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Nightingale
In Nazi-occupied Paris, most Frenchmen tread warily, but gay nightclub singer Yves Lacroix puts himself in the spotlight with every performance. As a veteran of France’s doomed defense, a survivor of a prison camp, and a “degenerate,” he knows he’s a target. His comic stage persona disguises a shamed, angry heart and gut-wrenching fear for a sister embedded in the Resistance.
Yet Yves ascends the hierarchy of Parisian nightlife to become a star, attracting the attention—and the protection—of the Nazi Oberst Heinrich von Starck. To complicate matters further, young foot soldier Falk Harfner’s naïve adoration of Yves threatens everything he’s worked for. So does Aryan ideologue von Grimmstein, rival to von Starck, who sees something “a bit like a Jew” in Yves.
When an ill-chosen quip can mean torture at the hands of the Gestapo, being the acclaimed Nightingale of Paris might cost Yves his music and his life.
Yet Yves ascends the hierarchy of Parisian nightlife to become a star, attracting the attention—and the protection—of the Nazi Oberst Heinrich von Starck. To complicate matters further, young foot soldier Falk Harfner’s naïve adoration of Yves threatens everything he’s worked for. So does Aryan ideologue von Grimmstein, rival to von Starck, who sees something “a bit like a Jew” in Yves.
When an ill-chosen quip can mean torture at the hands of the Gestapo, being the acclaimed Nightingale of Paris might cost Yves his music and his life.
256 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 2015
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November 12, 2021
“he couldn’t control the world, but he could control his voice and the song.”
my standards are insanely high when it comes to Aleksandr Voinov, ever since i read the Special Forces - Soldiers series. i always end up comparing the books i read by AV to that series, doesn’t matter how different they might be from SF. i just can’t help it lol.
after finishing this book, i was reminded once again why AV stays one of my favourite authors of all time. he truly never disappoints.
this was beautifully written. set in Paris during the years of the Nazi occupation, the book follows the main character Yves Lacroix, who’s a singer and also a rising star in Paris. this book was obviously quite tragic at times considering the WW2 setting.
“eventually, the fear exhausted him, and he found an odd acceptance of the situation, somewhere deep in his soul. nothing could avert a falling bomb; nothing could truly shield or protect him. no prayers, no promises to be a better man or lighting a candle in a church. no amount of negotiation or begging.”
this book was melancholic, sad, wistful, romantic, heartbreaking, hopeless and hopeful all at once.
“have you ever become entangled in something that hurts all the time, yet you wouldn’t stop it?”
this was such an interesting read and i truly had absolutely no idea where the story would end up going tbh.
this book wasn’t really focused on the romance, i wouldn’t really even classify it as that. the romance was more of a side-plot. the actual main story focused more on the mc Yves, his life, his career as a singer and his bumpy road to success, all during WW2.
however, the romance that we did get was lovely. Yves and Falk were SO beautiful together.
“being with Falk hurt somewhere in Yves’s heart, hurt him sweetly like a perfect note soaring and filling a room. and yet, he wouldn’t give that pain away for anything in the world.”
their connection and love was so tender, so gentle. i almost expected a tragic ending tbh, considering the setting and all…
“what do you want?”
“i…” Yves groped for an answer. just a little while ago, he’d have said all he wanted was to sing, sing until he couldn’t anymore, until the world ended and singing itself became impossible. singing, at least, wasn’t silence, wasn’t ducking away and wanting to hide or die in a hole so he’d never have to face tomorrow. singing meant, above all, breathing. “i don’t want to be afraid anymore.”
Falk drew him into a hug. Yves felt Falk’s raw strength envelop him - but it didn’t stifle. “nobody will ever hurt you while i’m here.”
“i know.” trouble was, of course that even Falk’s loyalty and love wouldn’t be able to change destiny.
i really loved this book and i highly recommend it, especially if you’re a fan of historical gay fiction.
my standards are insanely high when it comes to Aleksandr Voinov, ever since i read the Special Forces - Soldiers series. i always end up comparing the books i read by AV to that series, doesn’t matter how different they might be from SF. i just can’t help it lol.
after finishing this book, i was reminded once again why AV stays one of my favourite authors of all time. he truly never disappoints.
this was beautifully written. set in Paris during the years of the Nazi occupation, the book follows the main character Yves Lacroix, who’s a singer and also a rising star in Paris. this book was obviously quite tragic at times considering the WW2 setting.
“eventually, the fear exhausted him, and he found an odd acceptance of the situation, somewhere deep in his soul. nothing could avert a falling bomb; nothing could truly shield or protect him. no prayers, no promises to be a better man or lighting a candle in a church. no amount of negotiation or begging.”
this book was melancholic, sad, wistful, romantic, heartbreaking, hopeless and hopeful all at once.
“have you ever become entangled in something that hurts all the time, yet you wouldn’t stop it?”
this was such an interesting read and i truly had absolutely no idea where the story would end up going tbh.
this book wasn’t really focused on the romance, i wouldn’t really even classify it as that. the romance was more of a side-plot. the actual main story focused more on the mc Yves, his life, his career as a singer and his bumpy road to success, all during WW2.
however, the romance that we did get was lovely. Yves and Falk were SO beautiful together.
“being with Falk hurt somewhere in Yves’s heart, hurt him sweetly like a perfect note soaring and filling a room. and yet, he wouldn’t give that pain away for anything in the world.”
their connection and love was so tender, so gentle. i almost expected a tragic ending tbh, considering the setting and all…
“what do you want?”
“i…” Yves groped for an answer. just a little while ago, he’d have said all he wanted was to sing, sing until he couldn’t anymore, until the world ended and singing itself became impossible. singing, at least, wasn’t silence, wasn’t ducking away and wanting to hide or die in a hole so he’d never have to face tomorrow. singing meant, above all, breathing. “i don’t want to be afraid anymore.”
Falk drew him into a hug. Yves felt Falk’s raw strength envelop him - but it didn’t stifle. “nobody will ever hurt you while i’m here.”
“i know.” trouble was, of course that even Falk’s loyalty and love wouldn’t be able to change destiny.
i really loved this book and i highly recommend it, especially if you’re a fan of historical gay fiction.
no
December 28, 2015hello, handsome. come sit next to me.
ETA: noooooooope.
i am not an idiot.
ETA: noooooooope.
i am not an idiot.
September 29, 2016
Written November 1, 2015
4.3 Stars - Jeez, strong impressions, many different feelings - this was a interesting historical journey
I finished Nightingale yesterday. A new awaited Aleksandr Voinov novel. Not a romance but a novel with a strong life- and lovestory set in WWII war-times.
I'm usually a slow snail-reader and need days, or a week, for every book I start but this time it was quickly done. I just couldn't put it away for more than short moments this Saturday.
Nightingale was truly mesmerizing book to read. It will not be a the very highest top rating from me but a high good 4.3 star.
*********************************************
Paris 1942, 1943, 1944...
Nightingale is about the young gay nightclub singer Yves Lacroix and the German men he get to know those war years Paris was besieged by the Nazis.
We meet the middle aged Wehrmacht Oberst Heinrich von Starck, the beautiful young foot soldier Falk Harfner and the feared and dangerous SS Hauptsturmführer von Grimmstein. Add friends, family etc.
Horrible times and a strange everyday reality. It must have been so very horrible. All that fear, hate and cruelty by soldiers, foreigners (still also humans with feelings though...) in your own beloved city on your own streets. - Let it never happens again. And let us never forget.
*********************************************
I don't want to spoil anything and it's hard to put my finger on this one...
In a way is the feeling reading this story as watching a movie or TV documentary at times. Unquestionably a very interesting documentary about a gay man in Paris those WWII years in the 40s. It was nice to read something quite different for once. The historical, the facts etc, the time setting, the writing itself felt also in all ways so very well done. A small deduction for more of telling than a story showed by events and the main characters feelings. The years went and I had a hard time to get it all sometimes. I wished there had been more explanations why Yves did what he did, chosed what he chosed, and also a tiny bit more about his inner feelings and thoughts.
Nevertheless, I was kind of "consumed" by this story and just wanted to see how it all should end. Don't care too much about some lacks I point at here, this Nightingale novel is a truly great read. This lovely singing nighingale's stunning —both romantic sweet, heartbreaking and sometimes unbelievable tough— story will stay in my mind and heart.
*********************************************
I guess a lot of friends here also will truly enjoy this historical interesting and in a way still so very important story just as much as I did.
I LIKE - to read good stories even if it hurts sometimes
*******
# A buddyread with dear Sofia (and for once wasn't I completely outdistanced by my fastreading friend). Thanks!
# Quotes from the draft copy I got October 29.
# I read a draft copy gifted... My pre-ordered bought book (originally also gifted by a very nice GR friend - Thanks R!) was cancelled...
