Reviewed by Emma Crowley
1944, Nazi-occupied Holland. As Nurse Freddie cycles through the tulip fields, she looks like any other law-abiding citizen. But beneath her innocent smile lies an iron will to fight for freedom. The Nazis have no idea she is part of the resistance, and that she risks her life every day to deliver food and messages to hidden refugees.
After a failed attempt to take the life of a Nazi collaborator, Freddie is sent to an underground hospital to tend to a group of injured Allied airmen. And when unconscious English pilot Will wakes up and locks his dazzling blue eyes with hers, her heart jolts. As she tends to his wounds, she can’t help but fall deeply in love with this charming English officer.
Will and Freddie start to dream about a future after the war, but when the hospital is bombed by the Nazis, they lose each other in the chaos. With her heart shattered, Freddie vows to find Will and get him to safety – even if that means letting him go forever.
But Freddie’s world comes crashing down when she learns that Will has been captured. To save him, Freddie must infiltrate the hospital where he is held captive. But will saving him cost Freddie her life or her heart?
Many thanks to Bookouture via NetGalley for my copy of The Wartime Nurse to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
The Wartime Nurse is third book in the Dutch Girls series by Imogen Mathews. Each book can be read as a standalone story, but old characters do make an appearance in each book and it’s enjoyable to make connections between everyone. This time around the focus is on Freddie (formerly Frida) who is the sister of Trudi who has previously featured. Both young women work for the Resistance in Holland during the occupation by the Germans.
This is a story of incredible bravery, commitment and strength at a time when Hitler was doing his best to take over the world with his crazy ideologies. I haven’t read may books set in Holland during the war years and with this series Imogen Matthews has brought to light the tireless work of so many in that country at the most dangerous of times. They may have been a small cog in a much bigger machine yet their work and heroism should not go unnoticed or under appreciated. I myself gained a deeper understanding of the time period and my admiration and respect for the women featured grew the further I delved into the story.
The book opens with a brief prologue set in 1944 as Will and his team are making paratrooper drops into Holland as a big push is planned by the British to remove the Germans from Dutch soil. But things go horribly wrong and Will’s plan is shot down. The plane goes up in flames and he loses several of his crew members. Fortunately, he is rescued by two men and taken to the local hospital which is where he encounters Freddie. The storyline is easy to follow and moves effortlessly back and forth between Will and Freddie with more of a focus on Freddie which is only natural given the series focuses on Dutch women. But the balance between the two viewpoints was perfect.
Will is damaged both mentally and physically by his experience and needs time to recover, take stock and then try and eventually attempt to get back to his base in England. There is a necessary sense of urgency throughout the book. That time is against them and that the Germans are on high alert so shifting Will and groups of other downed airmen will not be an easy task but nonetheless the many members of the Dutch resistance are steadfast and hardworking and do everything in their power to see the airmen returned to their home soil. Will as a humble man who was loyal to his country and crew mates and I think he found challenging to rely on others for help when he would have rather been at the forefront of the action.
I found it absolutely fascinating that ordinary men and women put their own lives on the line to help so many others. It was brilliant to see so many people from all walks of life working together with one overall aim. To get the Nazi’s out of their home country. But whilst working to achieve this they also helped so many others. The resistance members actions were selfless and admirable, and they also allowed women to step out from their traditional roles in the home and they too fight for what they believed was right and just. The work Freddie and Trudi and many other women did was incredible.
Freddie couriered information and packages and this really pushed her out of her comfort zone.
Throughout the book I could she her go from strength to strength placing herself in situations she never would have thought possible pre-war. Being a nurse and placing herself right on the front line was no easy task but she did this willingly. That’s not to say that she didn’t encounter any struggles or find things all plain sailing. Of course she did and that’s what made this an exciting and for quite a good portion of the story thrilling too. There were numerous tense and dangerous moments and time and time again when you felt progress was being made, there were knock backs which only heightened the drama throughout.
The deteriorating situation across Holland was vividly described throughout. The sanctions imposed upon the people and the depths they had to plunge too for basic survival really had the reader sitting up and thinking. One wonders would or could we be so resilient nowadays? Throughout it all I found Freddie to be level headed and I think when she met Will as she tended to him in the hospital this only served to inspire her further and fuel the fire within her. Yes, I did think they only literally laid eyes on each other in a hospital room and snap they were deeply in love but that’s me being a cynic and this did happen lots throughout the war. For this aspect I just went with the flow and pushed my reservations about the pace they fell in love to the back of my mind. I enjoyed how Freddie had to play the stronger role between the pair given how incapacitated Will was due to this injuries and also the fact that he was in a different country far from home and he had to place his faith and trust in those who were around him.
Freddie was ardent in her quest to get Will to safety and I loved how this all played out. Again, this didn’t happen quickly and easily and nor should it have given the overall situation with the Germans breathing down their backs at every corner. The bigger picture regarding the finer workings of the Dutch resistance was explored here and again I was truly humbled and amazed at how so many played such a vital role in a massive operation and to know that this too was going on in various countries was remarkable. All the clever little things they thought of to try and get the airmen to safety were ingenious and I felt Freddie truly came into her own. She had her love and passion for Will spurring her on and this is what enabled her to keep going even when she had to place herself literally in the lion’s den. Out of the three women that this series focused on I think Freddie is perhaps my favourite although each story is very much worthy of a read.
The writing throughout the book was strong and to the point. I never felt that there were filler in chapters or scenes and the past as steady throughout which all helped to make for a great read with a heroine you will be rooting for from beginning to end. Does Will get to safety? Are himself and Freddie ever be able to have a firm and long-lasting relationship or will the Germans mar all the work of the Resistance and their long term plans? Pick up a copy of The Wartime Nurse to discover the answers and much more.
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