What do you think?
Rate this book
Cherry Ames #7
Cherry Ames, Private Duty Nurse
Cherry Ames is back, just as you remember her! The books are just as you remember them, retaining the same look, feel, and sense of adventure and patriotism as when they were first published. With fully illustrated color covers and a soft-finished hardcover format just like the originals, these books will transport you back to the days when you were reading about this spunky young nurse. Series editor and registered nurse Harriet Forman was inspired by, and remains a devoted fan of, Cherry Ames: "...I was going to follow in her footsteps and become a nurse--nothing else would do."
Click here to read about Cherry Ames in The New York Times!
Cherry has finally been discharged from the Army and is back to civilian life. What should she do next after her intense years of Army nursing? Dr. Joe finds her a job as the private nurse of a celebrated musician suffering from a dangerous heart condition. How can Cherry help him avoid the deadly stress his devoted sister unintentionally causes when she visits fortuneteller after fortuneteller? Will their family secret be revealed?
Springer Publishing Company is delighted to be bringing Helen Wells's beloved heroine back into print for a new generation of younger readers (as well as a host of nostalgic older ones). The books are available as beautifully rendered facsimile hardcover editions and in boxed sets of four. We intend to have all of the Helen Wells books back in print by early 2008. Below is our reissue schedule:
Cherry Ames, Student Nurse (published)
Cherry Ames, Senior Nurse (published)
Cherry Ames, Army Nurse (published)
Cherry Ames, Chief Nurse (published)
Cherry Ames, Boxed Set 1-4 (published)
Cherry Ames, Flight Nurse (published)
Cherry Ames,Veterans' Nurse (published)
Cherry Ames, Private Duty Nurse (published)
Cherry Ames, Visiting Nurse (published)
Cherry Ames, Boxed Set 5-8 (published)
Cherry Ames, Cruise Nurse (published)
Cherry Ames, Boarding School Nurse (published)
Cherry Ames, Department Store Nurse (published)
Cherry Ames, Camp Nurse (published)
Cherry Ames, Boxed Set 9-12 (published)
Cherry Ames, At Hilton Hospital (published)
Cherry Ames, Island Nurse (published)
Cherry Ames, Rural Nurse (published)
Cherry Ames, Staff Nurse (published)
Cherry Ames, Boxed Set 13-16 (published)
Cherry Ames, Companion Nurse (published)
Cherry Ames, Jungle Nurse (published)
Cherry Ames, The Mystery in the Doctor's Office (published)
Cherry Ames, Ski Nurse Mystery (published)
Cherry Ames, Boxed Set 17-20 (published)
Click here to read about Cherry Ames in The New York Times!
224 pages, Hardcover
First published November 30, 1945
6 people are currently reading
177 people want to read
About the author
Helen Wells
112 books75 followersOriginal name: Helen Weinstock. Social worker turned full-time young adult writer, born in Illinois but moved with family to New York City when she was seven. In 1934 Wells graduated from New York University [where she'd been the first female editor of the literary quarterly], with a major in philosophy and a minor in sociology and psychology.
During World War II, she served as a volunteer with the State Department's Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs, escorting Latin American visitors in the United States.
Author of Cherry Ames, Nurse books, a series for young teens.
She was also the author of the Vicki Barr books, about a young mystery-solving flight attendant. And, as Francine Lewis, she penned the short-lived Polly French series (1950s), aimed at a younger readership.
After writing the first eight books of the Cherry Ames series and the first three Vicki Barr books, Wells decided to abandon both series to write for television and radio, and Julie Tatham took over (however, both the ninth Cherry Ames book and the fourth Vicki Barr book were published under Wells's name). Tatham later returned the Vicki Barr books to Wells in 1953 and the Cherry Ames books in 1955.
During World War II, she served as a volunteer with the State Department's Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs, escorting Latin American visitors in the United States.
Author of Cherry Ames, Nurse books, a series for young teens.
She was also the author of the Vicki Barr books, about a young mystery-solving flight attendant. And, as Francine Lewis, she penned the short-lived Polly French series (1950s), aimed at a younger readership.
After writing the first eight books of the Cherry Ames series and the first three Vicki Barr books, Wells decided to abandon both series to write for television and radio, and Julie Tatham took over (however, both the ninth Cherry Ames book and the fourth Vicki Barr book were published under Wells's name). Tatham later returned the Vicki Barr books to Wells in 1953 and the Cherry Ames books in 1955.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
October 28, 2022
Cherry Ames: Private Duty Nurse is the twelfth book in the series of twenty-seven, for young teenagers, about Cherry Ames, a perky job-hopping, mystery-solving young nurse, cast in the Nancy Drew mould. The series was written by two authors: Helen Wells and Julie Tatham, and Cherry Ames: Private Duty Nurse was written by the original author, in 1946.
