Merry Christmas Eve! Are you ready for Christmas? I could use a few more days (actually weeks). The Gun Also Rises by Sherry Harris comes out on January 29 along with Dead as a Door Knocker by Diane Kelly. A Desperate Hope by Elizabeth Camden will be released on February 1.
The Nightingale Christmas Show by Donna Douglas takes us to London’s East End in November of 1945. The war is finally over, and Matron Kathleen
Fox is eager to see the Nightingale restored.
It suffered from bombings and they lost some treasured staff members. Kathleen is not sure she is up to the task
and is considering a new position in Lancashire. She would dislike seeing the new assistant
matron, Charlotte Davis take over her position.
Charlotte manages to fault with every ward they visit plus she lacks
warmth and empathy. Charlotte is all for
efficiency and order. One evening
Kathleen and her friend, Violet Tanner enjoy a show at Players Theatre Club and
run into Kathleen’s former lover, James Cooper who is accompanied by his wife,
Simone. James pays Kathleen a visit the
next day and presents her with unexpected proposition. To raise morale in the hospital with the
patients and staff, Kathleen decides they will host a Christmas Show. She decides to put Charlotte in charge of the
project much to the assistant matron’s dismay.
The Christmas Show could just be the boost everyone needs if Charlotte
can pull it off.
The Nightingale Christmas Show is
written differently from the other novels in the series. The story is told from different characters
point-of-view. We get to see how each
person views what is happening at the hospital along with what is going on in
their life. I found it a little strange
and repetitive. We start with one
character, go forward a few days and then it switches to a different character
and goes back to the beginning (and repeat).
While it is a different format,
I still enjoyed catching up on the lives of the nurses at the Nightingale. I would have preferred the story told from
the third person (my personal preference).
However, this did not detract from my enjoyment of the story. I recommend reading the books in the
Nightingales series in order. Each book
builds upon the previous one in the series.
We get to catch up with Kathleen Fox, Peggy Atkins, Miriam Trott, Violet
Tanner, Dora Riley and Veronica Hanley (now a ghost who likes to bother
Kathleen). The characters are friendly,
likeable and well-developed. I have
enjoyed following these ladies on their journey as they became nurses and navigated
the war. I would have liked to know more
about Dora Riley and the other trainees from the earlier books. The Nightingale Christmas Show has a great
ending, but it seemed like this was the final book (I hope not). I think it would be great if the author
introduced a new set of nursing students to the series and we can follow them
on their journey along with our regular characters. I am giving The Nightingale Christmas Show 4
out of 5 stars (I liked it). If you like
the show Call the Midwife, then you will appreciate the Nightingale series. The Nightingale Christmas Show is a heartwarming
tale that could make a pleasant read during the holiday season.
You can find the novels in the Nightingale series here on Amazon. There are nine books in total. Thank you for joining me today. I hope that all of you have a wonderful holiday. I will be back after Christmas to share my thoughts on Avoiding the Mistletoe by Anne Greene. Take care and Happy Reading!
Kris
The Avid Reader
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