Kristin Hannah reigns in historical fiction by weaving detailed character-driven stories with historical truth. I haven’t picked up a novel of hers I didn’t devour, and The Nightingale is no exception. The novel is perfect consumption for anyone wanting a good story or a lesson in the dangers of fascism.

In this blog I offer a different type of book review­—one that’s combined with vocabulary building. I loved The Nightingale and will highlight just two relevant words from the first line of this must-read.

First line of The Nightingale:

If I have learned anything in this long life of mine, it is this: In love we find out who we want to be; in war we find out who we are.

love: noun — 1. an intense feeling of deep affection / a feeling of deep romantic or sexual attachment to someone / affectionate greetings conveyed to someone on one’s behalf / a formula for ending an affectionate letter / (Love) a personified figure of love, often represented as Cupid. 2. A great interest and pleasure in something 3. A person or thing that one loves / (a love) informal used to express affectionate approval for someone 4. (in tennis, squash, and some other sports) a score of zero; nil

verb — 1. feel deep affection for (someone) / feel a deep romantic or sexual attraction to (someone) 2. Like or enjoy very much

war: noun — a state of armed conflict between different nations or states or different groups within a nation or state / a particular armed conflict / a state of competition, conflict, or hostility between different people or groups / a sustained effort to deal with or end a particular unpleasant or undesirable situation or condition

verb — (wars, warring, warred) engage in a war

Just for note, the final paragraph of The Nightingale:

I look at them, my two boys, who should have broken me, but somehow saved me, each in his own way. Because of them I know now what matters, and it is not what I have lost. It is my memories. Wounds heal, love lasts, we remain.

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To connect or learn more about Kristin Hannah, find her at KristinHannah.com.

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What interesting words or terms have you found in your recent reading?

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Definitions are typically from the dictionary that comes with my Mac or The New Oxford American Dictionary.

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“The word is only a representation of the meaning; even at its best, writing almost always falls short of full meaning. Given that, why in God’s name would you want to make things worse by choosing a word which is only cousin to the one you really wanted to use?” ― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft