The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah - why is nobody talking about this part?

Submitted by dove127 t3_11b015p in books

I just finished this book and I’m upset.

I almost threw the book across the room when Vianne was acting like her non-consented pregnancy by the Nazi was a blessing and lied to Antoine about the baby being his. I kept reading because I had hope for everything else, just for Isabelle and Sophie to die (don’t even get me started on Sophie’s ending) and Vianne and the baby to be the ones in the time skip.

So Isabelle doesn’t get to live a happy life with Gaetan after everything they went through. What was the point of her being rescued then? So Gaetan can finally say he loves her before she dies? But Vianne gets to live a long life after war with Antoine and her son (but not Sophie) because she lied to both of them and they just never found out. And she acted like the baby (that’s not even Antoine’s) is the only thing that saved her life and marriage. Ugh. Are other KH books worth reading?

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Sisyphean_Love t1_j9vejm7 wrote

I’ll give my take on it. The overarching answer is trauma. Starting with Vianne, for me the most interesting aspect was her relationship with Beck. Of course he was the enemy but he was actively helping her. Not excusing his behavior at all but things are generally not so black and white and her attraction to him was interesting to see. But make no mistake she had no qualms about killing him.

She pretended the baby was Antoine’s from trauma. It was one more aspect of a mountain of suffering. What should she have done? Antoine knew the baby wasn’t his but didn’t care. They just wanted to go back to their lives. One thing that did bother me was that Antoine escaped prison and made it all the way home without being spotted but, oh well.

I fully expected Isabelle to die honestly. Just like Antoine’s return, Gaetans appearance right before she died didn’t sit well for me. The starvation, physical and mental exhaustion from the camp was bound to take its toll. I’d rather her have just died in the hospital.

In a situation like that, no one is really making rational decisions. They’re doing what they can to survive and protect their loved ones, whether by ensuring their child survives or by ensuring allied soldiers can escape and help them in the end. Just my opinion.

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dove127 OP t1_j9vh84w wrote

I think this is a good take! I liked Vianne’s storyline and understood everything she did until the pregnancy. I couldn’t understand how she spent the whole book praising Antoine and then lied to him (and her son) and acted like the only thing that could repair their marriage was a baby that wasn’t his.

I would have preferred almost any storyline - Vianne not getting pregnant, Vianne miscarrying since she lost 3 babies that way already, Vianne telling Antoine and him supporting her, Antoine not coming home and Vianne raising the baby alone, or even Vianne trying to miscarry (I know this sounds terrible but I think it’s what I, or Isabelle, would have done in the situation 😭). I’m guessing abortion wasn’t an option, but what about adoption or giving the baby to the Mother at the church? I just hated that she had no negative thoughts about the pregnancy at all besides, “I’ve prayed for this but not now” once.

I expected Isabelle to die too. I just thought it was such a lame ending for such a strong woman. It felt like everything she did didn’t matter, only that Gaetan still thought she was pretty and he loved her.

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Sisyphean_Love t1_j9xg8dn wrote

I feel like the baby was a kind of replacement for Ari. I think it was implied Antoine knew and it was kind of like why add more stress on top of the situation. Vianne even says how she and Sophie didn’t mention that time of their lives again because it was too painful. I also felt Vianne was kind of a jerk to her son. She really seemed to think lowly of him. It was a book which had a lot of sad moments and events. Strangely I didn’t really like the relationship with Isabelle and Gaetan. It felt forced and during the moment they really bonded, it got skipped in favor of just having them stumble upon Viannes home

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julieannie t1_j9va97l wrote

It’s honestly a mess of a book and the only value I got from reading it was that now I ignore recommendations from people who cite it as a favorite. I’ve gone deep into WWII set fiction and this ain’t it. I desperately want to recommend something like The Invisible Bridge or even Lovely War (which I hate the title but it’s because it’s dealing with god and goddesses too) that pull it off so much better.

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dove127 OP t1_j9vcb6g wrote

Thank you so much! I really like the concept of the WWII set fiction so I will definitely check these out :)

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kayak-pankakes t1_j9w3wyr wrote

so I read this a long time ago and tbh don't even remember any of that happening so I can't speak on that part. I remember really liking it and then I tried rereading it and couldn't get into it again?

BUT. I really enjoyed "The Great Alone", as well as "The Home Front" by her. The Nightingale got me into her as an author and I've enjoyed most of them, but those two are my favorite. The Great Alone especially is a really hard emotional read, so if you are someone who needs trigger warnings, look them up before starting.

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dove127 OP t1_ja0415k wrote

Thank you! I’m glad to hear this about The Great Alone because I already bought it!

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bromley_80 t1_j9wf0m9 wrote

I've read the Nightingale and enjoyed it but my fave of hers was Wild. Cried buckets.

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kayak-pankakes t1_ja7iuv0 wrote

I was like what the heck is this book, I've never heard it and I've read a lot. Then I realized they renamed Magic Hour to that...

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sleep-debt-momma t1_j9wm8a1 wrote

The Great Alone is my absolute favorite Kristin Hannah book.

I totally get your point on the Nightingale, especially Sophie ending kills me.

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dove127 OP t1_ja045jr wrote

I already bought The Great Alone a while ago so I’m glad to see people saying it’s better

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StrawberryFields_ t1_j9wnban wrote

This book is well-known for relying on cliches and melodrama.

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LovesBooks22 t1_j9wq99i wrote

I read The Nightingale in 2020 and just read The Great Alone a few months ago. Based on these two books, I get the sense that Kristin Hannah likes to throw unintentional pregnancies into the mix to really shake things up.

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elle23nc t1_j9yrsh0 wrote

I found The Nightingale to be too slow for me. I shelved it as DNF. That said, I studied WWII in college and went on a bit of a WWII historical fiction tear soon after, and I think it burned me out on the genre by the time I got to this book.

I otherwise enjoy most KH books. The Great Alone is one of my all time favorite novels, and I loved The Four Winds. However, The Winter Garden was on par with The Nightingale for me, another DNF for being boring.

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jelly10001 t1_ja44usa wrote

Granted I read The Nightingale last year, so I may have misremembered things, but I don't remember Vianne thinking the pregnancy was a blessing. In fact I remember her being worried when she realised she was pregnant.

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