di Fellowes - "The murder of Florence Nightingale Shore"
The novel is set in 1920 in London, in full post-war climate.
England is a territory in crisis due to the heavy consequences of the war. All the people who survived the brutality of war psychologically feel the atrocities seen and endured, and look for a little tranquility. Among these there is a prominent figure: the nurse Florence Nightingale Shore. She is a woman who has distinguished herself for having served the army, and who now wants to enjoy her well-deserved retirement. In January 1920 he got on the train that had to take her from London to Brighton, a seaside resort where he intends to retire. On the train, however, he is brutally assaulted and dies a few days later. On the same medium and towards the same destination, for a curious case of fate, making a jump backwards, we find a young girl named Louisa Cannon, who with her uncle is trying to reach the house of a worthy appearing of this last. She is treated as a bargaining chip to settle the debts of the relative. But she manages to jump off the train and escape an adverse fate. So he meets Guy, a sympathetic policeman who has come to know his situation and tries to help her in every way. She is hired as a governing aid in the Mitford country house, where six sisters with different characters, character and ambition animate the house. She will make friends, above all, with Nancy. The two, with an intrepid Guy, throw themselves headlong into the investigations concerning the death of the nurse, with great courage and determination.
In the novel, skilful stage fiction and really existent characters are mixed. Like the same Florence Nightingale, really killed, in the same way, without having ever been able to discover the killer. Like the same Mitford and the sisters, particularly famous in the London of the time. The setting of the period is well defined: from dances to receptions to luxurious and flirtatious life; cleverly mixed with the investigation of the murder, the suspects, the interrogators. The result is a collection of historical novel, comedy and mystery. Written with a precise style, lively and competent and more than ever realistic. There is also a discussion of important issues, such as: the experiences and psychological trauma of those who have experienced the horrors of war, social independence and women's emancipation.
