The Nightingale

From Wikipedia:

The Nightingale (2015) is a historical fiction novel by American author Kristin Hannah published by St. Martin's Press. The book tells the story of two sisters in France during World War II and their struggle to survive and resist the German occupation there.

The book was inspired by accounts of a Belgian woman, Andrée de Jongh, who helped downed Allied pilots escape Nazi territory.^[1][2]

The Nightingale entered multiple bestseller lists upon release. As of 2021, it has been published in 45 languages and sold more than 4.5 million copies worldwide.^[3][4]

I know this is the "IT" book of 2015, but I was not grabbed until halfway through the book! I had to force myself to read it. I had some middle of the night awakenings on my camping trip (very cold and had to get up to go to the bathroom each night at 1:30-2:00 causing me to be wide awake until 4am). So I forced myself to read it. 

 I am a sucker for a good World War II story, but this is not my favorite one. I love that it is inspired by a true story. It just was very SLOW and needed some good editing at the beginning of the book!

All that said, I was hooked about halfway through, and I did cry at the end. The French people went through so many horrors, and I admire the Resistance. My husband's uncle was assisted by the Resistance only to be caught and send to a POW camp until the end of the war. The brave French people were his heroes. 

I was surprised that this is on many people's list as the best book they have ever read. I think they need to get out a little more. There are so many more rich, classical books out there! 

This is my third Kristin Hannah book. I read the Great Alone, and that was a slog like this one.  I read The Women, and I loved it. I think that one was because I was close in age, grew up in a Southern California beach town, and lived the Vietnam War as a civilian. That one was one of my favorites of the year. Go figure! 

I would love to see it in film, and I just read this on Wikipedia:

 Filming began on March 29, 2026 in Budapest.^[25] On July 10, 2026, TriStar pushed the film to March 19, 2027.^[26]

It will star real-life sister Dakota and Elle Fanning. So I am all for that!  

Loving Companion Presence

From Psalms for Praying: An Invitation to Wholeness by Nan C. Merrill

Friday Freewrite Fifteen: Finishing Well

I am 3 days and 1 hour away from finishing the LONG marathon that started in October of last year. I did not know what anyone looked like, other than the pictures (and an old picture of me was taken off the web for the welcome packet and then I was publically made fun of for looking so different from my picture. I didn't know why that was necessary. She pulled a picture from that was from July of 2016, and it was October of 2025. I no longer dye my hair and was 66 rather than 57. But I digress on this Freewrite and digression is not a transgression in the Freewriting world!) from the welcome packet. I was not even scared. I was excited. 

We were welcomed with open arms by M who took us to her wonderful house on the hill overlooking the Mediterranean. It was lovely to stay there for three nights to begin this year long odyssey.

On the training started; I was so impressed with the trainees that this training attracted from all over the world. I was especially impressed with my lovely little, small group that I would supervise from October 2025 to September of 2026. It has been many hours and a big investment, but I think what has come out of it is beautiful friendships and four people who will take what they have internalized into their walks with God and in walking alongside others. It is a WIN-WIN in that respect. I am grateful for these four.

Overall, I am grateful for my involvement with this training school. I first workeed for them in 2023 for 10 months. Then I took another group of them through more independent supervising in 2024. Then i continued to supervise one of those from the 2023 group, and she eventually did the Spiritual Exercises with me and two others (who were in another group). Now, I have another graduate doing the Exercises, and the wife and sister of others who were trained by or work this group. 

So the fruit has been wonderful in terms of relationships with those who have gone through their training. They do attract such amazing people. It was a privilege to get to know them.

With all that said, I am relieved to be done in 3 days and 55 minutes! It was a very long journey, and it was SO MUCH TIME. I was told 5 hours a month. But it is much more than that. I would say at least 10 and probably closer to 20 and really a lot more if you average going overseas for a residency and working from 8:30 am - 9:30 pm for five days (with one day off which was used to write blessings and prepare for the final talk that I gave to the group of 18 trainees). 

So, I am going out with JOY in PEACE. It contained some of my greatest CONSOLATIONS of the last year, but it has also contained some of my greatest DESOLATIONS as I was an outsider in so many respects. It was cross-cultural in the sense that I was trained in a very different way both as a director, supervisor, and trainer. 

But as my dear Ignatian trainer has said, "With every desolation, consolation is right around the corner, Carol." And the verse this morning depicts where I have ended up. Going out with JOY and PEACE today. 

It was all worth it. 

There we go 15 minutes and DONE!