A Nightingale Christmas Wish
In this fifth book in the series, the nurses at Nightingale Hospital in London’s East End face not only personal and professional challenges but also the prospect of an imminent Second World War. Sister Frannie Wallace must reconcile her pacifist beliefs and loss of her fiancé in the First World War with her growing feelings for career soldier, John Campbell. Her best friend, Matron Kathleen Fox, fights for the survival of the Nightingale until her own health is in danger. Helen Dawson, desperately lonely since the death of her husband, struggles to prove herself as the new Sister in Casualty, under the critical eye of Dr David McKay. Meanwhile, student nurse, Effie O’Hara, despite the bullying of her sister and fellow Nightingale nurse, Bridget, finds herself embroiled in the complicated love life of attractive patient, Adam.
Douglas paints a realistically unglamorous picture of life in a Bethnal Green hospital in the 1930s, where TB and infant mortality are commonplace. There is neither a female doctor nor a male nurse in sight, and nurses are obliged to give up their careers once they get married. Not only must they care for the sick, but deal with hospital politics behind the scenes (no change there). The narrative moves easily between the various characters, revealing the loneliness and personal problems hidden by starched, professional appearances. Douglas is not afraid to tackle issues such as domestic abuse or the death of a child, but balances this with moments of humour in cameo roles played by cheeky patients and lively East Enders. The nurses are sympathetically drawn and are believable, flawed individuals rather than saintly ‘angels’. This was an enjoyable read, and will particularly appeal to those who love ‘Call the Midwife.’
