The Nightingale by Kristen Hannah

For historical fiction lovers, Kristen Hannah's The Nightingale is a must read.  World War II is the setting of this novel, but the action takes place in France not Germany or England which are much more widely seen as the epicenter of the war.  Additionally, the main characters are not soldiers fighting in the trenches or on bloody battlefields, but instead two sisters who we find take very different approaches to the occupation of the German army in France.  Our main characters, Vianne and Isabelle, are sisters but they are completely different in nature, and it is this difference on which that the novel focuses.  The consequences of the women's actions that seem to be dictated by their very personalities are revealed to the reader in an ever devolving, war ravaged France.  The narration of the story tells the story from one sister's point of view and then switches to the other's.  Both sister's stories are dramatic and heroic in their own way. The moral dilemma of each woman becomes more and more apparent as the novel continues.  The choices that each has to make become more and more heart-breaking.  The tragedies that they must face become more and more devastating. It must be said however, the novel does not leave readers sad and depressed despite Vianne statement that, "grief, like regret, settles into our DNA and remains forever a part of us."  In the end, we see each of the characters came to believe that life must be lived with hope and love and that "love has to stronger that hate, or there is no future for us."