******
Later ... December 12, 2015
There is a published edition by now. See at Amazon.com:
—Publication Date: November 23, 2015— http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B018...
4.3 Stars - Jeez, strong impressions, many different feelings - this was a interesting historical journey
I finished Nightingale yesterday. A new awaited Aleksandr Voinov novel. Not a romance but a novel with a strong life- and lovestory set in WWII war-times.
I'm usually a slow snail-reader and need days, or a week, for every book I start but this time it was quickly done. I just couldn't put it away for more than short moments this Saturday.
Nightingale was truly mesmerizing book to read. It will not be a the very highest top rating from me but a high good 4.3 star.
*********************************************
Paris 1942, 1943, 1944...
Nightingale is about the young gay nightclub singer Yves Lacroix and the German men he get to know those war years Paris was besieged by the Nazis.
We meet the middle aged Wehrmacht Oberst Heinrich von Starck, the beautiful young foot soldier Falk Harfner and the feared and dangerous SS Hauptsturmführer von Grimmstein. Add friends, family etc.
”He couldn’t imagine what it felt like, being a German in Paris. While most seemed genuinely unaware of how the French refused to acknowledge them more than necessary, and that entertainers and whores were happy to take their money mostly out of the need to keep coal in the oven and food on the table, some seemed skittish.”
Horrible times and a strange everyday reality. It must have been so very horrible. All that fear, hate and cruelty by soldiers, foreigners (still also humans with feelings though...) in your own beloved city on your own streets. - Let it never happens again. And let us never forget.
*********************************************
I don't want to spoil anything and it's hard to put my finger on this one...
In a way is the feeling reading this story as watching a movie or TV documentary at times. Unquestionably a very interesting documentary about a gay man in Paris those WWII years in the 40s. It was nice to read something quite different for once. The historical, the facts etc, the time setting, the writing itself felt also in all ways so very well done. A small deduction for more of telling than a story showed by events and the main characters feelings. The years went and I had a hard time to get it all sometimes. I wished there had been more explanations why Yves did what he did, chosed what he chosed, and also a tiny bit more about his inner feelings and thoughts.
”The soldier smelled of smoke, damp like rain or tears, like autumn, and joyless barracks life. Uniform smell.”
Nevertheless, I was kind of "consumed" by this story and just wanted to see how it all should end. Don't care too much about some lacks I point at here, this Nightingale novel is a truly great read. This lovely singing nighingale's stunning —both romantic sweet, heartbreaking and sometimes unbelievable tough— story will stay in my mind and heart.
*********************************************
I guess a lot of friends here also will truly enjoy this historical interesting and in a way still so very important story just as much as I did.
I LIKE - to read good stories even if it hurts sometimes
*******
# A buddyread with dear Sofia (and for once wasn't I completely outdistanced by my fastreading friend). Thanks!
# Quotes from the draft copy I got October 29.
# I read a draft copy gifted... My pre-ordered bought book (originally also gifted by a very nice GR friend - Thanks R!) was cancelled...
******
Later ... December 12, 2015
There is a published edition by now. See at Amazon.com:
—Publication Date: November 23, 2015— http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B018...
January 17, 2016
Review Written 16 Jan'16
What a way to start the year....5 StArS *****
Nightingale........Yves Lacroix the very talented cabaret singer/entertainer who rises to stardom as the war rages in Nazi-occupied Paris. He draws the attention of an admirer Nazi Oberst Heinich von Starck, but he is not alone in he's adoration for Yves. Young German foot soldier Falk Harfner, is also in awe.
This is a story steeped in.....History, Pain, Love. Hope. Fear.
I could picture the smoky atmosphere of Chez Martine, the stage, the audience, feel the music drift over me. I can hear the characters voices, the prompt clicking of the Nazi heels, the emphasis and attitude are all well placed.
The unavoidable feelz you get when immersed in a Voinov novel, quite literally takes your breathe away. A tightening in your chest, the tears that want to cascade from your eyes as you try to hold them back mercilessly. Or the smile that wants to break out like the dawn of a new day.
Aleks writing does this to me, effortlessly.
Most definitely my favourite author of all time.
This waz my 1st read of 2016, what a way to start the year.....read it, feel it, love it...just as much as I did.....I know you will!!!
What a way to start the year....5 StArS *****
A voice like that should rule the world”
Nightingale........Yves Lacroix the very talented cabaret singer/entertainer who rises to stardom as the war rages in Nazi-occupied Paris. He draws the attention of an admirer Nazi Oberst Heinich von Starck, but he is not alone in he's adoration for Yves. Young German foot soldier Falk Harfner, is also in awe.
This is a story steeped in.....History, Pain, Love. Hope. Fear.
'Paris had been a city that never slept. Even now, it didn't sleep – merely cowered under the foot of the invader'
I could picture the smoky atmosphere of Chez Martine, the stage, the audience, feel the music drift over me. I can hear the characters voices, the prompt clicking of the Nazi heels, the emphasis and attitude are all well placed.
The unavoidable feelz you get when immersed in a Voinov novel, quite literally takes your breathe away. A tightening in your chest, the tears that want to cascade from your eyes as you try to hold them back mercilessly. Or the smile that wants to break out like the dawn of a new day.
Aleks writing does this to me, effortlessly.
Most definitely my favourite author of all time.
This waz my 1st read of 2016, what a way to start the year.....read it, feel it, love it...just as much as I did.....I know you will!!!
Want to read
November 29, 2015ETA: PLEASE READ VOINOV'S BLOGPOST!
Since the world is apparently a shitty place right now, I'm not going to get this book. This is Riptide's second strike, ironically or not, they were the publisher of the first book that made me refuse to ever pre-order. I just purchased from their website this weekend. I WILL NEVER PURCHASE from them directly again, and I will only be buying books from authors I already love contracted with them.
PRE-ORDERED!!! Appearing Oct. 27th
I swore after a debacle to never, ever, EVER pre-order another book--AGAIN. But, this is Voinov, an author I trust not to let me down.
My trick-or-treat bag is wide open; get in.
Since the world is apparently a shitty place right now, I'm not going to get this book. This is Riptide's second strike, ironically or not, they were the publisher of the first book that made me refuse to ever pre-order. I just purchased from their website this weekend. I WILL NEVER PURCHASE from them directly again, and I will only be buying books from authors I already love contracted with them.
PRE-ORDERED!!! Appearing Oct. 27th
I swore after a debacle to never, ever, EVER pre-order another book--AGAIN. But, this is Voinov, an author I trust not to let me down.
My trick-or-treat bag is wide open; get in.
September 24, 2017
DNF at 65-70%. :-[
It's the Bird Book! And it's longer than I had anticipated. For some reason I'd expected it to be similar to [book:Skybound|15734010] in length, so I'm pleasantly surprised. I'm probably also freaking out because I honestly thought we'd seen the last of Voinov for a while (if you've read some of his 'somber' blog posts, the future appeared to look a tad bleak for his fans).
Today is a good day.
It's the Bird Book! And it's longer than I had anticipated. For some reason I'd expected it to be similar to [book:Skybound|15734010] in length, so I'm pleasantly surprised. I'm probably also freaking out because I honestly thought we'd seen the last of Voinov for a while (if you've read some of his 'somber' blog posts, the future appeared to look a tad bleak for his fans).
Today is a good day.
April 24, 2018
Nightingale by Aleksandr Voinov is a truly excellent example of historical gay fiction.
Set in Paris during the years of the Nazi occupation (1940-1944), the story revolves around Yves Lacroix, a talented singer and rising star in the cabaret world, and his complex dealings with his fellow Frenchmen and two German men, an older officer who protects him and a simple soldier with whom Yves falls in love.
Voinov recreates the seedy and dangerous atmosphere of a city trampled under the enemy's foot with incredible accuracy. The constant feeling of being observed, the risk of being arrested and tortured by the Gestapo, the bombings, the shortages - all these elements create an undercurrent of fear and danger that infuses the novel's pages stressing the uneasy coexistence of the French and their invaders.
At the same time, Nightingale is the intimate portrait of a young man who attempts to live his life treading the difficult line between defiance and compromise. Yves is not an idealistic hero - he very much lives in his head, focused on his music and songs, but perceives acutely the moral implications of seeing men behind the uniforms, of capturing their humanity and frailty despite their political and national allegiances.
The two main German characters in the book, Oberst Heinrich von Starck and Falk Harfner, are both beautifully portrayed. Von Starck is an old-world nobleman, scarred by WW1, attached to values of loyalty and integrity but also unexpectedly rebellious. Falk is a true romantic with the soul of a poet, perhaps even naive in his undiscussed adoration for Yves, but with such an intense interior life that it's impossible to not fall for him. His shy and tentative Je t'adore , his poem to Yves, his letter to him - every single thing about Falk was truly heartbreaking.