After writing the first eight books of the Cherry Ames series and the first three Vicki Barr books, about a young mystery-solving flight attendant, Helen Wells decided to switch to writing for television and radio. Julie Tatham took over, although both the series were later returned to Helen Wells. During the 1950s, these two professions were the most glamorous careers a woman could have. Also, under the pseudonym Francine Lewis, Helen Wells wrote a short-lived series in the 1950s, aimed at a younger readership: the Polly French series, which was about a young teenage detective. Her focus was clearly on writing exciting “career romance” novels for teenage girls.
Cherry Ames: Private Duty Nurse begins with Cherry back with her well-off family, in her home town of Hilton, Illinois; a fictitious town which is based on the author Helen Wells’s own home town of Danville, Illinois. She is determined to have a holiday:
“No more Army nursing. No more flight nursing, no more veteran’s nursing. In fact, gosh darn it, no more nursing! Ames is going to sit. For at least three months.”
Of course, we all know that nothing could be further from the truth! True to form, our favourite young nurse with itchy feet soon finds herself tempted by the thought of another new challenge: that of private nursing. All her life she had been friends with a neighbour, Midge, whose mother had died. Midge’s father, Dr. Joseph Fortune, an old family friend, had worked obsessively on an anaesthetic he had invented and developed, and which was eventually accepted for use in hospitals. Cherry’s friendship with the family was largely responsible for her taking up nursing, and Dr. Joe had become not only a close and respected friend, but also a mentor, who always encouraged her to try new things.
In Cherry Ames: Private Duty Nurse, Dr. Joe suggests that Cherry apply to be on a list of approved nurses available for private contracts, and she agrees. But no sooner than she has made this decision, than Dr. Joe presents her with an offer she can’t resist. A poor farming family needs help, as the mother is ill, and the father cannot cope with both the work of the farm and looking after the young children. He assures her it is a “light case”, but that the mother would get better much more quickly with a trained nurse to help her. Living with the family for a while Cherry found herself doing far more than just the nursing she had expected, but enjoyed the experience, and felt that what she had learned stood her in good stead.
But Dr. Joe had something else in mind. Looking after the Tucker family was to give her confidence, and as a sort of “trial run”, to see if she enjoyed the work.
Cherry soon finds herself working for a famous concert pianist, Scott Owens, who has a heart condition. He is very unworldly, and easily stressed, and of course this affects his heart. Cherry has to protect him from overly taxing himself whilst making sure that he is able to live the life he loves, surrounded by his music and his eccentric artistic friends, and going on concert tours.
We meet his sister, Kitty Owens, with whom he shares a house. Miss Kitty prides herself on being “practical” but in point of fact is anything but. Often her attempts to create a peaceful environment for Mr. Scott only result in the reverse. The worst thing is her penchant for consulting clairvoyants and spiritualists, in whatever city Scott Owens is commissioned to play. This is despite his strong disapproval and conviction that most of them were money-grabbing charlatans, trained to be alert to a “tell” from the merest hint of body language. Cherry herself believes this, and that even the best were probably deluding themselves. But she works for the family, and her role is to instil a peaceful atmosphere, and be alert to any small change in Mr. Scott’s condition which could signify that a heart attack was imminent.
Into this interesting mix, we gradually learn that what fuels both Mr. Scott’s jumpiness and high anxiety, and Miss Kitty’s desperate need to contact departed spirits is some great secret from the past, never to be divulged. The story which follows is an exciting adventure involving blackmail , in which Cherry’s nursing is very much an adjunct, and more of a hook to hang the story on. Cherry shows daring and bravado, gets herself into dangerous if not life-threatening situations, which of course no self-respecting nurse would be likely to do. Readers have to “go with it” and accept it at face value, as a fast-paced and exciting read for youngsters.
And the great secret? Did Scott Owens really have a murky past? Well yes, but of course he was unworldy, artistic, and foolish in his youth, so Cherry (and the reader) is expected to be sympathetic and make allowances.
The ever-present suggestion of romance, fizzles out, much as it does in every Cherry Ames novel.
Helen Wells could write this sort of light fiction very well. Originally called Helen Weinstock, she was a social worker who became a full-time young adult writer. As mentioned, she was born in Illinois, but had moved with her family to New York City when she was seven. In 1934 she graduated from New York University, where she had shown an early interest in writing, being the first female editor of the literary quarterly. She majored in philosophy and her secondary subjects were sociology and psychology.
