The Nightingale Study Guide

Kristin Hannah spent the early years of her life in Southern California before her family relocated to Washington in 1968. As a child, Hannah traveled a lot; her father was always in search of adventure, and he took the family along with him in a Volkswagen bus. One year, the Hannah family made it all the way up to the Kenai River in Alaska, a region they fell in love with. Later in her life, Hannah graduated from the University of Washington, and for several years she worked for an advertising agency. Later, she would graduate from the University of Puget Sound law school and become a practicing lawyer. While in law school, Hannah’s mother was diagnosed with cancer, which would eventually kill her. During this difficult period of her life, Hannah and her mother began working on a novel together. Although the book was never published, it sparked the beginning of Hannah’s extensive writing career. Hannah published her first novel, A Handful of Heaven, in 1991 and would publish nine more novels over the next decade. The novel that made Hannah a literary star, Firefly Lane, arrived in 2008; it has since sold over a million copies and was turned into a Netflix series. In 2015 Hannah published The Nightingale, her most critically and commercially successful novel. It sold over 4.5 million copies and is currently being adapted into a film. Hannah’s most successful works, including Firefly Lane, The Nightingale, and The Great Alone are works of historical fiction. Today, Hannah lives in Washington with her family.

The Nightingale takes place during World War II. Its main characters are French citizens who watch as German soldiers rapidly take over their country. France entered World War II in September 1939 following the German invasion of Poland. For many months, France heavily defended what is known as “the Maginot Line,” a line of fortifications built along the border between France and Germany. However, the Maginot Line fell in May 1940, and German forces quickly advanced through France. By the middle of June, the Nazis reached and began to occupy Paris. At this point, the French government surrendered, and the Nazis took control of France. Although the Vichy government (France’s governmental body at the time) ostensibly controlled the free part of France, they had little power over the Germans and primarily acted as collaborators. The war was brutal on French citizens; many men were sent to Nazi labor camps and not allowed to return home. Meanwhile, many wives were left to fend for themselves and their children. German soldiers often kept the best food and resources for themselves, and the French population experienced widespread starvation and sickness. France suffered the horrors of the Nazi occupation until August 1944, following the liberation of Paris. 

The Nightingale is a work of historical fiction. In particular, it is a novel about World War II. Many contemporary fiction writers have written about World War II including, Anthony Doerr (All the Light We Cannot See), Heather Morris (The Tattooist of Auschwitz), and Markus Zusak (The Book Thief). One recent novel, Mark Sullivan’s Beneath a Scarlet Sky, shares a special affinity with The Nightingale. Both novels take place in Nazi-occupied countries and feature characters who help persecuted groups escape into neutral territories. The primary difference between the two novels is that The Nightingale is set in France while Beneath a Scarlet Sky takes place in Italy. The Nightingale is also a work of feminist literature, emphasizing relationships between women and their children. In this way, The Nightingale is similar to Emma Donoghue’s Room, which Kristin Hannah lists as one of her favorite books. Additionally, the themes in The Nightingale—particularly those related to war’s mental and physical impacts—are a mainstay in Hannah’s bibliography. Another Hannah book that probes these themes in depth is The Great Alone, which deals with the toll war can take on an individual’s mind.