The pace of the novel is always gripping, even during its most reflexive passages I felt completely dragged into the story and the world of the characters.
Voinov's writing style is sensuous and measured, insightful and informative without ever becoming a pure summary of historical facts.
I really loved this novel and I highly recommend it!
Set in Paris during the years of the Nazi occupation (1940-1944), the story revolves around Yves Lacroix, a talented singer and rising star in the cabaret world, and his complex dealings with his fellow Frenchmen and two German men, an older officer who protects him and a simple soldier with whom Yves falls in love.
Voinov recreates the seedy and dangerous atmosphere of a city trampled under the enemy's foot with incredible accuracy. The constant feeling of being observed, the risk of being arrested and tortured by the Gestapo, the bombings, the shortages - all these elements create an undercurrent of fear and danger that infuses the novel's pages stressing the uneasy coexistence of the French and their invaders.
At the same time, Nightingale is the intimate portrait of a young man who attempts to live his life treading the difficult line between defiance and compromise. Yves is not an idealistic hero - he very much lives in his head, focused on his music and songs, but perceives acutely the moral implications of seeing men behind the uniforms, of capturing their humanity and frailty despite their political and national allegiances.
The two main German characters in the book, Oberst Heinrich von Starck and Falk Harfner, are both beautifully portrayed. Von Starck is an old-world nobleman, scarred by WW1, attached to values of loyalty and integrity but also unexpectedly rebellious. Falk is a true romantic with the soul of a poet, perhaps even naive in his undiscussed adoration for Yves, but with such an intense interior life that it's impossible to not fall for him. His shy and tentative Je t'adore , his poem to Yves, his letter to him - every single thing about Falk was truly heartbreaking.
The pace of the novel is always gripping, even during its most reflexive passages I felt completely dragged into the story and the world of the characters.
Voinov's writing style is sensuous and measured, insightful and informative without ever becoming a pure summary of historical facts.
I really loved this novel and I highly recommend it!
May 8, 2023
A million stars. Yves is one of the most real and beautiful characters I’ve read about. Voinov paints a vivid portrait of Paris under German occupation in WW2. Life keeps going, and people do what they can to survive. The resistance. The German soldiers, surprisingly human, with all the beauty and the ugliness that humanity entails. The singers, entertainers, actors, performing for the soldiers. Entertaining them. Giving them a taste of the beauty of the city. Traitors? Or survivors? Informants. Distrust. Can anyone be trusted? On either side?
The writing is incredible. Beautiful. Almost poetic. Vivid details. Heartbreaking.
It’s not a typical romance. There is no future. No commitment. It’s not possible. There is love, true and beautiful and impossible, between a German soldier and a French singer.
They’d made love in the candlelight, marveled at each other’s beauty, gazed into each other’s eyes that were shining not just with reflection, but soul. Being with Falk hurt somewhere in Yves’s heart, hurt him sweetly like a perfect note soaring and filling a room.
There is a HEA, but it’s mostly left to our imagination. I, for one, am going to bed and will dream about Yves and Falk’s long happy beautiful postwar future.
The writing is incredible. Beautiful. Almost poetic. Vivid details. Heartbreaking.
It’s not a typical romance. There is no future. No commitment. It’s not possible. There is love, true and beautiful and impossible, between a German soldier and a French singer.
They’d made love in the candlelight, marveled at each other’s beauty, gazed into each other’s eyes that were shining not just with reflection, but soul. Being with Falk hurt somewhere in Yves’s heart, hurt him sweetly like a perfect note soaring and filling a room.
There is a HEA, but it’s mostly left to our imagination. I, for one, am going to bed and will dream about Yves and Falk’s long happy beautiful postwar future.
May 30, 2016
"There's nothing I've wanted more. That is, if you can love a coward..."
There's a reason why I stay away from WW2 stories. They're always depressing, to say the least.
Still, with Aleksandr Voinov being one of my favorite authors, I couldn't pass up the chance to read this amazing story.
Yves Lacroix is an aspiring singer in clubs and small theaters of Paris in the 1940s, who finds himself in the shadow of his mother, a famous opera singer on the international stages.
Paris is occupied by the Germans, turning the city into a dark reflection of its former self, with the nightlife ending at curfew and swastika flags adorning the official buildings everywhere.
Yves is invited to a party of influential friends where he meets the older German Wehrmacht-Officer Heinrich von Starck who subtly starts courting the handsome young singer. When Yves' homosexual friends learn about this, they urge Yves on to take things all the way and become von Starck's lover, just to have an influential (and gay) Nazi on their side in case things get rough.
Taking the German as his lover turns out to be a complicated tightrope walk, especially since Yves' sister Edith is working for the resistance and would despise him if she ever found out who Yves takes to bed.
Things get even more complicated when a handsome young German soldier knocks on his door. Yves remembers having saved the young man's life some time earlier and is surprised that the guy took the initiative to find him and thank him in person. Even more surprising is the fact that Yves finds himself liking the young German and his gentle soul a lot more than he should, especially with a high ranking Wehrmacht officer as his *other* lover.
I absolutely loved this story. It's not a pure romance, as there is only little actual romance on page, but the whole story revolves around Yves' life as a singer who is growing in faith and skill over the years and who shares his heart with the enemy - being awfully aware that his choices are not the sanest most of the time.
When Yves loses people he loves in the dark war, his stage nickname 'Nightingale' takes on a darker meaning as a bird who is mourning the dead and the loss of the light in his life.
The more he rises in fame, the lonelier he feels in his soul.
What will be left of him when the war will be over?
That's what kept me on the edge throughout the story. It was not a story of two guys finding each other and building a life together, but about a love in the time of war where being together was a rare commodity and sharing a life in the open was not an option.
I really loved the characters, especially (and isn't that ironic) Heinrich von Starck and Falk Harfner. I found them very likable and good-hearted, even though they worked for one of the darkest regimes. Their fate broke my heart...
I can only give 5 stars to this touching story!
December 9, 2021
Mais uma maravilha escrita por Aleksandr Voinov!! É um escritor muito talentoso que me conquistou com seus livros tão intensos. Todos os livros que escreveu usando o tema segunda guerra mundial são incríveis. São muito tocantes, tem uma visão muito expressiva sobre isso. Nessa história tivemos um cantor francês como protagonista, em meio uma França que foi dominada pelo exército alemão. Yves é um cantor talentoso que acaba salvando um soldado alemão que estava à beira da morte depois de um ataque, além disso, Yves acaba caindo nas graças de um outro, um comandante com grande influência. O grande problema é que o cara quer mais do que sua amizade e Yves se vê meio obrigado a se envolver com o tal alemão, mas Yves não esperava que o soldado alemão que ele salvou iria aparecer diante dele para agradecer e se mostrar um rapaz agradável disposto a aprender francês para conversar com o cantor. Um estranho triângulo amoroso onde claramente sabemos por quem Yves está se apaixonando. Essa é a história de um cantor francês que é prisioneiro em seu próprio país que virou refém da Alemanha e seus soldados. Mais um livro nota 5!!
December 7, 2017
*** 5 Nightingale and Eagle stars !***
ARC was given by author for exchange of LGBTQ donation in my country and for unbiased review
My favorite author and his finesse. Historical. War.
It's been too long I haven't read a soulful story and almost forgot the feeling of a real good writing, a real great story, since I read Soldiers by the same author.
I read this blind, because I think I'm one of Aleksandr Voinov's first reader for this book.
I'm so happy I have a privilege reading this gem earlier than anyone else.
As usual, Aleks makes this story 'real' and believable. Oh come on, Nazi soldiers as a hero? How odd?
But then, after you read this book and finally get to know Oberst Heinrich von Starck and Falk Harfner, both are a big fans of Yves Lacroix, a club singer, you'll say...Ahh, Nazi also humans...surprise !
They can love, they can make mistakes, they can on the knees and crazy about one little french singer.
The tense of war, the vibes of a scary nights, the anxious, felt so strong in this story.
That's why Aleks never claimed this as a romance.
It's a historical fiction, with a little taste of love story.
Don't expect a romantic faithful love story from a slutty French singer with that two Germans. Yves face reality, that he can't choose between the two men. Both are having a very important rules in Yves life.
I can't dislike Heinrich, he's even a romantic guy for Yves. For an Oberst, he's kind of 'soft'. He really care about Yves and his safety.
But then, there's Falk, an ordinary soldier with no power who came into Yves life even before he met Heinrich.
And Yves is really stuck in between.
But war, have no mercy for lovers...I cried the day Yves cried for the first time since forever. It was so heartbreaking, and I can't complain, because 'it's war', right?
