I can’t believe it was fiction.
Last night was a rough night.
It wasn’t rough in the way a typical college girl would explain it, such as an intense night of partying or a late night spent fighting with a boyfriend. Last night was rough because after over a week of immersing myself into an entirely new world of fiction and tragedy, I finished Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale. Obviously, I do not want to spoil the ending for anyone who is interested in reading this amazing novel, so I won’t give away anything (despite how much I want to talk about its constant twists and turns).
All I can say about this book is wow.
Wow.
This is the first book that I’ve read by Kristin Hannah and I cannot wait to explore more of her work. From the first page of this novel I was completely captivated by her immense detail and the voice that she gave to every single one of her characters. It was like I was experiencing all of the events myself.
The novel is the story of two sisters who must discover themselves in order to survive the horrifying world that exists around them throughout World War II. The way that Hannah describes the disturbing truths of the war, and the hardships every human faced just trying to survive, it felt like non-fiction. Seriously. I cannot believe that this work is fiction. Unreal.
I’m not a huge historical fiction reader. Honestly, I don’t know if I have ever read a historical fiction work for fun. I’ve always loved history (even though I am absolutely horrible at it, yeah, I’m talking to you, AP Euro) so history in combination with good ol’ fiction just seemed like a home run.
And it really was.
The ball has been hit out of the park. With the bases loaded. At the bottom of the ninth.
Okay, I’ll stop with the baseball analogies. After all, I’m about as far from athletic as you can get.
ANYWAY…
I cannot recommend The Nightingale enough. I fell in love with this book. I was utterly intrigued throughout my entire journey. The Nightingale kept me awake into the earliest hours of the morning and made me feel more emotions than binge watching Grey’s Anatomy (cue “How to Save a Life”).
The Nightingale will make you experience feelings that you didn’t even know existed. However, please do not let that discourage you; it is a truly incredible read.
All right, I’ll stop preaching now.
Seriously though, read The Nightingale.
I’m still trying to decide what to read next…I think it’s about time for my next Half Price Books field trip…
daydreams and night reads 