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Party Girl Nurse's Journey
doesn't sound like a religious-fiction title, but the book is just
that. Words like "hope," "church," 'thankful," and "God" are prevalent.
Inspired by the book's spiritual overtones and first-person writing
style, readers might find themselves wanting to hold the main
character's hand and help her on her journey.
The main character, the "party girl," is an upperclass beauty, growing
up with everything but the maturity to know how to handle admirers. She
makes a plethora of bad decisions while exposed to seemingly all walks
of life as a young nurse. Finally, she settles down and has a family.
The bad times just keep rolling in however, as loved ones become
involved in drugs and drag others in. The Barbie and Ken (and four
handsome children) fairytale family is not what it seems. Like a
television drama, affairs, abortions, and drugs are all woven into the
plot; some characters overcome, and some never come clean. But, this is
a story of faith, so despite all the trials, readers are repeatedly
reminded by the narrator that the guiding light of God is there for the
faithful.
Like J.D. Salinger's Holden Caulfield in Catcher in the Rye,
the first person stream-of-consciousness works well, but in this book,
we are taken through the angsts of an entire lifetime, not just through
the awkward stages of youth.
The writing is excellent, this and the smooth flow of the story makes Party Girl Nurse's Journey a quick and easy read.
Though a work of fiction, clearly the author, like the main character,
has strong religious convictions and reminds readers at every turn of
the plot that we are guided by a higher power. Through the narrator,
Godwin also counsels readers to be tolerant: "People are often afraid
of what they don't understand and tend to judge others."