I'm glad the gloomy of war and my broken hear healed. Yes, Yves had his HEA after all. And I'm a happy girl !
Note from author : For the record, Nightingale is NOT a Romance or m/m Romance. It's a gay historical novel. It was never intended as a Romance. It's not listed on Amazon as a Romance. The cover is not branded for Romance.
BR with Rosalinda., going to BR 'again' with Funzee on weekend.
I just can't move on. This is one of Aleks 'Best Work' , and I'm glad I can be one of the VIP readers.
Keep writing Aleks ! Thank you for a wonderful story !
[image error]
ARC was given by author for exchange of LGBTQ donation in my country and for unbiased review
“I still should have fought.”
“But instead I played the canary, singing for whoever owned my damn cage.”
My favorite author and his finesse. Historical. War.
It's been too long I haven't read a soulful story and almost forgot the feeling of a real good writing, a real great story, since I read Soldiers by the same author.
I read this blind, because I think I'm one of Aleksandr Voinov's first reader for this book.
I'm so happy I have a privilege reading this gem earlier than anyone else.
As usual, Aleks makes this story 'real' and believable. Oh come on, Nazi soldiers as a hero? How odd?
But then, after you read this book and finally get to know Oberst Heinrich von Starck and Falk Harfner, both are a big fans of Yves Lacroix, a club singer, you'll say...Ahh, Nazi also humans...surprise !
They can love, they can make mistakes, they can on the knees and crazy about one little french singer.
The tense of war, the vibes of a scary nights, the anxious, felt so strong in this story.
That's why Aleks never claimed this as a romance.
It's a historical fiction, with a little taste of love story.
Don't expect a romantic faithful love story from a slutty French singer with that two Germans. Yves face reality, that he can't choose between the two men. Both are having a very important rules in Yves life.
I can't dislike Heinrich, he's even a romantic guy for Yves. For an Oberst, he's kind of 'soft'. He really care about Yves and his safety.
But then, there's Falk, an ordinary soldier with no power who came into Yves life even before he met Heinrich.
And Yves is really stuck in between.
But war, have no mercy for lovers...I cried the day Yves cried for the first time since forever. It was so heartbreaking, and I can't complain, because 'it's war', right?
I'm glad the gloomy of war and my broken hear healed. Yes, Yves had his HEA after all. And I'm a happy girl !
Note from author : For the record, Nightingale is NOT a Romance or m/m Romance. It's a gay historical novel. It was never intended as a Romance. It's not listed on Amazon as a Romance. The cover is not branded for Romance.
BR with Rosalinda., going to BR 'again' with Funzee on weekend.
I just can't move on. This is one of Aleks 'Best Work' , and I'm glad I can be one of the VIP readers.
Keep writing Aleks ! Thank you for a wonderful story !
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October 26, 2015
Cuando el arte y la libertad creativa quedan cautivos de intereses comerciales cruzados, siempre perdemos todos. Pero esa es la eterna historia del sistema económico que nos domina y las condiciones que nos impone para poder sobrevivirlo. Y ninguna empresa está exenta de ello. Ni aquellas que se titulan como independientes.
Lo peor de todo es que esta historia, más allá de los detalles particulares del tema, no pueda llegar a sus lectores y quede atrapada. Porque es, como muchas otros libros del autor, una obra extraordinaria.
Lo peor de todo es que esta historia, más allá de los detalles particulares del tema, no pueda llegar a sus lectores y quede atrapada. Porque es, como muchas otros libros del autor, una obra extraordinaria.
November 27, 2015
I adored this book
Atmospheric, beautiful it made me both sad and happy.
While it's not a romance it is most definitely a love story
Aleks answers questions about Nightingale here https://ingloriousbitches.wordpress.c...
Atmospheric, beautiful it made me both sad and happy.
While it's not a romance it is most definitely a love story
Aleks answers questions about Nightingale here https://ingloriousbitches.wordpress.c...
March 27, 2016
Full Reviewage on Prism Book Alliance®
This is wartime fiction at its haunting, emotional, frightening, and hope-filled best. I was entranced and felt like I was walking around in a dream while still awake, adrenalized. I never knew moment to moment what was coming...
Yves looked at the cap, abandoned, possibly the last thing of the dying or dead man he’d ever see, yet real and menacing like a nightmare before waking.
A thriving, never sleeping kind of fear that surely every single person under Nazi occupation felt, carrying it around all day, every moment, all through the night. Every decision is colored by that fear, a choking layer covering the surface of everything seen and unseen, real and surreal, the greatest power alive, infecting both the waking and the dead. What to do then, when a German soldier stumbles, unwanted and unexpected, into the precarious existence of a Parisian native? This question is posed over and over again throughout this story, in so many ways, and answered in just as many, still leaving me with no idea where things were going or how they’d end up. I mean. Just. That ending. I sat on my couch, my hand covering my mouth in disbelief. It then took me two days to process this experience. And two more in an attempt to come up with a review that made some kind of sense.
Here’s what I came up with. Let’s see how well or not I did.
It’s a tricky thing, slowly building the scene while simultaneously creating a constant hum of tension and fear. That’s what happened here, from the opening scene. It never stopped, not the entire way through this story. And I never wanted it to end despite my guts taking on more than a passing resemblance to a mariner’s knot and my heart imitating the longest marathon being run at full speed.
Nothing from history is ignored, or treated with kid gloves, nothing glossed by using the advantage of time passing and memories growing old. These kinds of stories never grow old. I don’t think we could ever have too many stories about the human experience during WWII. Survival. Death. Suffering. Stillness. Love. Hatred. Caring. The complexity that is the human being, especially in long term states of heightened fear and uncertainty, is on full display here.
Lighter moments aren’t left out, displayed against the backdrop of death and its constant threat, hope and love and determination still fighting for their rights, too. Voinov maintains the delicate balance, juggling all of them with an honest mix of confidence and reverence and fear. The main portrayal comes in the form of Yves Lacroix, the main character, the one through whom I experienced all of these things.
Voinov’s well-known ability to manipulate language is unfettered, unbridled, running free but with control. He finds all of the right words, sliding and slipping and snapping them into place, like they’ve all been patiently awaiting their turns, knowing their fate and playing the roles to perfection. For me, that translates into being carried away and surrounded and surprised by them, jolted and prodded and seduced over and over again.
Yves shivered at the intensity in the blue eyes, just the proximity of him. By all rights, this man shouldn’t take up space the way he did, like he had branches and roots that were a thousand meters deep.
Each time something good was happening to Yves, or between he and Heinrich, or with Falk, or any of his friends, or family, the fear and the worry remained my companions, never leaving me alone. Ever. I worried that, at any moment, something could and would detonate, killing the happiness, no matter how secretive or well-planned. I worried every time that a trap was surely being laid, that this happiness was that candy from a stranger. But it was never a stranger, the danger always known and the candy the wild card. Never reliable. Never predictable.
Predictable! That word doesn’t exist, not in this universe, banished to a galaxy far, far away. I never knew what to expect. I only knew to never expect.
Rebellion. It took place in every form, in countless places and just as countless ways, with whatever tools could be found and exploited. Yves is no obvious rebel, no self-proclaimed hero. He’s self-possessed, hopeful, terrified, and even experiences exhilaration in rare moments of what he’d probably call stupidity, certainly not bravery. He wasn’t innocent or naïve, but he also wasn’t at all averse to playing the ignorance game and trying to forget the incomprehensible horror going on around him, near and far, from his city, his home. There is so much more I want to say here but I don’t want to give anything away, nothing, none of the emotion and experience this story will give you.
The surprises are constant, all of them character driven. That’s what this entire story is, all about the characters. No huge battles, no majorly gruesome acts of terror, nothing overly graphic or grand. It’s all local, all ground level, the fear and intimidation and overwhelming uncertainty dwell in the cafes and clubs and flats and on the streets. It’s Paris deep into WW II. And I felt like I was there, unable to escape, whether from circumstance or the way I felt about a character, or the way it changed me or changed them. I couldn’t stop wanting the experience. There is one character in particular about whom I could never decide if he was living breathing joy or a harbinger of destruction. Maybe both? Only the end, the very last scene, provided my answer.
You guys should see the pages of notes I’m not including here LOL, they are copious, and rambling, and I love every word. I just won’t subject you to even more of them. Instead…
… they were masters of their technique who struggled and refined and strove even harder to tear themselves open wider so the voice could ring out louder and truer, like bleeding notes upon the air.
This is how I felt during and long after my reading of this story.
Despite all of the heaviness I’ve described here, and as I mentioned earlier, there are some light moments. I did smile, more than once, my heart expanding, open and ready to receive whatever was thrown my way.
