⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Nightingale Stars

Ok, Ok I admit it, I'm late to the party to this one, I tried twice before and couldn't get into it at all, but this time I was determined to stick with it, and I'm so glad I did, why did I doubt myself, of course this book was phenomenal!!

The Nightingale tells a story about World War II, and contrary to what I thought I was going to read about, this wasn't about the fighting at all....well not in the way that you think, this is about the women who were left behind.

France 1939, Vianne says goodbye to her husband as he goes to the front to fight for the country, she doesn't think for a minute that the Nazi's will come to her town, let alone invade France, so she isn't too worried about it.

However the realisation that this is exactly what is happening comes too quickly, and Vianne is eventually living in her house with a stranger, not just a stranger, but a Nazi officer!
She must teach her daughter to keep her head down, and her mouth shut, and take huge risks to protect and save lives of people that could get her not just into trouble, it could cost her life!

Isabelle is Vianne's younger sister, she is always getting herself into trouble, and has always been a bit of a rebel.
She is opposite to her sister, in that she is totally ready for the Nazi's, in fact she would be quite happy to head off to Paris to join the fight, and that is exactly what she does.

Against her sisters advice that she couldn't do anything to help, Isabelle is determined that she can do something, so she packs a bag and sets off to Paris.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake, Isabelle. Paris is overrun. The Nazis control the city. What is an eighteen-year-old girl to do about all of that?”

But a difference she does make, to many lives, after joining the French Resistance with her new friend Gäetan, she was known to many as "The Nightingale" and risked her life helping others.

On this cool October morning, her life would change. From the morning she boarded this train

From now on, she was Juliette Gervaise, code name the Nightingale.

A fantastic read that I would recommend to anyone.

🎧🎧 - Narrated expertly by Polly Stone who did a wonderful job, her voice was just perfect for this book and I will definitely be looking out for other books that she has narrated.