Madeline
When I read The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, I got knocked off my feet. I needed to know: who wrote this and does he or she have a million other books I can fall head over feet with? The answer was Kristin Hannah and yes! Tons! I knew I needed more Kristin Hannah in my life.
Since the day I asked that question I’ve gone through a Kristin Hannah worm hole, and unfortunately, it wasn’t as pleasant as I assumed it would be. Most are good. Some are cringe worthy. Some fit right in the middle. Regardless, This is the path I’ve been down (starting with my vote for the best to the worst), and trust me, this is not the end.
The Nightingale
Not only did The Nightingale introduce me to Kristin Hannah books but also, along with the Book Thief, introduced me to how amazing historical fiction is. My mind was blown by this book and I could not be happier.
After completing The Nightingale, I started doing my research. I learned that the idea came to Hannah as she was doing research for another book. She thought, with good reason, that pilot soldiers would crash in Axis territory and then be smuggled back to the Allied territory just to do it again was fascinating.
The Nightingale is the story of a women who helped these soldiers and her family living in France. And now I need to read more Kristin Hannah.
The Great Alone
The Great Alone takes place in rural, off the grid Alaska. The characters include a father with PTSD from being a POW in the Vietnam war. A mother who doesn’t know how to deal with the change in her husband. And a preteen girl growing up in conditions she cannot control but surely control her. It is full of the craziness that the Alaskan wild brings. And the Alaskan wild is tame compared to the abuse she endures.
Night Road
Night Road is the most recent of Kristin Hannah’s books I’ve read. In her good books, Hannah writes about long term situations. In Night Road, half of the of the book focuses on the children’s lives before a particular event and the other half focuses on them as adults after. Like I said, this was the most recent Kristin Hannah book I have read and I greatly enjoyed it. It made me hungry for more Kristin Hannah!
Winter Garden
This is when Kristen Hannah’s writing starts to crumble a bit. Any book previous to this one, I have dubbed as unreadable. Winter Garden was a perfectly great story. However, reading it back to back with The Storyteller’s Secret, they were the exact same story. Different war. Different ethnicity. But both had harsh mothers who were not close to their children because of the hardship they had had. Winter Garden for me was ho hum.
Home Again
By now, it’s clear that I love Kristin Hannah’s books. However, this book is a book I did not like. I did not even kinda like it. I don’t even remember much from it except that I hated every page. I even gave it a single star on Goodreads. I clearly was not happy with this book.
What’s Next to Absorb More Kristin Hannah?
Firefly Lane is the last book of her’s that I have left to read in the time period where I think her books are good. Once I’m done with that, I cannot wait to see what she comes up with next. I’m sure it will be great and I’m sure I’ll be writing about it.
