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A review by messia
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Great storytelling for a historical fiction set during WW2 in France. I was moved and surprised by one of the plot twists and it was a major one so I’d say it works quite well.
As a French person, I loved reading about this part of our history, because it’s the power of fiction: you get an immersive experience of what it might have been like for the people who lived it, in a way that a History class cannot do. And I think it is beautiful that this particular novel by Kristin Hannah became so popular, because it allowed for the stories of very brave women and men to be brought to our collective attention again.
One thing really took me out of the story several times though: the use of French. I cringed each time I read a random « Maman » or « grandmère », (don’t even get me started on the « C’est la vie! » at the end😬). And the « Oui » used as an « Ok », which you can’t actually do in French… It’s not so much the idea of using French words, it’s the fact that they weren’t even used well. Obviously the writer used some very well-known phrases that would make a foreigner think « This story takes place in France, ohlala!» but to a French speaker it just made me think « Yup, that was written by an American. ». I actually like it when I read a novel in English by an Indian or a Nigerian author and they mix bits of another language with it. But the author speaks the language and therefore, I assume, is using it correctly.
As a French person, I loved reading about this part of our history, because it’s the power of fiction: you get an immersive experience of what it might have been like for the people who lived it, in a way that a History class cannot do. And I think it is beautiful that this particular novel by Kristin Hannah became so popular, because it allowed for the stories of very brave women and men to be brought to our collective attention again.
One thing really took me out of the story several times though: the use of French. I cringed each time I read a random « Maman » or « grandmère », (don’t even get me started on the « C’est la vie! » at the end😬). And the « Oui » used as an « Ok », which you can’t actually do in French… It’s not so much the idea of using French words, it’s the fact that they weren’t even used well. Obviously the writer used some very well-known phrases that would make a foreigner think « This story takes place in France, ohlala!» but to a French speaker it just made me think « Yup, that was written by an American. ». I actually like it when I read a novel in English by an Indian or a Nigerian author and they mix bits of another language with it. But the author speaks the language and therefore, I assume, is using it correctly.