Helen Wells was perhaps an unusual choice to write stories about nursing for teenagers, as she was a member of the Mystery Writers of America. Nevertheless, she had been approached during World War II, to write books romanticising nursing, in order to attract girls to nursing as a way to aid the war effort, and as a career. It certainly worked! Over time, more than a million girls read the series, and many attributed their initial interest in nursing to the books. What interests me now is the apparent persistence of these novels in the public memory.
So many adults claim to have loved reading about the escapades of this plucky World War II nursing heroine. The back cover confidently states:
“It is every girl’s ambition at one time or another to wear the crisp white uniform of a nurse. The many opportunities for service, for adventure, for romance, make a nurse’s career a glamorous one.”
Certainly the image created by Helen Wells, of Cherry’s rosy complexion, crisp white uniform, pluckiness and brave loyalty seems to have entranced a whole generation — and their daughters and granddaughters. Whether as a student or senior Nurse, a wartime flight nurse during World War II, on private duty, at a dude ranch, on a cruise ship, or at a department store, all Cherry’s adventures were read avidly, even when a position such as a department store nurse could have only been a distant memory. The thrilling tales of bombing raids, dashing and debonair, but difficult doctors — and decidedly dated details about 1940s nursing school procedures and historic medical breakthroughs such as penicillin — have remained popular.
In 2005, Springer Publishing released the first eight in the series, and several are now available as ebooks on Kindle. In addition, a special edition of the first one, “Cherry Ames, Student Nurse” has been published by the “Palm Healthcare Foundation”, and the proceeds from their book sales are used for nursing scholarships. Harriet Forman, the editor of Springer Publishing’s new Cherry Ames editions, had loved Cherry ever since she was a child in postwar Brooklyn. In an interview, when asked what the attraction of Cherry Ames was, she said:
“She was modern. She taught you that you could do anything. She was smart, and she was courageous, and she had a dedication to her calling. She would never, ever leave the side of her patients, even in a bombing raid.”
Such was this attraction, that the fictitious Cherry Ames inspired Harriet Forman — and hundreds of other eager readers — to become a nurse. Like her literary heroine, her career path was diverse, with increasing responsibility, progressing from floor nurse to director, administrator and, more recently, publisher.
“Cherry could do anything,” she said, “Therefore, I could do anything.”
Yet the author herself, Helen Wells, was not a nurse. She had spent a lot of time with nurses when she was writing the books, and possibly had the same single-minded career drive. There were other series of young adult novels written in the 1930s and 1940s, with a nursing theme. In the “Sue Barton” Nursing Series, the nurses were all female, and the doctors were all male, and the inevitable often happened. Yet “Romance” with a capital “R” did not really happen in any of the Cherry Ames books. Charming, personable, capable and attractive though our heroine is, throughout 27 books, she never becomes romantically involved with the handsome doctors who feature in all the novels, and remains on a chummy basis. The publishers maintained that if Cherry Ames because engaged then that would be the end of her nursing career.
Helen Wells herself remarked that the old image of Cherry Ames was passe, and that it was not economically feasible to update her. In Cherry’s early adventures, set during World War II, Cherry solved problems and captured criminals when the men in authority had failed to do so, “demonstrating that women can succeed in the public, working world”. But this mild attempt at assertiveness all seems rather half-hearted now, and a little sad. The image we gather from the books is one of female subservience, with nurses rising respectfully when the physician enters the ward, and the nurse always doing what she is told. Even when praised, she is a kind of chattel, complimented as “his” good nurse. This would probably make a modern reader want to throw the book across the room, but it appealed to the impressionable teenage ethos of the time.
The series finished in 1966, when the publisher said that girls were no longer interested in becoming nurses. Subsequent continuing sales of the books seemed to prove them wrong. However, there are serious problems with recommending these to youngsters, and I would suggest their target audience is now slightly older adults, who have fond memories of reading these books in their youth. I have now read two from the series, but doubt very much whether I shall look for others. They are very much of their time, and depict an era of nursing that is long past.
Although the series was written with a female as the heroine, there is a very limited view of female authority. There is little or no autonomy. These nurses worked in a professional environment which offered great responsibility, but virtually no professional power. In real life, head nurses were, and are, well respected, and young interns were often guided by such experienced nurses, but the Cherry Ames books for some reason downplayed this aspect. All the nurses were subordinate to masterful male doctors. All nurses were female, and mostly white and middle-class, which is quite a contrast to today’s nursing staff. Sometimes the occasional nonwhite character would be described in an offensive way. The attitudes date the books far more than the old-fashioned nursing paraphernalia such as reusable syringes, hot water bottles, and recovering patients who acted as orderlies.
