The Lieutenant’s Nurse by Sara Ackerman
WWII Historical Fiction
Eva Cassidy boards the SS Lurline in Nov. 1941 for the voyage to Hononlulu, just days before the attack on Pearl Harbor. An Army nurse, Eva has excellent experience as an anesthetist, but must hide her background and assume a new name due to a wrongful termination at her last job. She was blamed for the death of a patient, even though the doctor was at fault. Eva is promised to Billy, the son of a friend of her father, who is already stationed at Pearl Harbor.
But on board the Lurline, she meets Lt. Clark Spencer. a tall good-looking man, who soon has her saying, “Billy who?”
The ship’s radio operator talks to Clark, who works in naval intelligence, about radio signals he’s picking up that must might indicate that Japanese ships are headed for Hawaii. Clark urges him to make a full report, which Clark will deliver to his superiors when he arrives in Honolulu. He deems it too dangerous to send unencrypted messages from the ship.
When they get to Hawaii, she re-connects with Billy and realizes she doesn’t really know him.
Clark tries to report what he learned on board ship, but his boss isn’t available, and the man he talks to dismisses his concerns. Then the threats start.
And when the attack comes, Eva’s nursing skills are tasked in ways she’s never experienced.
Excellent historical fiction with a strong romantic subplot. There’s a lot of fascinating information about the state of medicine and nursing in the time period, plus Ackerman’s description of the day of the attack was riveting. I really enjoyed the book.
Linda
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I laughed at your description of Eva falling for Clark: “who soon has her saying, “Billy who?” I just listened to a podcast on the history of dentistry (very interesting and gory!). I think I’d like how this novel portrays medicine and nursing at the time. And who doesn’t love a decent romance. 🙂 Thanks for reviewing!
LOL, Clark was pretty irresistible! I can only imagine how gory old time dentistry was.
This is such a fascinating time period. I love books that bring it to life, as this one seems to do. Thank you for bringing it to my attention!
Thanks for your comment, Phyllis. I do think the book brought the time period to life.
Wartime romances put a lighter side on a difficult period in history. Makes me think of the officers and nurses in South Pacific and in another war, Mash. – Margy
I’ve found so many great titles through Barrie’s book club!
I’m always interested in hearing about more WWII novels while working on mine. Thanks for reviewing this one! I especially like the angle of an incognito nurse running from the mistake made by the doctor.