This is a gorgeous, complicated, mind-bending story, with few easy answers, just like life, and certainly like Paris and all of occupied France in WWII. If you know history (and, frankly, I hope everyone does), it adds so much to what you’ll feel as you read this. Voinov has conveyed a story through some dozen characters that forces emotion to the surface, never letting go, unrelenting, and it held me in its clutches from word one until those two words we all dread: The End.
This is wartime fiction at its haunting, emotional, frightening, and hope-filled best. I was entranced and felt like I was walking around in a dream while still awake, adrenalized. I never knew moment to moment what was coming...
Yves looked at the cap, abandoned, possibly the last thing of the dying or dead man he’d ever see, yet real and menacing like a nightmare before waking.
A thriving, never sleeping kind of fear that surely every single person under Nazi occupation felt, carrying it around all day, every moment, all through the night. Every decision is colored by that fear, a choking layer covering the surface of everything seen and unseen, real and surreal, the greatest power alive, infecting both the waking and the dead. What to do then, when a German soldier stumbles, unwanted and unexpected, into the precarious existence of a Parisian native? This question is posed over and over again throughout this story, in so many ways, and answered in just as many, still leaving me with no idea where things were going or how they’d end up. I mean. Just. That ending. I sat on my couch, my hand covering my mouth in disbelief. It then took me two days to process this experience. And two more in an attempt to come up with a review that made some kind of sense.
Here’s what I came up with. Let’s see how well or not I did.
It’s a tricky thing, slowly building the scene while simultaneously creating a constant hum of tension and fear. That’s what happened here, from the opening scene. It never stopped, not the entire way through this story. And I never wanted it to end despite my guts taking on more than a passing resemblance to a mariner’s knot and my heart imitating the longest marathon being run at full speed.
Nothing from history is ignored, or treated with kid gloves, nothing glossed by using the advantage of time passing and memories growing old. These kinds of stories never grow old. I don’t think we could ever have too many stories about the human experience during WWII. Survival. Death. Suffering. Stillness. Love. Hatred. Caring. The complexity that is the human being, especially in long term states of heightened fear and uncertainty, is on full display here.
Lighter moments aren’t left out, displayed against the backdrop of death and its constant threat, hope and love and determination still fighting for their rights, too. Voinov maintains the delicate balance, juggling all of them with an honest mix of confidence and reverence and fear. The main portrayal comes in the form of Yves Lacroix, the main character, the one through whom I experienced all of these things.
Voinov’s well-known ability to manipulate language is unfettered, unbridled, running free but with control. He finds all of the right words, sliding and slipping and snapping them into place, like they’ve all been patiently awaiting their turns, knowing their fate and playing the roles to perfection. For me, that translates into being carried away and surrounded and surprised by them, jolted and prodded and seduced over and over again.
Yves shivered at the intensity in the blue eyes, just the proximity of him. By all rights, this man shouldn’t take up space the way he did, like he had branches and roots that were a thousand meters deep.
Each time something good was happening to Yves, or between he and Heinrich, or with Falk, or any of his friends, or family, the fear and the worry remained my companions, never leaving me alone. Ever. I worried that, at any moment, something could and would detonate, killing the happiness, no matter how secretive or well-planned. I worried every time that a trap was surely being laid, that this happiness was that candy from a stranger. But it was never a stranger, the danger always known and the candy the wild card. Never reliable. Never predictable.
Predictable! That word doesn’t exist, not in this universe, banished to a galaxy far, far away. I never knew what to expect. I only knew to never expect.
Rebellion. It took place in every form, in countless places and just as countless ways, with whatever tools could be found and exploited. Yves is no obvious rebel, no self-proclaimed hero. He’s self-possessed, hopeful, terrified, and even experiences exhilaration in rare moments of what he’d probably call stupidity, certainly not bravery. He wasn’t innocent or naïve, but he also wasn’t at all averse to playing the ignorance game and trying to forget the incomprehensible horror going on around him, near and far, from his city, his home. There is so much more I want to say here but I don’t want to give anything away, nothing, none of the emotion and experience this story will give you.
The surprises are constant, all of them character driven. That’s what this entire story is, all about the characters. No huge battles, no majorly gruesome acts of terror, nothing overly graphic or grand. It’s all local, all ground level, the fear and intimidation and overwhelming uncertainty dwell in the cafes and clubs and flats and on the streets. It’s Paris deep into WW II. And I felt like I was there, unable to escape, whether from circumstance or the way I felt about a character, or the way it changed me or changed them. I couldn’t stop wanting the experience. There is one character in particular about whom I could never decide if he was living breathing joy or a harbinger of destruction. Maybe both? Only the end, the very last scene, provided my answer.
You guys should see the pages of notes I’m not including here LOL, they are copious, and rambling, and I love every word. I just won’t subject you to even more of them. Instead…
… they were masters of their technique who struggled and refined and strove even harder to tear themselves open wider so the voice could ring out louder and truer, like bleeding notes upon the air.
This is how I felt during and long after my reading of this story.
Despite all of the heaviness I’ve described here, and as I mentioned earlier, there are some light moments. I did smile, more than once, my heart expanding, open and ready to receive whatever was thrown my way.
This is a gorgeous, complicated, mind-bending story, with few easy answers, just like life, and certainly like Paris and all of occupied France in WWII. If you know history (and, frankly, I hope everyone does), it adds so much to what you’ll feel as you read this. Voinov has conveyed a story through some dozen characters that forces emotion to the surface, never letting go, unrelenting, and it held me in its clutches from word one until those two words we all dread: The End.
June 12, 2016
“Come, tell me, how is Paris?”
“Well, the Germans are everywhere. The clubs reopened quickly, so there’s work, and sometimes, it feels all quite normal. But it isn’t, and it might never be again.
Paris, under German occupation during World War II, is the setting to Aleks’s newest book NIGHTINGALE.
It plays a very important part in this story and became alive and visible in my mind, like I’ve been there myself.
This book has such a rich atmosphere, achieved by the vivid setting, the intriguing characters, and the touching plot.
What stands out most for me is the theme of being a survivor, and maybe coward, in contrast to being a hero. I think this is very remarkable, that there are no heroes in this book, only people who adjust and act to stay alive.
At one point, I suddenly realised that I would probably be the same. As much as we hope and wish it was otherwise, that we would be the hero, that we would never forsake some principles, I don’t think this is true for most of us.
In times of need, there will be compromise, the urge to survive will be stronger than righteousness, than doing the (supposedly) right thing.
“I’m so sorry.” Améry kept his gaze down. “But everybody would have done what I did. It would take a hero not to.”
In NIGHTINGALE, a metaphor for this mindset is the Palace’s menu that is quickly translated into German, and later on into English, to meet the language of the occupants and later the liberators of Paris.
But also our protagonist Yves and nearly everyone else has to work with what is thrown into their way, to stay alive, to offer help where one can afford it.
Yves, known as the Nightingale, is a very talented singer and entertainer in Paris and he catches the eye of a German officer, Oberst Heinrich von Starck. Yves’s friend and employee Maurice Lefèvre encourages Yves to take advantage of the situation and, by befriending the officer, Yves hopes to gain a protector in high ranks with the Germans.
Yves is a little bit reluctant but also sees the need for protection and finally gives in to Heinrich’s advances. Yves genuinely likes Heinrich but the sexual relationship that follows, being focused on Heinrich’s enjoyment, is something Yves feels he can’t really deny him.
I think it is open for interpretation whether Heinrich is consciously taking advantage of Yves. Maybe Heinrich doesn’t see the difference in power and the position Yves is in, or maybe he is in denial of it himself, or maybe he really doesn’t care. I’m leaning towards the first two scenarios here.
In peacetimes, Heinrich would have been a welcome guest; now, though, his presence left a bitter taste in Yves’s mouth. Like Heinrich insisted on playing guest when he was anything but, as if acting it would somehow make it real. Maybe that was what underpinned their whole relationship. It wasn’t “what if,” but “as if.”
Nonetheless, I felt for Heinrich, because as much as he could, he did protect Yves and Yves’s family and friends, because he defied the German rule in some places and saved paintings from destruction, because he genuinely liked Yves, and because .
[Heinrich:] I want you to be safe. And sing, if you can, because your voice . . . there’s a myth where the nightingale sings to console the dead . . . and before everything is over, Europe will be a charnel house. We need all the nightingale songs we can get.” He stepped closer and briefly, briskly, embraced Yves, who was too surprised to immediately respond but then closed his arms around Heinrich.
“In my own way,” Heinrich said softly at Yves’s ear. “I was terribly fond of you. Au révoir.”