Nurses were expected to perform menial tasks such as memorising the contents and arrangements of supply closets. Many characters smoked, which was very common at the time, and thought to be healthy. The nurses were not allowed to marry without permission, and then only in the final months of training. It is frankly difficult for modern readers to square this with Cherry Ames becoming a confident, skilful nurse (as well as an expert sleuth) whose bravado, courage and resourcefulness often saved the day.
Harriet Forman has updated the books to some extent. She made some editorial changes, such as getting rid of any racist language, or references to smoking, but of necessity the plots contain many topical references and outdated procedures remain. There is a great sense of adventure in the books, and they are entertaining enough. They have a whiff of nostalgia, and at a dozen chapters, are solid short reads. Harriet Forman wanted to tempt the young girls of today to nursing, by stories of “idealism and opportunity”; to give them a taste of what attracted her in the first place.
The stories do give a glimpse of both stresses and rewards of a demanding, highly skilled profession. But I doubt the appeal to a modern young audience with this series. The nursing environment much loved by Cherry Ames has changed almost beyond recognition.
There is a tendency to attempt to update modern series to fit in with current attitudes, but I personally feel this is misguided. It is best remembered as of its time. These books influenced a generation of nurses, and it has been said that if you want to bring a smile to the face of an older nurse, one easy way would be to mention “Cherry Ames” or “Sue Barton”.
On the back of this book, in a speech bubble issuing from the mouth of Cherry Ames, is this arresting question:
“GIRLS! How would you like a nursing career? I can tell you the the excitement, romance and adventure make my career thrilling, and make my books thrilling, too.”
And inside the dust-jacket we read:
“Certainly girls everywhere love to read stories in which a nurse is the heroine. At least a million girls know and admire Cherry Ames, and have laughed at her pranks and thrilled over her gay adventures and wept over her problems.”
Indeed they did. In a different time, and a different place. Let it be.
After writing the first eight books of the Cherry Ames series and the first three Vicki Barr books, about a young mystery-solving flight attendant, Helen Wells decided to switch to writing for television and radio. Julie Tatham took over, although both the series were later returned to Helen Wells. During the 1950s, these two professions were the most glamorous careers a woman could have. Also, under the pseudonym Francine Lewis, Helen Wells wrote a short-lived series in the 1950s, aimed at a younger readership: the Polly French series, which was about a young teenage detective. Her focus was clearly on writing exciting “career romance” novels for teenage girls.
Cherry Ames: Private Duty Nurse begins with Cherry back with her well-off family, in her home town of Hilton, Illinois; a fictitious town which is based on the author Helen Wells’s own home town of Danville, Illinois. She is determined to have a holiday:
“No more Army nursing. No more flight nursing, no more veteran’s nursing. In fact, gosh darn it, no more nursing! Ames is going to sit. For at least three months.”
Of course, we all know that nothing could be further from the truth! True to form, our favourite young nurse with itchy feet soon finds herself tempted by the thought of another new challenge: that of private nursing. All her life she had been friends with a neighbour, Midge, whose mother had died. Midge’s father, Dr. Joseph Fortune, an old family friend, had worked obsessively on an anaesthetic he had invented and developed, and which was eventually accepted for use in hospitals. Cherry’s friendship with the family was largely responsible for her taking up nursing, and Dr. Joe had become not only a close and respected friend, but also a mentor, who always encouraged her to try new things.
In Cherry Ames: Private Duty Nurse, Dr. Joe suggests that Cherry apply to be on a list of approved nurses available for private contracts, and she agrees. But no sooner than she has made this decision, than Dr. Joe presents her with an offer she can’t resist. A poor farming family needs help, as the mother is ill, and the father cannot cope with both the work of the farm and looking after the young children. He assures her it is a “light case”, but that the mother would get better much more quickly with a trained nurse to help her. Living with the family for a while Cherry found herself doing far more than just the nursing she had expected, but enjoyed the experience, and felt that what she had learned stood her in good stead.
But Dr. Joe had something else in mind. Looking after the Tucker family was to give her confidence, and as a sort of “trial run”, to see if she enjoyed the work.
Cherry soon finds herself working for a famous concert pianist, Scott Owens, who has a heart condition. He is very unworldly, and easily stressed, and of course this affects his heart. Cherry has to protect him from overly taxing himself whilst making sure that he is able to live the life he loves, surrounded by his music and his eccentric artistic friends, and going on concert tours.
We meet his sister, Kitty Owens, with whom he shares a house. Miss Kitty prides herself on being “practical” but in point of fact is anything but. Often her attempts to create a peaceful environment for Mr. Scott only result in the reverse. The worst thing is her penchant for consulting clairvoyants and spiritualists, in whatever city Scott Owens is commissioned to play. This is despite his strong disapproval and conviction that most of them were money-grabbing charlatans, trained to be alert to a “tell” from the merest hint of body language. Cherry herself believes this, and that even the best were probably deluding themselves. But she works for the family, and her role is to instil a peaceful atmosphere, and be alert to any small change in Mr. Scott’s condition which could signify that a heart attack was imminent.
