The Nightingale Characters

Antoine Mauriac is the husband of Vianne Mauriac and the father of Sophie Mauriac. He is a brave man who is captured while defending France and sent to a Nazi labor camp. Toward the end of the war, Antoine successfully escapes the camp and returns to his family.

Sophie Mauriac is the daughter of Vianne and Antoine Mauriac. She is a kind and brave girl who matures well beyond her years over the course of World War II. She dies in 1980 from cancer.

General de Gaulle is the leader of the resistance in France. Isabelle never meets him in person, but she is inspired to join the resistance because she hears him speak on the radio.

Sarah de Champlain is the daughter of Rachel and Marc de Champlain. She is also Sophie’s best friend. Sarah gets shot and killed by a stray bullet while the de Champlains are attempting to flee to the Free Zone of France.

Henri is a French resistance fighter in Carriveau who recruits Isabelle. He also helps Vianne get identity papers for the Jewish children she is hiding from the Nazis. Henri is killed after the Nazis discover he is a resistance figure.

Levy is a French resistance fighter. He was a regular patron of Julien Rossignol’s bookstore before the war and immediately recognizes Isabelle when she joins the resistance.

Micheline Babineau is an old friend of Julien Rossignol. She helps Isabelle smuggle fighter pilots into Spain.

Eduardo lives on the border between France and Spain. He helps Isabelle take fighter pilots across the Pyrenees.

Von Richter is a barbaric Nazi who moves into Vianne’s home after Captain Beck’s death. He repeatedly rapes Vianne and eventually impregnates her with Julien Mauriac.

Mother Superior is the head of Vianne’s church. She helps Vianne hide Jewish children from the Nazis.

Marc de Champlain is the husband of Rachel de Champlain and the father of Ari and Sarah de Champlain. He is captured during the war and dies in a Nazi labor camp.

Madame Allard is the headmistress at Isabelle’s school. She expels Isabelle because of her poor behavior.

Christophe is a young man in Paris whom Isabelle is friends with. He tells her that women belong at home while men are off fighting in wars.

Anouk is a French resistance fighter. She is the first member of the resistance whom Isabelle meets in Paris.

MacLeish is the first fighter pilot Isabelle rescues.