While Oberst Heinrich von Starck is somewhat neither black nor white and in this a faulty human being, Hauptsturmführer von Grimmstein from the Gestapo is an entirely different matter. He is a despicable Nazi and
At the very beginning of the book, Yves witnesses an assault on a German soldier and because he fears the repercussions of a dead German soldier for Paris, he brings him to a hospital. Later on, we meet Falk Halfner again as he bludgeons his way into Yves life. Yves, having more than enough on his plate with one German lover, is very much not amused about this. He fears Heinrich’s jealousy, and also thinks that Falk will just be another German who takes what he wants.
However, Falk is not what Yves expects him to be…
Falk wrote a poem for Yves, in which he subtly declares his love for him:
The Nightingale and the Hawk.
She trembled in his grasp as if her heart were to give out, not knowing he’d caught her with love.
In German, the title is Die Nachtigall und der Falke, by the way :)
And here we can witness how Falk is different to Heinrich. When Yves doesn’t return his feelings, he leaves him be and doesn’t just take what he’s come for.
A few minutes later, despite being turned down, Falk returns to ensure Yves safety when Paris is being bombed by the allied forces.
The following scene was so very precious, because Falk protected Yves and stayed with him, without getting anything in return, and we could see, as could Yves, that Falk’s love was true and earnest.
It wasn’t just that Harfner was so attractive—it was that he seemed unpredictable, not unlike a lion who behaved like a tamed animal as long as it pleased him. A touch of danger, an illicit thrill. And yet he’d been all protector, all valiant knight who’d ridden to the rescue. And a tongue-tied boy, sharing his attempt at poetry. Looking at Harfner, he was a study in contradictions, and Yves found himself mesmerized by all these possibilities, the depth that likely held more secrets, if he could just find the language to unlock them.
I’ve read several books by Aleks by now and, to me, NIGHTINGALE has a very different and special feel to it. It is very quiet and laid back, yet very strong in emotions. I even shed some tears at one point and read part of this book with a heavy heart, although hope never left me.
NIGHTINGALE is a wonderful book. It made my country’s awful history more personal to me, something that a history book cannot and couldn’t so far achieve for me. It made me relate to the characters and reflect on myself as a person.
I very much appreciate the personal approach to this time period that is for us today often distant and so hard to understand, and I highly recommend reading this.
______________________________
Genre: Historical Gay Fiction
Tags: WW II, Paris, singer, arts, surviving
“Well, the Germans are everywhere. The clubs reopened quickly, so there’s work, and sometimes, it feels all quite normal. But it isn’t, and it might never be again.
Paris, under German occupation during World War II, is the setting to Aleks’s newest book NIGHTINGALE.
It plays a very important part in this story and became alive and visible in my mind, like I’ve been there myself.
This book has such a rich atmosphere, achieved by the vivid setting, the intriguing characters, and the touching plot.
What stands out most for me is the theme of being a survivor, and maybe coward, in contrast to being a hero. I think this is very remarkable, that there are no heroes in this book, only people who adjust and act to stay alive.
At one point, I suddenly realised that I would probably be the same. As much as we hope and wish it was otherwise, that we would be the hero, that we would never forsake some principles, I don’t think this is true for most of us.
In times of need, there will be compromise, the urge to survive will be stronger than righteousness, than doing the (supposedly) right thing.
“I’m so sorry.” Améry kept his gaze down. “But everybody would have done what I did. It would take a hero not to.”
In NIGHTINGALE, a metaphor for this mindset is the Palace’s menu that is quickly translated into German, and later on into English, to meet the language of the occupants and later the liberators of Paris.
But also our protagonist Yves and nearly everyone else has to work with what is thrown into their way, to stay alive, to offer help where one can afford it.
Yves, known as the Nightingale, is a very talented singer and entertainer in Paris and he catches the eye of a German officer, Oberst Heinrich von Starck. Yves’s friend and employee Maurice Lefèvre encourages Yves to take advantage of the situation and, by befriending the officer, Yves hopes to gain a protector in high ranks with the Germans.
Yves is a little bit reluctant but also sees the need for protection and finally gives in to Heinrich’s advances. Yves genuinely likes Heinrich but the sexual relationship that follows, being focused on Heinrich’s enjoyment, is something Yves feels he can’t really deny him.
I think it is open for interpretation whether Heinrich is consciously taking advantage of Yves. Maybe Heinrich doesn’t see the difference in power and the position Yves is in, or maybe he is in denial of it himself, or maybe he really doesn’t care. I’m leaning towards the first two scenarios here.
In peacetimes, Heinrich would have been a welcome guest; now, though, his presence left a bitter taste in Yves’s mouth. Like Heinrich insisted on playing guest when he was anything but, as if acting it would somehow make it real. Maybe that was what underpinned their whole relationship. It wasn’t “what if,” but “as if.”
Nonetheless, I felt for Heinrich, because as much as he could, he did protect Yves and Yves’s family and friends, because he defied the German rule in some places and saved paintings from destruction, because he genuinely liked Yves, and because .
[Heinrich:] I want you to be safe. And sing, if you can, because your voice . . . there’s a myth where the nightingale sings to console the dead . . . and before everything is over, Europe will be a charnel house. We need all the nightingale songs we can get.” He stepped closer and briefly, briskly, embraced Yves, who was too surprised to immediately respond but then closed his arms around Heinrich.
“In my own way,” Heinrich said softly at Yves’s ear. “I was terribly fond of you. Au révoir.”
While Oberst Heinrich von Starck is somewhat neither black nor white and in this a faulty human being, Hauptsturmführer von Grimmstein from the Gestapo is an entirely different matter. He is a despicable Nazi and
At the very beginning of the book, Yves witnesses an assault on a German soldier and because he fears the repercussions of a dead German soldier for Paris, he brings him to a hospital. Later on, we meet Falk Halfner again as he bludgeons his way into Yves life. Yves, having more than enough on his plate with one German lover, is very much not amused about this. He fears Heinrich’s jealousy, and also thinks that Falk will just be another German who takes what he wants.
However, Falk is not what Yves expects him to be…
Falk wrote a poem for Yves, in which he subtly declares his love for him:
The Nightingale and the Hawk.
She trembled in his grasp as if her heart were to give out, not knowing he’d caught her with love.
In German, the title is Die Nachtigall und der Falke, by the way :)
And here we can witness how Falk is different to Heinrich. When Yves doesn’t return his feelings, he leaves him be and doesn’t just take what he’s come for.
A few minutes later, despite being turned down, Falk returns to ensure Yves safety when Paris is being bombed by the allied forces.
The following scene was so very precious, because Falk protected Yves and stayed with him, without getting anything in return, and we could see, as could Yves, that Falk’s love was true and earnest.
It wasn’t just that Harfner was so attractive—it was that he seemed unpredictable, not unlike a lion who behaved like a tamed animal as long as it pleased him. A touch of danger, an illicit thrill. And yet he’d been all protector, all valiant knight who’d ridden to the rescue. And a tongue-tied boy, sharing his attempt at poetry. Looking at Harfner, he was a study in contradictions, and Yves found himself mesmerized by all these possibilities, the depth that likely held more secrets, if he could just find the language to unlock them.
I’ve read several books by Aleks by now and, to me, NIGHTINGALE has a very different and special feel to it. It is very quiet and laid back, yet very strong in emotions. I even shed some tears at one point and read part of this book with a heavy heart, although hope never left me.
NIGHTINGALE is a wonderful book. It made my country’s awful history more personal to me, something that a history book cannot and couldn’t so far achieve for me. It made me relate to the characters and reflect on myself as a person.
I very much appreciate the personal approach to this time period that is for us today often distant and so hard to understand, and I highly recommend reading this.
______________________________
Genre: Historical Gay Fiction
Tags: WW II, Paris, singer, arts, surviving
August 14, 2016
***** Alexsandr Voinov has done it again! ***** This fabulous story is set in 1940s Paris while it is occupied by the Germans. Yves steps out back and sees men beating another man, Falk Haftner, leaving him to die. Yves gets him to the hospital and saves his life. You will learn the significance of "The Nightingale and the Hawk". I loved the Falk character.
Lovely, French, Yves is a singer, songwriter, and a gay man.
He meets German officer, Heinrich, after a performance and they become friends, bed mates, and companions.
Falk will show up on Yves doorstep... wow !
This is a complicated time in history, but our author is amazing at making the story flow, the events are easily understood, and we can feel Yves' emotions as he progresses through his talented shows. There are close friends, enemies, suspense, bombings, surprises, and fears. Who can you trust in times like this?
Through his connections with Heinrich, Yves becomes more famous, and his world widens. Many events are taking place, the flow is magnificent, the deep characters will keep you reading, and the sex is there, but not too explicit. We feel the tension, the atmosphere, the scenes created, and the unease.
It is riveting, engaging, important, and informative. A truly wonderful, engrossing book.
Highly recommend ! ENJOY !!!