Into this interesting mix, we gradually learn that what fuels both Mr. Scott’s jumpiness and high anxiety, and Miss Kitty’s desperate need to contact departed spirits is some great secret from the past, never to be divulged. The story which follows is an exciting adventure involving blackmail , in which Cherry’s nursing is very much an adjunct, and more of a hook to hang the story on. Cherry shows daring and bravado, gets herself into dangerous if not life-threatening situations, which of course no self-respecting nurse would be likely to do. Readers have to “go with it” and accept it at face value, as a fast-paced and exciting read for youngsters.
And the great secret? Did Scott Owens really have a murky past? Well yes, but of course he was unworldy, artistic, and foolish in his youth, so Cherry (and the reader) is expected to be sympathetic and make allowances.
The ever-present suggestion of romance, fizzles out, much as it does in every Cherry Ames novel.
Helen Wells could write this sort of light fiction very well. Originally called Helen Weinstock, she was a social worker who became a full-time young adult writer. As mentioned, she was born in Illinois, but had moved with her family to New York City when she was seven. In 1934 she graduated from New York University, where she had shown an early interest in writing, being the first female editor of the literary quarterly. She majored in philosophy and her secondary subjects were sociology and psychology.
Helen Wells was perhaps an unusual choice to write stories about nursing for teenagers, as she was a member of the Mystery Writers of America. Nevertheless, she had been approached during World War II, to write books romanticising nursing, in order to attract girls to nursing as a way to aid the war effort, and as a career. It certainly worked! Over time, more than a million girls read the series, and many attributed their initial interest in nursing to the books. What interests me now is the apparent persistence of these novels in the public memory.
So many adults claim to have loved reading about the escapades of this plucky World War II nursing heroine. The back cover confidently states:
“It is every girl’s ambition at one time or another to wear the crisp white uniform of a nurse. The many opportunities for service, for adventure, for romance, make a nurse’s career a glamorous one.”
Certainly the image created by Helen Wells, of Cherry’s rosy complexion, crisp white uniform, pluckiness and brave loyalty seems to have entranced a whole generation — and their daughters and granddaughters. Whether as a student or senior Nurse, a wartime flight nurse during World War II, on private duty, at a dude ranch, on a cruise ship, or at a department store, all Cherry’s adventures were read avidly, even when a position such as a department store nurse could have only been a distant memory. The thrilling tales of bombing raids, dashing and debonair, but difficult doctors — and decidedly dated details about 1940s nursing school procedures and historic medical breakthroughs such as penicillin — have remained popular.
In 2005, Springer Publishing released the first eight in the series, and several are now available as ebooks on Kindle. In addition, a special edition of the first one, “Cherry Ames, Student Nurse” has been published by the “Palm Healthcare Foundation”, and the proceeds from their book sales are used for nursing scholarships. Harriet Forman, the editor of Springer Publishing’s new Cherry Ames editions, had loved Cherry ever since she was a child in postwar Brooklyn. In an interview, when asked what the attraction of Cherry Ames was, she said:
“She was modern. She taught you that you could do anything. She was smart, and she was courageous, and she had a dedication to her calling. She would never, ever leave the side of her patients, even in a bombing raid.”
Such was this attraction, that the fictitious Cherry Ames inspired Harriet Forman — and hundreds of other eager readers — to become a nurse. Like her literary heroine, her career path was diverse, with increasing responsibility, progressing from floor nurse to director, administrator and, more recently, publisher.
“Cherry could do anything,” she said, “Therefore, I could do anything.”
Yet the author herself, Helen Wells, was not a nurse. She had spent a lot of time with nurses when she was writing the books, and possibly had the same single-minded career drive. There were other series of young adult novels written in the 1930s and 1940s, with a nursing theme. In the “Sue Barton” Nursing Series, the nurses were all female, and the doctors were all male, and the inevitable often happened. Yet “Romance” with a capital “R” did not really happen in any of the Cherry Ames books. Charming, personable, capable and attractive though our heroine is, throughout 27 books, she never becomes romantically involved with the handsome doctors who feature in all the novels, and remains on a chummy basis. The publishers maintained that if Cherry Ames because engaged then that would be the end of her nursing career.
