The Nightingale cover art

The Nightingale

The Multimillion Copy Bestseller from the Author of The Women

Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

£5.99/mo after trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options

The Nightingale

By: Kristin Hannah
Narrated by: Polly Stone
Try for £0.00

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £12.84

Buy Now for £12.84

The multimillion-copy bestselling phenomenon and Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick.

'One of the greatest storytellers of our time' – Delia Owens
, author of Where the Crawdads Sing

Soon to be a major motion picture, Kristin Hannah's The Nightingale has captured the hearts of millions of readers becoming a number one bestseller across the world. It is a heart-breakingly beautiful novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the endurance of women.

'
I always thought it was what I wanted: to be loved and admired. Now I think perhaps I’d like to be known'

This story is about what it was like to be a woman during World War II, when women’s stories were all too often forgotten or overlooked . . . Vianne and Isabelle Mauriac are two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals and passion and circumstance, each embarking on her own dangerous path towards survival, love and freedom in war-torn France.

It is a novel for everyone, a novel for a lifetime.

‘A rich, compelling novel of love, sacrifice and survival’ Kate Morton, author of Homecoming

‘Movingly written and plotted with the heartless skill of a Greek tragedy, you’ll keep turning the pages until the last racking sob’ Daily Mail

‘I loved The Nightingale . . . great characters, great plots, great emotions, who could ask for more in a novel?’ Isabel Allende, bestselling author of A Long Petal of the Sea

‘A gripping tale of family, love, grief and forgiveness’ Sunday Express

The Nightingale has sold more than 4 million copies globally, TIME, February 2021

20th Century Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction War & Military Women's Fiction War Military Heartfelt Inspiring Tear-jerking Thought-Provoking Feel-Good
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_c

Critic reviews

A rich, compelling novel of love, sacrifice and survival (Kate Morton, author of Homecoming and The Lake House)
Utterly compelling, powerful and unforgettable Kristin Hannah is an exquisite storyteller. The Nightingale is one of those rare must read books that will forever nestle in your heart . . . (Christy Lefteri, bestselling author of The Beekeeper of Aleppo)
I loved The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, a talented writer of American stories; great characters, great plots, great emotions, who could ask for more in a novel? (Isabel Allende, bestselling author of A Long Petal of the Sea and Violeta)
Beautifully written . . . packed with action and emotion (Sara Gruen, bestselling author of Water for Elephants)
The real horrors of war, the deprivations, the risks are all there . . . This is a hauntingly tragic yet sympathetic novel
An unforgettable portrait of love and war
The bestselling author hits her stride in this page-turning tale about two sisters, one in the French countryside, the other in Paris, who show remarkable courage in the German occupation during WWII . . . The author ably depicts war’s horrors through the eyes of these two women, whose strength of character shines through no matter their differences
A respectful and absorbing page-turner
The suspense builds slowly in this thought-provoking and absorbing novel
All stars
Most relevant
My only criticism of the narration was that she read the Welsh character with an Irish accent. As a British person it is instantly infuriating when narrators just presume that's the same thing. A simple bit of research would have been better so she could have got it right. Other than that she did a great job, I could always tell which character was speaking.

My only criticism of the narration..

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

The audio was terrible for all the male parts unfortunately and I also think it portrayed the female parts too meekly.
Riveting storyline though, heart rending.

Disappointing audio in parts

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

What an amazing story. That really highlights the horrors of WWII. Beautifully told with incredible depth and detail, character development and twists. Beautiful.

The end

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Absolutely Fantastic!
Really gripping Historical book. shows the true test of Human resolve and courage. A wonderful listen

emotional, gripping, though provoking.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

A gripping story of war-time heroism, the long fight to free occupied France and the lives of those pulled apart by atrocity.

The start was horribly stereotyped and cliched, but stick with this book. The end is intensely powerful and moving and has a surprising twist.

Definitely a little twee at times, a little Mills & Boon-esque perhaps, and not a literary read, but it's a fascinating story, richly detailed and beautifully described. A romance with horrific imagery of Nazi occupation in both rural France and Paris, detailing the move towards the final solution.

Unbearably sad at times. It really brings home to the reader how irreversibly changed people are by war.

The story is so authentic it's hard to believe it's not based on an actual biography. It is clearly heavily researched without being over factual and 'telling'. There are many surprising emotional truths that stay with the reader. This is especially true when the author describes how women remember war at the end. Very evocative and emotive.

Other reviewers have criticised the American narrator, pointing out her U.S. pronunciation. But this seems ridiculous as the character (in the first person sections) has clearly lived in America for a very long time, so it seems fitting that the narrator would be American.

Well worth reading.


Painful. Beautiful

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews