The German Nurse is a story about Jack, a policeman on the Island of Guernsey in the English Channel, during WW2. Oddly titled, there is very little about the “German nurse” (Johanna, Jack’s girlfriend) as a focal point of the book. She was more of a background or minor character so I’m not really sure what motivated the title, but it seems a misnomer.

The book was just ok in my opinion. It’s the 3rd book I’ve read about the occupation of the Channel Islands but it did round the story overall of them about what happened there. The writing style itself I struggled with. It was mostly a narrative form focusing on Jack and the events he experienced, but it seemed there was very little character development beyond him in the story. Characters would just show up with little to no context, and then disappear just as quickly. With Johanna, the German nurse, supposedly Jack was in love with her but there was so little interaction (outside of his thoughts) with her and even little emotion toward either of them when they did interact. It felt more like a middle school crush than a near-marriage relationship the way they were so distanced and detached. It was just odd. Add to that, there were almost no real relationships Jack had in general, which left the story feeling again detached and somewhat anti-social or isolated. Most, if not all, WW2 books I’ve read, and probably tragedy in life in general, the relationships we have are what make or break us. They give us the ability to weather the storms because we are not meant to live life solo. Maybe that’s what made this book feel so despairing often, and lacked hope as a central thread.

All in all I was not fond of the book. Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this book in return for an honest review.