Helen Wells herself remarked that the old image of Cherry Ames was passe, and that it was not economically feasible to update her. In Cherry’s early adventures, set during World War II, Cherry solved problems and captured criminals when the men in authority had failed to do so, “demonstrating that women can succeed in the public, working world”. But this mild attempt at assertiveness all seems rather half-hearted now, and a little sad. The image we gather from the books is one of female subservience, with nurses rising respectfully when the physician enters the ward, and the nurse always doing what she is told. Even when praised, she is a kind of chattel, complimented as “his” good nurse. This would probably make a modern reader want to throw the book across the room, but it appealed to the impressionable teenage ethos of the time.
The series finished in 1966, when the publisher said that girls were no longer interested in becoming nurses. Subsequent continuing sales of the books seemed to prove them wrong. However, there are serious problems with recommending these to youngsters, and I would suggest their target audience is now slightly older adults, who have fond memories of reading these books in their youth. I have now read two from the series, but doubt very much whether I shall look for others. They are very much of their time, and depict an era of nursing that is long past.
Although the series was written with a female as the heroine, there is a very limited view of female authority. There is little or no autonomy. These nurses worked in a professional environment which offered great responsibility, but virtually no professional power. In real life, head nurses were, and are, well respected, and young interns were often guided by such experienced nurses, but the Cherry Ames books for some reason downplayed this aspect. All the nurses were subordinate to masterful male doctors. All nurses were female, and mostly white and middle-class, which is quite a contrast to today’s nursing staff. Sometimes the occasional nonwhite character would be described in an offensive way. The attitudes date the books far more than the old-fashioned nursing paraphernalia such as reusable syringes, hot water bottles, and recovering patients who acted as orderlies.
Nurses were expected to perform menial tasks such as memorising the contents and arrangements of supply closets. Many characters smoked, which was very common at the time, and thought to be healthy. The nurses were not allowed to marry without permission, and then only in the final months of training. It is frankly difficult for modern readers to square this with Cherry Ames becoming a confident, skilful nurse (as well as an expert sleuth) whose bravado, courage and resourcefulness often saved the day.
Harriet Forman has updated the books to some extent. She made some editorial changes, such as getting rid of any racist language, or references to smoking, but of necessity the plots contain many topical references and outdated procedures remain. There is a great sense of adventure in the books, and they are entertaining enough. They have a whiff of nostalgia, and at a dozen chapters, are solid short reads. Harriet Forman wanted to tempt the young girls of today to nursing, by stories of “idealism and opportunity”; to give them a taste of what attracted her in the first place.
The stories do give a glimpse of both stresses and rewards of a demanding, highly skilled profession. But I doubt the appeal to a modern young audience with this series. The nursing environment much loved by Cherry Ames has changed almost beyond recognition.
There is a tendency to attempt to update modern series to fit in with current attitudes, but I personally feel this is misguided. It is best remembered as of its time. These books influenced a generation of nurses, and it has been said that if you want to bring a smile to the face of an older nurse, one easy way would be to mention “Cherry Ames” or “Sue Barton”.
On the back of this book, in a speech bubble issuing from the mouth of Cherry Ames, is this arresting question:
“GIRLS! How would you like a nursing career? I can tell you the the excitement, romance and adventure make my career thrilling, and make my books thrilling, too.”
And inside the dust-jacket we read:
“Certainly girls everywhere love to read stories in which a nurse is the heroine. At least a million girls know and admire Cherry Ames, and have laughed at her pranks and thrilled over her gay adventures and wept over her problems.”
Indeed they did. In a different time, and a different place. Let it be.
July 4, 2024
I can’t say I enjoyed this story much. The recluse, ailing musician and his pets Do, Re, Mi, and Octave were the highlight. I just couldn’t get into the story because it starts with Cherry going to a seance and the fortunetelling goes throughout the book. Personally, it put a bad feeling on the book for me.
February 10, 2018
Cherry Ames, Private Duty Nurse by Helen Wells is the seventh book in the Cherry Ames series.
I honestly did not enjoy this book much at all -- and that was mainly because of the main plot/setting/mystery. I found the "oversensitive musician" thing ridiculous and unbelievable. I didn't like Bebe or Miss Kitty. The mystery was actually pretty good for a Cherry Ames book, but the infodump at the end bored me. I skimmed it a little bit.
I did enjoy the second chapter of the book where Cherry visited the family and the mom with pneumonia, even though it seemed rather pointless.
I was thinking along the lines of insta-love with Charlie's friend from the army until the end of the chapters where Cherry got together with her friends at her house. It amused me.
Overall, I didn't enjoy this book very much. 2.5 stars out of 5.
I honestly did not enjoy this book much at all -- and that was mainly because of the main plot/setting/mystery. I found the "oversensitive musician" thing ridiculous and unbelievable. I didn't like Bebe or Miss Kitty. The mystery was actually pretty good for a Cherry Ames book, but the infodump at the end bored me. I skimmed it a little bit.
