Brought To Book
Karen chats to Nightingale Nurse author Donna Douglas
The Nightingale Christmas Show by Donna Douglas, Arrow PB and ebook, £5.99 Travel back to Christmas 1945, and join the nurses of Nightingale Hospital, where bomb-damaged buildings and the bleak aftermath of war dampen the spirits of patients and nurses alike. Matron Kathleen Fox’s decision to put on a Christmas show for the patients is met with a lack of enthusiasm – but soon the nurses put aside their troubles and get caught up in the fun. Romance, friendship, rivalry and indomitable courage – this heartwarming story contains all the ingredients for a magical Christmas read.
Growing up, I adored Bunty comic. It was full of picture strip stories, and every episode ended on a cliffhanger, so I’d be desperate to find out what happened next. I used to read them to my grandmother in our kitchen, acting out all the voices. When I was 19, I landed my dream job, writing photo strip love stories for a teenage magazine. I could hardly believe my luck! I then worked for women’s magazines. After I wrote a feature about a respite home for disabled children, local firms got together and built and furnished a new home for them. Thirty years later, I still feel very proud of that. I’d always dreamed of writing a novel, and started several. Finally I joined the
Romantic Novelists’ Association’s New Writers Scheme. Thanks to them, not only was I able to finally finish something, it was also published – three days before my 40th birthday! I’m fascinated by what women went through in the last century. Ordinary women led the most extraordinary lives. So when I was approached about writing a series of novels set in a London hospital in the 1930s, I jumped at the chance. Nursing was one of the very few “respectable” professions for girls in those days, but what those nurses went through was unbelievably tough. There was a lot of heartbreak and humour, too. Nine books on, the Nightingales are still going strong. They’re like family to me now – and to my readers! Wonderful though the bestseller charts are, what I really love is hearing from readers who have enjoyed my books. I get lots of messages on my Facebook page from former nurses complimenting me on how accurate my stories are. When they say, “That’s exactly how it was,” I know I’ve done my job properly!