Comment

Oct 18, 2019AaronAardvark1940 rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
This novel tests a French family during the German occupation. Family members’ love for each other underlies everything, but is seldom displayed. Most of the story depends on amor patriae; there is little time or energy for romance in this story. The Germans are portrayed as cruel and dismissive of the conditions imposed on the French. Even those who are not actively abusive hardly fit Arendt’s “banality of evil” description. The Nightingale includes the Velodrome roundup central to “Sarah’s Key” and other such events. It also discusses the forced labor camps of “Schindler’s List,” delving a bit more deeply into who was sent to such camps. But the most difficult part for me was to see the oppressive effects on everyday life. Cooking becomes a challenge, because everything is in short supply or non-existent. Vianne typically mentions having to use a few precious drops of oil. Furniture not “requisitioned” by the Germans is frequently used as fuel. When we think about the assault on non-German cultures, their looting of national treasures, and vicious retributions such as Lidice, the effect of the occupation on the most quotidian details can be overlooked. This is another book in a relatively new program of reading to my wife. We enjoyed the author’s connecting her fictional characters to actual events.