Franciosi plays Claire, a young Irish convict in 1825 colonial-era Australia, when British troops are in the process of putting down rebellions, subduing the locals, perpetuating a genocide on the Aboriginal population. Claire is imprisoned by Lieutenant Hawkins (Sam Claflin), who refuses to release her from bondage (it's three years overdue). Hawkins forces her to sing for his soldiers, she's known as "the nightingale." Hawkins parades her out in front of his heckling ogling men. Within the first 10 minutes of the film, Hawkins brutally rapes Claire. Kent shows a sensitivity to the issues with such scenes: so often rape is sexualized in film, so often the violence is eroticized, the trauma doesn't translate. Kent has thought deeply about how to portray Claire's brutalization (there's one shot of the cross-thatched ceiling which is particularly effective).
nyt book review the nightingale
Eventually, Hawkins and two of his goons commit an unpardonable and horrifying act (one of many throughout "The Nightingale") and Claire, hellbent on revenge, chases after them on their journey overland to a nearby town. For this she needs a guide through the inhospitable wilderness, and she hires Billy (Ganambarr), who needs the money and hates white people (they've killed his whole family). He has no patience with her whimsies or her racism, but warms to her a little bit when she tells him she's Irish: she hates the English as much as he does. The transformation of their relationship from adversaries to allies is the real trajectory of the film, although, as I mentioned, there's a plodding same-ness to these scenes, a circular quality. Both Franciosi and Ganambarr are amazing, but Ganambarr is especially, considering this is his first credit! Billy revealing that his nickname is "the blackbird," like hers is "the nightingale," and that he, too, sings. This is an example of the rigid handling of potential metaphors. Everything stays on the surface. Maybe that's deliberate, but it's tough going at almost two and a half hours.
I read this book of winter nights and northern forests at the turn of the year; snow swirled, ice glazed the trees and bent bare branches low. I'm writing the review now in the kind of unseasonable thaw that makes one want to grab climate change denial by the ear and rub its face in the slush. But I'm only the more grateful for The Bear and the Nightingale in consequence: I love winter with all my December-born Canadian heart, and I love stories that make me feel the full mythic majesty of it even when the weather's wounded and limping into spring.
The Nightingale is a historical fiction novel by American author Kristin Hannah published by St. Martin's Press in 2015. The book tells the story of two sisters in France during World War II and their struggle to survive and resist the German occupation of France. The book was inspired by the story of a Belgian woman, Andrée de Jongh, who helped downed Allied pilots escape Nazi territory.[1][2]
The book uses the frame story literary device; the frame is presented in first-person narration as the remembrances of an elderly woman in 1995, whose name is initially not revealed to the reader. It is only known that she has a son named Julien and that she lives off the coast of Oregon. However, the main action of the book is told in third-person, following two sisters, Vianne Mauriac and Isabelle Rossignol, who live in France around 1939, on the eve of World War II. The two sisters are estranged from each other and their father, and the book follows the two different paths they take.
The book concludes with the elderly narrator, revealed to be Vianne, receiving an invitation to an event in Paris to remember her sister, "The Nightingale". She travels with her son Julien, who is unaware of his family's activities during the war and his true parentage. After the event, Vianne reunites with Ari, and she comes to peace with her memories of the war.
The story of De Jongh also inspired Hannah to conduct further research and found stories during the French Resistance about women who were willing to put their lives and their children at risk in order to shelter Jewish families; this became the inspiration for Vianne's character in the book.[6] Other historical figures mentioned include the World War I nurse Edith Cavell.[6]
Reviews of the book were generally positive.[7][8] A review published by Kirkus Reviews notes, "[Hannah's] tendency to sentimentalize undermines the gravitas of this tale...Still, a respectful and absorbing page-turner."[9] The novel also sold well: it spent 45 weeks on the NPR Hardcover Fiction Bestseller List and 20 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list.[10][11]
The book was optioned in March 2015 by TriStar Pictures for screen adaptation, with Ann Peacock to write and Elizabeth Cantillon to produce.[11][12] In August 2016 it was announced that Michelle MacLaren will direct and rewrite the film with John Sayles, until MacLaren left before production shutdown.[13] In December 2019, Melanie Laurent signed on to direct from a script by Dana Stevens with Cantillon still attached to produce. Dakota and Elle Fanning will star, marking the first time the sisters have shared scenes in a film; previously they had played the same character at different ages, in separate scenes.[14]
Kristin Hannah is best known for immersive and emotional, modern, and historical fiction for women that just seem to get better and better. There are some real page-turners in these best-selling Kristin Hannah books.
