The Nightingale series is delightful, to say the least. Book one took me a while to get into, but book two was much easier for me, likely because I knew what to expect going in and had a better understanding of both the characters and Douglas' writing style.

Recommended.

THE NIGHTINGALE SISTERS - Donna Douglas

#2 in the Nightingale series

MEDICAL SOAP OPERA OF 1930's LONDON - 4 stars

Plot - 4 stars - As with the first in the series, this book follows the lives of several people associated with the Nightingale Hospital in London in the 1930's. Sure, it's very similar to a soap opera, with brief vignettes about several main characters, with some interaction between them. But the characters are all so interesting, with different situations that they are dealing with, and often difficult problems to face.

Writing - 4 stars - Even though I haven't read the first book in this series for a while, I immediately caught up with the story and had no problem continuing with this great group of characters. Douglas has a knack for creating well-rounded characters and building believable but interesting stories around them. The setting is ideal since it allows for a large number of people to be together, with various situations to develop. And even though there may be similar scenarios (such as the day-to-day activities involved in caring for patients), each character responds differently.

Character - 4 stars - There are several main characters, with some overlap, and they are all connected with the hospital in some way. Dora is from the wrong side of the tracks and was a featured character in the first book of the series. She's a conscientious student nurse who is also dealing with her family's straightened circumstances. Violet is a night sister (a supervisor, I think) who has a young son. Unfortunately in those days, a woman with a son and no husband is considered very suspect, and she has had a hard time finding work and a safe place to live. Millie is an aristocrat who yearns to do something useful with her life so she's entered the nursing program. In the first book she and William Tremayne (a doctor) had feelings for each other, but now she's engaged to someone else in society. Helen is William's sister, a student, whose mother is a former nurse and is now on the Board of Trustees. She's overbearing and disapproving of Helen's romance with a former patient (from Book #1). These people are the main focus, but the secondary characters (Matron Fox, Sister Hyde, Sister Wren, and others) add a lot of interest to the story with their idiosyncracies.

Title - 4 stars - Since nurses were called sisters in England in those days, then the title makes sense, and it follows along with the format established in the first book of the series.

Cover - 4 stars - Fairly old-fashioned, but then the book is set in the 1930's, so it fits.

Overview - 4 stars - I'd definitely label this a soap opera, but in a good way. The author has built a mutual world then peopled it with a wide variety of characters that add a lot of interest and movement to the story. There's such a give-and-take between the characters that the story moves forward quickly, going from one character to the next without losing the momentum or the context. I found each character to be fascinating in their own way, but each brief episode was of the perfect length before moving on to the next.