damaged, some are heroic and some not so much.

I found myself shivering, trying to stay warm while reading about how Vienne tried to keep her family from freezing and not starving.

This was one of those books that continues to haunt me. Kristin writes about the struggles the women face; basically, just trying to survive, to feed their families and avoid freezing during the winter while many of the German soldiers ate their food, took over not only their town but homes and abused the women.

War is truly an awful thing and as I read The Nightingale I was thinking about the horrors of war, but my hope continues to be that someday all mankind will lay down their guns and find peace throughout the world, war does not solve problems. 

A haunting story…. Kary~

Kary's take on Pesto Pizza

2017 Book Selections:

 “Before the Fall” Noah Harvley
  “The Nest” Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney
  “Dark Town” Thomas Mullen

 “Mister Owitas Guide to Gardening” Carol Wall