The Great Alone is the most memorable winter-themed book that has stayed with me since first reading it. I still think about the picturesque but harsh realities of Alaska and found myself Googling the State so many times while reading and afterward. Its riveting words that once kept me up all night turning the pages still make it a five-star read for me.
I'm a reader of 100+ books per year, had a minor in English literature, and I've been on The Today Show's Read with Jenna Book Club, Oprah's Book Club, Reese's Book Club, and Buzzfeed, and my essay about The Rory Gilmore Book Club was published in the book But I'm a Gilmore!
The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye is a collection five stories, four of which are quite short and one (the title story) which is near novella length.The first two stories -- The Glass Coffin and Gode's Story -- may be familiar to readers, as they first appeared in Byatt's previous novel, Possession.They are varied types fairy tales (three begin: "Once upon a time ...", the two others: "There once was ..."), the shorter ones of the more traditional sort, the title-novella a modern take and tale. Byatt's fairy-tale tone, at least in the shorter stories, takes some getting used to. It rings fairly authentic, but these are not quite your usual bedtime tales (and it is not your usual Byatt-fare either). Byatt's imaginings are not too far-fetched, and she uses the form to create enjoyable little stories. Fairly clever and thoughtful, occasionally perhaps too consciously artful, the four small pieces are enjoyable -- but also quite small. The meat of the collection lies in the novella, which is a very successful piece. Dr. Gillian Perholt has a relatively happy if unremarkable existence.Her "business is storytelling". Not that she pens tales; rather she is "merely a narratologist, a being of secondary order". She is invited to a conference in Ankara, to consider 'Stories of Women's Lives' ("a pantechnicon title to make space for everyone, from every country, from every genre, from every time."), and gets more than she bargained for there. The conference goes much as expected, but Gillian Perholt picks up a souvenir, a dusty glass bottle (the "nightingale's eye" of the title refers also to the glass workshop where the bottle perhaps came from). A djinn is released from the confines of the bottle, and Dr. Perholt gets the traditional three wishes. Familiar with fairy-tale lore she takes care with her wishes, and puts them to fairly good use. Byatt has crafted a marvelous story here, the fairy-tale tone working particularly well when used in describing the late-20th century world. The story convinces on a number of levels, and is presented beautifully. An enjoyable collection, especially the title piece.
The Nightingale is a heart-pounding story, based on a real Belgian woman who did what Isabelle did. Hannah's book is most searing as the horrors of war ratchet upward, from lines of hungry refugees fleeing their homes to Jews who are fired from their jobs, cut off from food supplies and forced to wear the cloth star of David that will mark them for the death camps.
Barrington Books, voted BEST INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORE by Rhode Island Monthly, is known far and wide for its knowledgeable book-loving staff, vast selection of high-quality books, toys and gifts, as well as its vibrant community events.
From the same author as The Kite Runner, this haunting book is about two women with different ideas about love and family, brought together by fate and war. Born a generation apart, Mariam and Laila endure the escalating dangers of Kabul, forming a kinship like mother and daughter, like sisters. Through power and suspense we see how their bond alters the course of their lives, and the next generation, ultimately showing us the power of love when it comes to survival.
First came Raymie Nightingale, the "triumphant and necessary book"* that would become a National Book Award Finalist. Then followed the tender Louisiana's Way Home, featuring "one of DiCamillo's most singular and arresting creations" (The New York Times Book Review) and marking the first time the two-time Newbery Medalist had revisited the world of one of her novels. And finally, the much-hoped-for third novel, Song of Beverly, Right Here, awaits its rapt audience. Here, the entire trilogy of novels -- the perfect gift for both longtime fans and new devotees -- is available in a beautifully designed set. Included are hardcover editions of: 2ff7e9595c
Comments