Fate put Nurse In Blue into my hands - I had just finished reading Requiem For A Wren by Nevil Shute, when this novel of an American woman working in a naval hospital fell into my hands. It was an interesting coincidence to find two books dealing with the roles of women during wartime on opposite sides of the Atlantic. Written by Gladys Taber in 1943, my edition is a Triangle Books hardcover complete with original dust jacket, which is very nice.
The daughter of a Wisconsin doctor, nurse Janet Alden does her part and joins the Naval Hospital in New York. Before her train even arrives, she meets Ensign Chris Nordstrom - fresh as a wind over the big lake and very different than her intended beau back home. This may seem like a brewing love triangle, but Chris goes off to duty, leaving her to manage with the grim reality of the injured. She becomes a skilled anesthetist and soon her hometown beau and father have joined the service. Before you think this paints a rosy picture of the war, there are scenes of the injured she has to deal with I had not thought of before - the Germans torpedoing ships cause the men to jump overboard, and when they surface the leaking gas and oil has ignited. If you aren't horrifically burned, the German snipers await the sight of your head above the water.
Of the time, it promotes the Navy, including the workers who aren't fighting or going to sea as "being part of something so tremendous that you couldn't grasp it and yet it lifted you up". Like most books of the 1940's, the goal for the women is marriage.
(Spoiler Alert) I am going to tell you it was a nice surprise that Janet excels in her work and chooses to continue in foreign duty overseas with the Red Cross over any eligible man. A satisfying read highlighting the strength of women during difficult times.
Popular author Gladys Taber was the inspiration for the character Elizabeth Lane in the 1945 film Christmas In Connecticut, starring Barbara Stanwyck, as Taber's column in Family Circle magazine profiled her life on a farm.
1943 / Hardcover / 250 pages
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