I did enjoy the second chapter of the book where Cherry visited the family and the mom with pneumonia, even though it seemed rather pointless.
I was thinking along the lines of insta-love with Charlie's friend from the army until the end of the chapters where Cherry got together with her friends at her house. It amused me.
Overall, I didn't enjoy this book very much. 2.5 stars out of 5.
March 18, 2025
On this episode: I realized I was reading these for the military vibe. I’m not sure what that says about me as a person but Cherry Ames as a civilian is less good.
She was also rather lonely this book and it was less fun.
She was also rather lonely this book and it was less fun.
May 17, 2017
A little slow but entertaining
January 17, 2016
1946.
Cherry has returned from the war. She goes to a seance with her mother. Dr. Joe tells Cherry she needs to take it easy for a while to recover from the war so she takes on a job as a private duty nurse (well, relatively easy, I guess.)
She gets in a situation which is somewhat similar to the Mountaineer Nurse book where the people are rather backwards and unfriendly and don't trust doctors or medicines. She ends up then taking a job for elsewhere with a pianist who is very highly strung and very famous.
There's more seance-going and a mystery that involves blackmail. Cherry gets trapped by some crooks but manages to get away and the seance-going is tied into the mystery. It's an interesting and good book in the series.
Cherry has returned from the war. She goes to a seance with her mother. Dr. Joe tells Cherry she needs to take it easy for a while to recover from the war so she takes on a job as a private duty nurse (well, relatively easy, I guess.)
She gets in a situation which is somewhat similar to the Mountaineer Nurse book where the people are rather backwards and unfriendly and don't trust doctors or medicines. She ends up then taking a job for elsewhere with a pianist who is very highly strung and very famous.
There's more seance-going and a mystery that involves blackmail. Cherry gets trapped by some crooks but manages to get away and the seance-going is tied into the mystery. It's an interesting and good book in the series.
November 4, 2016
In this next installment of Cherry Ames nursing adventures, she is a private nurse for a celebrity pianist. This one had the best mystery wound in of all the books in the series so far! I was just fascinated with the incorporation of "fortune tellers" into the story line, because at the time this was written, that was a pretty popular thing. And most of the time these "fortune tellers" had mostly tricks up their sleeve than actually supernatural abilities.
April 6, 2007
My godmother, the nurse, kept giving me these books, to inspire me to become a nurse. In those years, the choices for a woman were teacher, nurse, housewife, I chose teacher. The nurses in these books were always so subservient to the doctors, the head nurses, to everyone!
January 4, 2013
This was a little slow to get started, but once it did, whoa! Cherry works as a nurse for a talented pianist who has what seems like mild autism as well as a heart condition. As the story progresses, on comes the mystery. This adventure was pretty good and very eye opening.
February 28, 2016
Gradually reading or re-reading the Cherry Ames books. My recollection from reading them as a child was that they combined solving mysteries with the nursing stories. This is the first one in the re-read that felt like a mystery.
August 29, 2015
Enjoyed these books as a kid and am enjoying them again as an adult. Like the adventures that Cherry has. Looking forward to rest of the series.
May 2, 2016
Loved the mystery and intrigue and the return of old characters!
September 2, 2023
This is a disappointing entry in the series. Cherry Ames is back from overseas where she was an Army nurse. She's at ends and takes a case as a private duty nurse at the instigation of her friend. Dr. Joe Fortune. After supervising 60 nurses at an Army base in the South Pacific during the war, she seems flustered at taking care of a woman on a farm with pneumonia. That turns out fine and she becomes the nurse for a concert pianist with heart problems and a guilty secret. His sister, who is also his manager, likes to attends seances and visit fortune tellers, in the process revealing damaging information about her brother and leaving him open to blackmail. Cherry becomes more like Nancy Drew, hunting down clues, hiding behind couches to get information, and narrowly avoiding being shot by one of the blackmailers. So weird. In this novel her brother Charlie comes home from the Army and she is reunited with some of her friends from Spencer, most of whom don't know exactly what they're going to do either.
Read
September 4, 2025Nostalgia in book form! I recently visited a fabulous independent bookstore in Savannah, Books on Bay. This little shop specializes in mystery and had a terrific curated collection of many series including Cherry Ames.
I purchased two volumes and just read this one. It brought back memories of the Orange, Connecticut public library where I devoured all their copies of Nancy Drew and Cherry Ames among others. The books are from the 1940’s and it definitely shows. I still love the earnestness of Cherry to her chosen profession, her youthful exuberance and loyalty to her fellow nurses from their student nursing days. Of course the sexism is rampant and the plots sometime stretch the imagination but I could almost smell the library of my childhood and feel the distinct pleasure of long summer days and rainy days all year that were filled with stories like these.
