The Dutch Girls: Book 3
Publication Date: October 4, 2024
An ear-splitting blast blows me sideways and debris starts to fall on top of me. In my shock it takes me a moment to realise the very worst has happened – the hospital has been bombed. The screams of panicked patients are deafening. But I can only think about one thing – my darling Will. Where is he?
1944, Nazi-occupied Holland. As Nurse Freddie cycles through the tulip fields, she looks like any other law-abiding citizen. But beneath her innocent smile lies an iron will to fight for freedom. The Nazis have no idea she is part of the resistance, and that she risks her life every day to deliver food and messages to hidden refugees.
After a failed attempt to take the life of a Nazi collaborator, Freddie is sent to an underground hospital to tend to a group of injured Allied airmen. And when unconscious English pilot Will wakes up and locks his dazzling blue eyes with hers, her heart jolts. As she tends to his wounds, she can’t help but fall deeply in love with this charming English officer.
Will and Freddie start to dream about a future after the war, but when the hospital is bombed by the Nazis, they lose each other in the chaos. With her heart shattered, Freddie vows to find Will and get him to safety – even if that means letting him go forever.
But Freddie’s world comes crashing down when she learns that Will has been captured. To save him, Freddie must infiltrate the hospital where he is held captive. But will saving him cost Freddie her life or her heart?
Inspired by the incredible true story of a brave young woman who would stop at nothing to fight for her country, The Wartime Nurse is an utterly heart-wrenching and emotional World War Two novel of one woman’s courage and the power of true love. Perfect for fans of Heather Morris, Kristin Hannah and Fiona Valpy.
A young Dutch nurse assists the war effort by providing care to the various airmen in the hospital, but her real contribution is much more dangerous.
Author Imogen Matthews draws upon actual events for The Dutch Girls series. The third installment, The Wartime Nurse, tells the story of Freddie Oversteegen. Although Freddie’s job as a nurse is fictional, her dedication to the resistance effort is based on fact.
The story highlights efforts by ordinary Dutch citizens to thwart the Germans. Freddie, in her role as a nurse, grows close to an English airman. When the Nazis bomb the hospital and Will is captured, Freddie musters her courage in an attempt to free him.
World War II forced everyday citizens to do extraordinary things. Freddie is only one example of young women who risked their lives to save others. Through the author’s research, the spotlight shines on these people and their contributions.
The Wartime Nurse delivers an engrossing story about resilience and bravery in World War II from a Dutch perspective.
Imogen Matthews writes novels based on true stories about the Netherlands during the German occupation in World War 2. Some stories she discovered by chance, others are based on her Dutch mother’s own experiences of hardship and survival during the Hunger Winter of 1944-45.
Her first novel, The Hidden Village, is set in the Veluwe woods, a beautiful part of Holland that Imogen has visited frequently over the past 30 years. It was in these woods that she discovered the story of the real hidden village which provided shelter in underground huts for Jews during WW2. Imogen retells the story of the hidden village with characters drawn from real life and from her imagination.
Within weeks of publication in 2017, The Hidden Village became an international bestseller, ranking at the top of a number Amazon’s most-read book lists.
Following on from The Hidden Village comes Hidden in the Shadows, which has the pace of a thriller yet is also a love story. It tells the story about two young people who are brutally torn apart and must find a way to be together against all odds.
Imogen‘s third WW2 novel, The Girl Across the Wire Fence, is set in Amersfoort, Netherlands, and is based on the unforgettable tale of two young lovers who risked everything to keep hope alive in the very depths of hell – the little known Dutch concentration camp called Kamp Amersfoort.
Imogen‘s WW2 novels are published by Bookouture, a digital imprint of Hachette.
