This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Reviewed by Verity Wilde
It’s 1940 and the Nightingale Hospital is playing its part in the war effort. Dora’s nursing again – leaving her twins at home – because she wants to help with the war effort. Miss Fox is trying to keep the hospital running, with Miss Hanley disapproving of war-enforced changes along the way. And helping out on the wards are the VADs – Jennifer and Cissy, who are hoping to mop the brows of handsome soldiers and Eve, who is trying to get away from her overbearing aunt. But nursing is never easy, and the Blitz is coming.
This is the sixth Nightingale Nurses book, and although I haven’t read any of the others, I was soon into the swing of this series. It is warm and fairly cozy – the front cover says that fans of Call the Midwife will enjoy it and I’d agree with that, but add that if you like Helen Forrester’s war novels and memoirs this will suit you. The realities of the war are there, but in a slightly fuzzy soft focus way – there are casualties (some of them fairly major) but there are no graphic details. The characters are recognisable types – with hearts of gold, stiff upper lips, spivs and religious fanatics all popping up.
This is World War Two through slightly rosy specs – which is exactly what the cover suggests. My Granny would have loved it – and I mean that in a totally good way – it would have been on her library book list alongside her Barbara Taylor Bradford sagas and Catherine Cooksons (and the Mills and Boon hospital romances). It’s not my usual sort of book and it’s not going to change the world, but I enjoyed it while I was reading it and I think it is a very good example of its genre. I know that there are a lot of people who love this sort of book who will be totally engrossed in the trials and tribulations of the Nightingale Nurses during the Blitz.
8/10