I purchased two volumes and just read this one. It brought back memories of the Orange, Connecticut public library where I devoured all their copies of Nancy Drew and Cherry Ames among others. The books are from the 1940’s and it definitely shows. I still love the earnestness of Cherry to her chosen profession, her youthful exuberance and loyalty to her fellow nurses from their student nursing days. Of course the sexism is rampant and the plots sometime stretch the imagination but I could almost smell the library of my childhood and feel the distinct pleasure of long summer days and rainy days all year that were filled with stories like these.
April 23, 2022
I’m a nurse practitioner and stumbled on this book in a used bookstore. As I started I thought it was silly and campy. Written in the 40’s it was old fashioned in word and thought. I was reading a passage about her patient care to colleagues about the ancient practices. As the story progressed I was drawn in. The story line was compelling. I found myself surprisingly impressed with her patient care. Although medicine has changed, Cherry reminded me the mind frame and comfort of patients can affect their health and had many pearls of wisdom how to assist them to live a healthy life! I ordered the whole series and can’t wait to see her next adventure!
April 3, 2023
Book No. 7 finds our heroine still searching for her true nurse's calling by doing private duty nursing. Halfway thru this book, her nursing duties take a backseat to the mystery of what's going on with the Owens's. There's a deep dark secret that threatens the life of her patient, a famous pianist. Cherry's sleuthing becomes the focal point of the book. Lots of characters in this book and at times it was difficult to remember who was who. The Spencer Girls reunion chapter was somewhat bittersweet and finds our heroine suffering from a bruised heart at the expense of Bucky (boo!). All in all, this book wasn't the best nor was it the worst so far: 3 stars will suffice.
April 19, 2020
Perhaps 3.5 stars. After leaving the army, Cherry plans to relax and recuperate for the next several months, until Dr. Joe persuades her to take on private duty, in the patient's own home. Her first case is on a country farm, and involves caring for not just the patient, but also her young children. Then she cares for a famous pianist, and becomes (yet again) involved in a mystery. Quick-paced, this story provides an interesting an enjoyable look into the past, some seventy years ago.
June 3, 2021
I found this book at my library book sale and remembered hearing about this series in one of my graduate classes as being a precursor to the teen fiction "genre." So I bought it out of curiosity. It wasn't too bad. Reminded me a little of the Nancy Drew series, except with more nursing and slightly less detective work. I don't know if I'll seek out any more of the series on purpose, but if another one appears at a book sale I may snatch it up.
April 2, 2022
This is the first post-war book in the series and the first to disappoint me in my project of re-reading the books that were so important to me sixty years ago. Perhaps Wells had yet to find her footing, without the backdrop of World War II to provide focus, depth, and, yes, patriotic inspiration. Although more of a “girl sleuth,” Cherry is less of a pre-feminist role model, with her work taking a back burner to the caper. Oh well.
July 24, 2022
I loved reading these adventure stories as a girl, and I find that I still love them now! Nurse Cherry is out of the army now, and she’s trying to decide what she wants to do next when her friend Dr. Joe suggests working as a private duty nurse, first to an ill Farmer’s wife, and then to a brilliant and passionate musician. She discovers that someone or something is frightening the musician, causing his weak heart to get even weaker. She is determined to get to the bottom of things.
September 8, 2024
Wow! I had no idea what I was getting into with this one. Usually the mystery is secondary to the nursing and friend interactions, but in this book the mystery comes in pretty early and by the last third of the book we’re on quite a rollercoaster ride with it. I won’t give anything away. The elements of this one reminded me more of a Three Investigators book with all the fortune teller visits and dangerous hijinks. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for Cherry in Visiting Nurse.
May 8, 2025
a fun Cherry Ames. Clean, interesting mystery mixed with nursing. proofread for the library. It involves uncovering a ring of phony fortunetellers. Even though the main character doesn't believe in them and even though they are proven to be fake, I think it won't pass for our library, however, still a good and harmless book.
April 16, 2018
It took a while to get into this book, but the last 4 or so chapters were very intense and I liked the pacing much better.
July 19, 2019
Interesting! A bit different from her usual books, but very enjoyable.
March 28, 2021
Didn't like this one. One-sided villains, poor plot, badly written.
July 8, 2021
This one is more interesting and fun than number 6. There's certainly some surprises in here, too.
January 19, 2022
This one wasn’t very good. The story was very weak.
April 25, 2025
Cherry is a Private Duty Nurse to a famous pianist who is also being blackmailed. Enjoyable
June 27, 2025
charming
July 7, 2025
Inherited this book when we cleaned out my grandma’s house. There was nothing inherently wrong with it, cute little story, fun to see how nursing has changed in the last 80 years.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews