The Tale of Two Sisters by Candice

The Tale of Two Sisters by Candice - October 2020 Scholarship Essay

When I was a little girl I loved reading the Dear America series. Each book was a little piece of history and walked through the fictional storyline of one person in that time period. I remember going to the library with my mom and going straight to that section every single time. The different cultures and perspectives fascinated me and I couldn’t wait to find one that I hadn’t read yet. I developed a passion for historical fiction so I was thrilled in 2020 to find The Nightingale written by Kristin Hannah. This historical novel is set in Nazi-occupied France and tells the riveting story of two sisters during that time.
Having read The Diary of Anne Frank (and loving it!) a couple years ago, I was already familiar with the Holocaust. I thought that I had a pretty good idea of what it was like back then, but The Nightingale gave me a new perspective. Most of the time when I thought about the Holocaust I thought of two groups of people: Nazis and Jews. It never occurred to me to think about the people who weren’t in those groups or how they were affected by the war.
In The Nightingale we see the viewpoint of a French woman, Vianne, who is trying to raise her daughter in the middle of her Nazi-occupied town, while her husband is a prisoner of war elsewhere. The book walks us through Vianne’s struggles, fears, triumphs, and failures. While Vianne wants nothing more than to blend in and stay out of trouble, Isabelle, her younger sister, has a totally different opinion of the war. Isabelle thrives on the idea of taking down the Nazis and resisting the occupancy the soldiers have on their hometown. Isabelle is seen as a threat to Vianne and her daughter’s lives and thus leaves home and joins the Resistance. She then operates under the codename Nightingale and helps Allied pilots escape Nazi-occupied Europe in order to continue fighting. Where her sister is cautious and scared, Isabelle is bold and rebellious.
I love the juxtaposition of these characters and how they are so close as a family, but so far apart on how they react to the war. It really highlights how every person is different and validates both viewpoints. Isabelle has the adventurous story full of action and danger which is fun to read because it keeps me on my toes. But Vianne has a much more personal and intimate story about regular life during this major war that really makes me appreciate how easy I have it nowadays.
Both storylines are so interesting and thought-provoking as I consider groups of people I hadn’t thought about through this time period. Books that challenge and stretch how I see things are some of my favorites! The literature that leaves me thinking for an hour after I finish reading for the day is the literature I love to read.