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A review by felinity
The Nightingale Sisters by Donna Douglas
4.0
Continuing the stories of the trainee nurses from [b:The Nightingale Girls|13536867|The Nightingale Girls|Donna Douglas|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1333576335s/13536867.jpg|19098590] along with the Sisters - and patients - who teach them, this gives a great picture of hospital life as it used to be.
This book is set against the Blackshirt uprising (the British Union of Fascists), revealing how deep the hatred and racism cut even with people who'd grown up together, but the protests and fear caused by the Blackshirts are not the focus. The focus is, rightly, on the Sisters, high-ranking nurses, who not only maintain a ward but are almost its lifeblood for decades; the Night Sisters who stay on night duty rather than rotating round; and the nurses who scrub and spruce wards and patients alike before the doctors and Matron make their rounds.
It also reveals more of life for the student nurses, as the probationers end up bathing in cold water (no hot left by the time the bathroom is theirs) and the more senior nurses learn what it really means to the patients to be "made comfortable" on some wards.
We see optimism and despair in the patients, some of whom fear their fate and others who have given up on life, but through it all there is surprising kindness and compassion.
But that's not all. These nurses are people too, and we see more of their home lives and how their family have shaped their characters, creating resolve and determination or hiding secrets. There are the usual conflicts and squabbles, pride and stubbornness, and some jealousy appears in different forms, but there is also a sense of community in both the East End and in the hospital, a sense of family, and that's what makes it worthwhile.
Disclaimer: I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This book is set against the Blackshirt uprising (the British Union of Fascists), revealing how deep the hatred and racism cut even with people who'd grown up together, but the protests and fear caused by the Blackshirts are not the focus. The focus is, rightly, on the Sisters, high-ranking nurses, who not only maintain a ward but are almost its lifeblood for decades; the Night Sisters who stay on night duty rather than rotating round; and the nurses who scrub and spruce wards and patients alike before the doctors and Matron make their rounds.
It also reveals more of life for the student nurses, as the probationers end up bathing in cold water (no hot left by the time the bathroom is theirs) and the more senior nurses learn what it really means to the patients to be "made comfortable" on some wards.
We see optimism and despair in the patients, some of whom fear their fate and others who have given up on life, but through it all there is surprising kindness and compassion.
But that's not all. These nurses are people too, and we see more of their home lives and how their family have shaped their characters, creating resolve and determination or hiding secrets. There are the usual conflicts and squabbles, pride and stubbornness, and some jealousy appears in different forms, but there is also a sense of community in both the East End and in the hospital, a sense of family, and that's what makes it worthwhile.
Disclaimer: I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.