Flying Angels: A Novel

An extraordinary book. I didn't know one book could hold so many different emotions. Oh what a story. Friendship, Love, Tragedy, Loss, Romance, and Admiration were all in these pages and more. This is a story of brave nurses serving in the most dangerous conditions witnessing the most horrific wounds and doing it day in and day out sometimes working days and nights. Each nurse's story is told, their family, why they became a nurse, what prompted them to sign up for the Air Force's Medical Air Evacuation Squadron and fly into enemy territory to rescue injured soldiers and transport them back to hospitals. Their stories are told before and immediately after the war when they returned to their worlds. It is a story of a fierce friendship between the nurses and a selfless comradery that extended beyond social status, nationality, and color. They were like family and stuck together through the good times and the worst times. They had a friendship that would last the ages. Some of them would make it through the war and some would be lost. Some found romance, through their work together with the male soldiers they worked with and some through patients and other's through tragedy. There are some happy times as well as some very sad times in the story. I can assure you a box of tissue will be needed. It is a beautifully written story with much history of the Medical Air Evacuation Squadron and the nurses and corpsmen that flew in it. A story I had never heard before. I didn't know such a squadron had ever existed, but I am proud of the nurses that served during the war and all the good they did while putting their lives on the line for our country. The 801st Medical Air Evacuation Squadron was a United States Army Air Force unit that provided aeromedical evacuation and support services to front line units in the Pacific Theater of World War II. Although the story is fiction, the Air Evacuation Squadron was a true unit of the Air Force during WWII. My daughter is a huge fan of this author and reads all of her books. I thought I would give this one a try and I am so glad I made that decision. It was one of those books you can't stop reading but you don't want it to end. I enjoyed reading it and I know that you will enjoy it as well. Thanks to Danielle Steele for writing it, Random House for publishing it and NetGalley for making it available for me to read.

Flying Angels by Danielle Steel takes us back to the late 1930s and early 1940s as brave women (nurses) enlist. We follow a handful of young women who are nurses. After receiving their training, the women transfer to become flight nurses. These women travel by plane to get the wounded and take them back to England for care. These women never knew if they would make it back with the Germans shooting down planes and the frequent bombings. I liked the characters in this story. Audrey was an especially sweet young woman who endured such loss. I thought the story contained good writing and developed characters. The book moved along at a good pace as well once we got past the nurse’s backstories. Once the book moved into the area where the nurses began training to become flight nurses, the story just flew by. There was a little too much repetition of details. I got it the first time and I do not need to be told multiple times. I thought the author captured how it felt for the flight nurses and pilots. I enjoyed reading about the nurse’s missions. The tragic injuries and the number of deaths. Flying Angels is not a happy-go-lucky story. There is quite a bit of loss in this story. It was great to see the nurse’s bond. They did not care about the person’s background or color. We got to see how a black nurse was treated in America and how she was treated in England. It is sad how far behind America was then and now. I am glad that the author wrote this story about the brave women who enlisted to aid our injured soldiers. They risked their lives the same as any male soldier. The death toll was tragic along with the injuries soldiers suffered. I enjoyed this poignant historical novel. Flying Angels is a touching tale with tragedy, heartbreak, dedication, courage, optimism, and valor.

Four and a half Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭒ Flying Angels by Danielle Steel is one of my favorite books of hers that I’ve read. I realize there is an abundance of books about WWII out there now, but this is a bit different and more uplifting and optimistic than many of them. Yes, it’s wartime, and tragedy is part of the book, but these Flying Angels are true heroes and their story is amazing and uplifting. Audrey Parker goes to nursing school to learn to care for her mother who has Parkinson’s disease. Her brother Will, graduates from Annapolis and becomes a Navy fighter pilot. When the war breaks out, Will gets assigned to Honolulu and gets killed at the attack on Pearl Harbor. Lizzy, a friend Audrey met in nursing school had fallen in love with Will, and is devastated by his death as are Audrey and her mother. Lizzy decides to enlist in the Army as a nurse and meets Alex, the daughter of New York aristocrats. Lizzy and Alex decide to join the elite Medical Air Evacuation Transport Squadron in order to help the war effort. By this time, Audrey’s mother has succumbed to her illness and died, leaving Audrey free to join her friend as a flight nurse. In flight school, they meet Louise a black woman from the south who was raised by parents in the medical field but faces segregation and racism every day. All four American women are then transferred to England and join in with the RAF flight nurses to transport the wounded men from enemy lines in Europe. In England, the four women meet Pru, the daughter of a titled family from Yorkshire, and Emma, who came from the slums of London’s East End. The six women become fast friends as they work tirelessly for the war effort and risk their lives every day to bring the wounded back to hospitals in England. As is usual for Danielle Steel books, this started out with a lot of backstory and information. But, I thought it was so important to know these women’s backstory as I was so interested to find out why they left their fairly comfortable lives and volunteered for such dangerous duties. Although the start is a bit slow, it’s also fascinating to understand these women and the motivations they have to uproot themselves from their comfortable lives and risk everything to help these injured men. Once all the women met and started their missions the rest of the story flew by as I was awed by the bravery and courage of these women. Yes, this is a wartime story and it is full of tragedy and heartbreak. However, the courage and dedication of these flying angels perseveres and the book is uplifting and optimistic. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves historical fiction, especially WWII historical fiction. I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.