============================
============================
February 11, 2018
4.5 Stars
I'm still trying to gather my thoughts for a review but IMHO those that derisively dismiss this book as a "Nazi Romance" didn't read the damn thing. This is definitely Yves' story, a man with many faults but who tried to live his life as best he could given the German occupation of Paris and the danger he, his family & his friends constantly faced. I know at first I didn't empathize with him at all, but as the story progressed so did his characterization.
From what I can tell it's amazingly, historically accurate and doesn't pull any punches; there are no excuses given or attempts made to white-wash the atrocities of WW2.
(More later...)
I'm still trying to gather my thoughts for a review but IMHO those that derisively dismiss this book as a "Nazi Romance" didn't read the damn thing. This is definitely Yves' story, a man with many faults but who tried to live his life as best he could given the German occupation of Paris and the danger he, his family & his friends constantly faced. I know at first I didn't empathize with him at all, but as the story progressed so did his characterization.
From what I can tell it's amazingly, historically accurate and doesn't pull any punches; there are no excuses given or attempts made to white-wash the atrocities of WW2.
(More later...)
November 19, 2015
This is the most beautiful book i've read this year.
[proper review will come later]
[proper review will come later]
January 10, 2016
Just to make that clear in the beginning: This is really not a "Nazi-romance".
This is a book that happens to take place during WWII - and you can't write about this time without having Nazis in a book. And it's less a romance than a book about surviving during a bleak time in history in Paris and being gay.
Yves isn't a "hero" character, he's afraid, calls himself a coward. He's an opportunist but not always willingly. He starts a "friendship" with Oberst Heinrich von Starck, in the beginning solely based on the fact that it could be useful to have some high ranking German as a "friend". While he actually starts to like Heinrich as a person, he realizes also that these Germans are people, too. But his feelings never go further than mere respect for the person and maybe - if the situation would have been different - friendship. Their sexual relationship is something that happens out of the feeling of obligations from Yves side. He knows he is Heinrich's "mistress" and their sex revolves around Heinrich's needs.
Heinrich von Stark is a conflicted person, groomed to be rank, rooted deeply in his upbringing. He cares for Yves - I don't think he even sees how he is using his position of power to get what he wants from him. He is - deep, deep down - a decent but conflicted person. He tries to do things right, to make things right - in the end...oh wait...spoiler.... ;)
On the other hand - there is Falk, this German soldier whom Yves had saved from assault. Despite being not able to really communicate with each other, they enjoy each others company. Falk comes back again and again. The man is a poet and he falls in love with Yves. He is the opposite to Heinrich - he gives him space and loves him without expecting to be loved back.
So - while there is a romance in this book, in my opinion the main theme is survival, even on the cost of your ideals, your pricipales. A good example is the menue of the Palace, the place where Yves sings. It's changed to German and then later to English...just adjust to survive.
So - once again Aleksandr Voinov created a book with "non-hero" main characters and I couldn't do anything else but love it. The book is full of real atmosphere and honest emotions.
I loved it.
This is a book that happens to take place during WWII - and you can't write about this time without having Nazis in a book. And it's less a romance than a book about surviving during a bleak time in history in Paris and being gay.
Yves isn't a "hero" character, he's afraid, calls himself a coward. He's an opportunist but not always willingly. He starts a "friendship" with Oberst Heinrich von Starck, in the beginning solely based on the fact that it could be useful to have some high ranking German as a "friend". While he actually starts to like Heinrich as a person, he realizes also that these Germans are people, too. But his feelings never go further than mere respect for the person and maybe - if the situation would have been different - friendship. Their sexual relationship is something that happens out of the feeling of obligations from Yves side. He knows he is Heinrich's "mistress" and their sex revolves around Heinrich's needs.
Heinrich von Stark is a conflicted person, groomed to be rank, rooted deeply in his upbringing. He cares for Yves - I don't think he even sees how he is using his position of power to get what he wants from him. He is - deep, deep down - a decent but conflicted person. He tries to do things right, to make things right - in the end...oh wait...spoiler.... ;)
On the other hand - there is Falk, this German soldier whom Yves had saved from assault. Despite being not able to really communicate with each other, they enjoy each others company. Falk comes back again and again. The man is a poet and he falls in love with Yves. He is the opposite to Heinrich - he gives him space and loves him without expecting to be loved back.
So - while there is a romance in this book, in my opinion the main theme is survival, even on the cost of your ideals, your pricipales. A good example is the menue of the Palace, the place where Yves sings. It's changed to German and then later to English...just adjust to survive.
So - once again Aleksandr Voinov created a book with "non-hero" main characters and I couldn't do anything else but love it. The book is full of real atmosphere and honest emotions.
I loved it.
August 27, 2017
BR 30th Oct with Ingela
December 24, 2015
4.5. Damn near perfection. Need a minute to review but I REALLY enjoyed this one.
January 3, 2016
Feeling so many emotions right now...so many mixed emotions. I couldn't put this book down once I started. Something made me keep on turning the pages, even though I wasn't necessarily enjoying what I was reading. It was well written as always, as is his style, but I watched everything play out as from a great distance. I think also because my stomach was filled with dread the whole time, thinking something even worse would happen at any time, and so I didn't let myself become emotionally invested or really attached to any of the characters. I feel the writing style contributed to this sense of detachment, whether it was deliberate or not. To be honest, I don't think I wanted to let myself care for them anyways.
Even having read the ending, which was I'm left feeling not entirely satisfied with what I just read. The only character which I felt any kind of lingering emotion for was I think part of my overall unease was that Yves was indeed shielded from a lot of the true horrors that were happening. Again, too many mixed feelings...
Even having read the ending, which was I'm left feeling not entirely satisfied with what I just read. The only character which I felt any kind of lingering emotion for was I think part of my overall unease was that Yves was indeed shielded from a lot of the true horrors that were happening. Again, too many mixed feelings...
December 14, 2015
FABULOUS! My mind is spinning attempting to convey how incredible this story is. Unfortunately I am not the wordsmith like so many on GR and cannot create the wonderful reviews as other members. This story is BRILLIANT.
This is such a unique perspective, the story is set in German occupied Paris. It was so well researched, beautifully detailed, thought out, Voinov creates this setting so perfectly, I could vividly visualize each location as the characters moved through the book. I could feel the danger of living in Paris, the political tension, the cultural animosity. With all the horrors of the Nazi occupation, he was still able to beautifully portray the importance growth and how important the French arts became to everyone, equally during this period.
The characters he gave us in this book, I was so drawn into their lives, the people were diverse, and complex, you wanted to understand everything about each one of them. Their individual story of survival through this time and how they each internalize it through this frightening period.
Voinov writing is unforgettable. Read this book. I LOVED this story and highly recommend it.
This is such a unique perspective, the story is set in German occupied Paris. It was so well researched, beautifully detailed, thought out, Voinov creates this setting so perfectly, I could vividly visualize each location as the characters moved through the book. I could feel the danger of living in Paris, the political tension, the cultural animosity. With all the horrors of the Nazi occupation, he was still able to beautifully portray the importance growth and how important the French arts became to everyone, equally during this period.
The characters he gave us in this book, I was so drawn into their lives, the people were diverse, and complex, you wanted to understand everything about each one of them. Their individual story of survival through this time and how they each internalize it through this frightening period.
Voinov writing is unforgettable. Read this book. I LOVED this story and highly recommend it.
October 26, 2015
Voinov at his very best. I do hope you have all pre ordered this great novel.
Can't wait to tell you all about it - which given the recent events might be some time; and that, ultimately is the saddest thing here: that this excellent book might not make it onto people's shelves.
It is a dreadfully sad thought, isn't it; that the creative endeavor is also so very tied up in the bottom line, in the capitalist machine and that in the end is the greed to make money that drives even the indie publishers.
We'll be reviewing Nightingale soon, in the meantime here's hoping that this fantastic novel makes it out onto the world - it'd be a crying shame if it didn't
Can't wait to tell you all about it - which given the recent events might be some time; and that, ultimately is the saddest thing here: that this excellent book might not make it onto people's shelves.
It is a dreadfully sad thought, isn't it; that the creative endeavor is also so very tied up in the bottom line, in the capitalist machine and that in the end is the greed to make money that drives even the indie publishers.
We'll be reviewing Nightingale soon, in the meantime here's hoping that this fantastic novel makes it out onto the world - it'd be a crying shame if it didn't
December 13, 2015
Read 12.13.15
Review to come
-------------------------------------!-------!-----------!
These are conflicting statements. I don't know what to believe. I just want the damn story.
Update as of 10-25 from Aleksandr Blog!!!
Basically we aren't seeing this anytime soon.Pure Fuckery
Update from Riptide 10-25
Riptide's Statement
March 14, 2019
Beautifully written.
