A Nightingale Christmas Wish by Donna Douglas ** BLOG TOUR **

It’s Christmas at the Nightingale Hospital 

Sister Blake is revisited by a face from the past. 

Will buried secrets stop her from being happy? 

Lonely Helen Dawson has new responsibilities and trials, but is she looking for love in all the wrong places? 

And Matron puts the Nightingale first, even before her own health. 

With war looming large, will Matron and the Nightingale survive? 

With new hardships, new loves and new heartbreak, will anyone get their Christmas wish?

A Nightingale Christmas Wish by Donna Douglas was published by Arrow on 6 November 2014 and is the fifth instalment in the Nightingale series.  I've been a fan of this series from day one, and am delighted to be hosting the Blog Tour for the latest novel here on Random Things today.

You can catch up with my reviews of the first four books in the Nightingale series; The Nightingale Girls (September 2012); The Nightingale Sisters (April 2013); The Nightingale Nurses (November 2013) and Nightingales on Call (April 2014).

Although it has Christmas in the title, this is not really a traditional seasonal read, the story takes place around Christmas time, but it's not all magic and gifts and singing carols around the tree by any means. Set in 1938, with the threat of another World War looming, the reader finds themselves amongst old and familiar friends at the Nightingale Hospital.

One of Donna Douglas' real strengths is her ability to continue this series whilst making sure that any
new readers can pick up the back story of each character easily. She gives just enough information to give an insight into each character without repeating the story for readers who are familiar with the setting and the characters.

The story concentrates mainly on Sister Helen Dawson and junior nurse Effie - two completely different characters, yet both well drawn and realistic. Helen has endured great sadness in her life, and her work is fast becoming her replacement for a happy personal life. She puts everything she has into being a dedicated nurse, but there is a sense of loneliness about Helen, and those closest to her find it difficult to get to know the woman behind the nurses uniform. Not so Effie, she wears her heart on her sleeve, she's determined, impetuous and loyal.

There is an incredible amount of research behind this series, the sense of place is excellent, and it is amazing to see how far our medical services have travelled in what is relatively such a short space of time.

I really do enjoy the Nightingale series, and look forward to reading the next instalment.



Donna Douglas lives in York with her husband and daughter.  Besides writing novels, she is also a very well-respected freelance journalist under her real name, Donna Hay.  

For more information about Donna; 
please visit her blog; donnadouglasauthor.wordpress.com/ or follow her on Twitter @donnahay1