NIGHTINGALE by SUSAN MAY WARREN

NIGHTINGALE by SUSAN MAY WARREN is a sensitively written story which takes place at the end of the Second World War in a largely German community in a small town in America. It is a story of forgiveness, of second chances and of hope in pretty hopeless situations.
Esther feels lost after giving herself to a handsome soldier, Linus Hahn, in a moment of weakness and ending up having his child. Abandoned by her parents, she ends up living with his very disapproving mother and father. She feels abandoned by God as well. She knows she never loved Linus and hopes he never loved her too, feeling that would somehow make her less of a sinner.
She is a nurse and loves her work, although there are times that she is discouraged by seeing the badly injured soldiers who have returned from fighting for their country, having left so much of themselves, both physically and mentally, on the battle fields of Europe. Men that have come back from war, changed by the horrific things they have seen and experienced. It is the nightingales, the committed nurses and doctors, that bring hope and healing to broken people.
Esther finds redemption from a most unlikely source, an enemy soldier who is responsible for saving Linus' life. Peter Hess is a doctor who is committed to saving lives. He believes in Esther and encourages her to study for an exam which will give her a more fulfilling nursing job. His unwavering faith in God and his willingness to lay down his life for others is in strong contrast to Mrs Hahn's judgmental attitude, and Esther's parents' condemnation of both Esther and her older sister Hedy. It is through his faithfulness that she starts to understand that she doesn't have to work for the Lord's forgiveness, that He has already forgiven her, and that He loves her just as she is.
The theme of being in prison, in Peter's case a POW camp, and emotionally in Esther's case, runs through the novel. Peter feels he is responsible for his father's arrest and needs to make up for it somehow, just as Esther wants to go back to the person she was before. We see that we all need someone to believe in us, which in turn helps us to see ourselves as Father God sees us.
It is a story of repentance and new beginnings, with very real characters and is full of Christian truth. I cannot recommend this novel highly enough.




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