December 24, 2015
Nightingale didn't hold me. I found myself putting it down on more than one occasion. Voinov has made it clear this book isn't a romance, so I went in expecting something darker, maybe a little tough to swallow. I didn't expect to be read a tragedy, but came out the end pleasantly conflicted.
Nightingale is a tragedy. It's a love story with compromises and a survival story with high points. It embodies a disillusioned occupied France and the vibrant people who are trying to keep it going. Make no mistake, the book is perfect in its representation of a complex, desperate period of time.
My biggest concerns were not with its tone or writing, but the structure of things.
I've read that Voinov started this story (among many starts) without an outline. Paradoxically, I think that helped him. The beginning feels much more cohesive than the middle/end. Connections and consequence between characters are clear and present. The tensions are eloquently exposed.
The three major German characters are separate, but through their connection of Yves, their stories are important. Von Starck, von Grimmstein, and Falk all play distinct roles and within Nazi German forces. I was rooting for Von Starck for much of the story and found Falk to be an unwelcome complication in Yven's life for a long time.
Mid-way through the book, Von Starck drops out of the narrative. He's mentioned rarely for a while and Falk's relationship grew on me in the absence. By the time Von Starck comes back into the story I've lost touch with him. There's distance on Yvens part as well, but as a reader I'm no longer invested in Von Starck, nor much care what he's going through.
Von Grimmstein is a looming threat for much of the first half of the story, also drops off the map, and comes back in very suddenly for a violent moment that felt a little jarring for it's out-of-nowhere-ness rather than its violence.
Near the final third of the book, narration switches to summary as Yvens makes his way in the American circuit. We switch out for the last chapter, but that isn't quite long enough to get reattached to the situation before suddenly the book ends.
And so I'm conflicted. I really enjoyed the mood of this story. I liked Yvens and his complicated situation. I liked Von Starck and Falk both for different reasons. But I wanted to see more of Von Grimmstein. I wanted Von Starck's role to be more consistent.
And the sister: she didn't get nearly enough support as the blurb made me expect. I anticipated the resistance and her role to be FAR more influential in the story than it was. In fact it's the sister's love interest, Amery that gets more page time than the sibling (twin!). But based on Yvens frequent reflections of her (and how his mother will be upset if he doesn't help her) I anticipated her having a larger role in Yvens' life, at least as a complication to his position.
Read this book? Absolutely. Expect a masterpiece? Not at all. Voinov is going in a new direction with his work. He's unpracticed here and on unfamiliar ground. I think Nightingale is the first of many big steps in this new world. It has a lot going for it, but I found much to pick at. Nightingale is a shaky fledgling bird thrust into the bright world. Be gentle with it.
Taking Nightingale as a forecast, I anticipate much from Voinov's future work as he discovers this new territory. Nightingale itself is not his crowning achievement, but it may just point in the right direction.
Nightingale is a tragedy. It's a love story with compromises and a survival story with high points. It embodies a disillusioned occupied France and the vibrant people who are trying to keep it going. Make no mistake, the book is perfect in its representation of a complex, desperate period of time.
My biggest concerns were not with its tone or writing, but the structure of things.
I've read that Voinov started this story (among many starts) without an outline. Paradoxically, I think that helped him. The beginning feels much more cohesive than the middle/end. Connections and consequence between characters are clear and present. The tensions are eloquently exposed.
The three major German characters are separate, but through their connection of Yves, their stories are important. Von Starck, von Grimmstein, and Falk all play distinct roles and within Nazi German forces. I was rooting for Von Starck for much of the story and found Falk to be an unwelcome complication in Yven's life for a long time.
Mid-way through the book, Von Starck drops out of the narrative. He's mentioned rarely for a while and Falk's relationship grew on me in the absence. By the time Von Starck comes back into the story I've lost touch with him. There's distance on Yvens part as well, but as a reader I'm no longer invested in Von Starck, nor much care what he's going through.
Von Grimmstein is a looming threat for much of the first half of the story, also drops off the map, and comes back in very suddenly for a violent moment that felt a little jarring for it's out-of-nowhere-ness rather than its violence.
Near the final third of the book, narration switches to summary as Yvens makes his way in the American circuit. We switch out for the last chapter, but that isn't quite long enough to get reattached to the situation before suddenly the book ends.
And so I'm conflicted. I really enjoyed the mood of this story. I liked Yvens and his complicated situation. I liked Von Starck and Falk both for different reasons. But I wanted to see more of Von Grimmstein. I wanted Von Starck's role to be more consistent.
And the sister: she didn't get nearly enough support as the blurb made me expect. I anticipated the resistance and her role to be FAR more influential in the story than it was. In fact it's the sister's love interest, Amery that gets more page time than the sibling (twin!). But based on Yvens frequent reflections of her (and how his mother will be upset if he doesn't help her) I anticipated her having a larger role in Yvens' life, at least as a complication to his position.
Read this book? Absolutely. Expect a masterpiece? Not at all. Voinov is going in a new direction with his work. He's unpracticed here and on unfamiliar ground. I think Nightingale is the first of many big steps in this new world. It has a lot going for it, but I found much to pick at. Nightingale is a shaky fledgling bird thrust into the bright world. Be gentle with it.
Taking Nightingale as a forecast, I anticipate much from Voinov's future work as he discovers this new territory. Nightingale itself is not his crowning achievement, but it may just point in the right direction.
March 14, 2023
Ho deciso di leggere questo romanzo (nonostante la pila di libri che mi guarda in tralice dal comodino) catturata dalla sinossi intrigante e magnetica.
Qualche volta mi capita di sentirmi irrimediabilmente attratta da una storia e spesso sono stata felice di constatare che il mio intuito non sbaglia.
Questa storia è meravigliosa, mirabilmente scritta e riesce a coinvolgere il lettore per l'acuta semplicità.
Siamo in una Parigi occupata dai tedeschi, Yves è un artista del palcoscenico, intrattiene il pubblico con battute ironiche e canzoni. Ed è con la sua voce che pian piano ascende sino a diventare molto famoso nei locali parigini.
Ma la vita è tutt'altro che facile, egli non è un eroe, cerca solo di sopravvivere e per questo accetta la protezione di un tedesco di alto rango (per sua fortuna amante dell'arte in tutte le sue forme) che lo aiuta benvolentieri.
Poi una sera, per puro caso, salva la vita ad un giovane soldato delle SS e questi comincia a seguirlo ovunque. Falk non è che un ragazzo su cui han cucito un'uniforme ma il suo cuore è gentile, sincero, tanto che Yves sente affiorare sentimenti che credeva sepolti. Lui è il nemico eppure non lo è, egli è solo un falco che si è innamorato di un usignolo.
Se continuassi a scrivere probabilmente scivolerei nello spoiler perciò concludo consigliandone vivamente la lettura. Preparate il cuore❤️
Io ho amato moltissimo questo romanzo e mi dispiace davvero tanto di non poterne avere una copia cartacea perché l'aggiungerei alla mensola dei libri preferiti!
Qualche volta mi capita di sentirmi irrimediabilmente attratta da una storia e spesso sono stata felice di constatare che il mio intuito non sbaglia.
Questa storia è meravigliosa, mirabilmente scritta e riesce a coinvolgere il lettore per l'acuta semplicità.
Siamo in una Parigi occupata dai tedeschi, Yves è un artista del palcoscenico, intrattiene il pubblico con battute ironiche e canzoni. Ed è con la sua voce che pian piano ascende sino a diventare molto famoso nei locali parigini.
Ma la vita è tutt'altro che facile, egli non è un eroe, cerca solo di sopravvivere e per questo accetta la protezione di un tedesco di alto rango (per sua fortuna amante dell'arte in tutte le sue forme) che lo aiuta benvolentieri.
Poi una sera, per puro caso, salva la vita ad un giovane soldato delle SS e questi comincia a seguirlo ovunque. Falk non è che un ragazzo su cui han cucito un'uniforme ma il suo cuore è gentile, sincero, tanto che Yves sente affiorare sentimenti che credeva sepolti. Lui è il nemico eppure non lo è, egli è solo un falco che si è innamorato di un usignolo.
Se continuassi a scrivere probabilmente scivolerei nello spoiler perciò concludo consigliandone vivamente la lettura. Preparate il cuore❤️
Io ho amato moltissimo questo romanzo e mi dispiace davvero tanto di non poterne avere una copia cartacea perché l'aggiungerei alla mensola dei libri preferiti!
December 25, 2024
In the last week of December I found my third 5-star novel of the year. This was beautiful, nuanced, breathtaking, bit sad but ending on a HEA. The war in Paris was the main storyline, softened by story's about family and lovers. I was very pleased how nuanced the author painted characters in all shades of grey: the patriots, hero's, enemies, collaborators, cowards and traitors were all doubting, changing, and struggling with their own moral.
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