The Nurses' War
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4.5 • 109 Ratings
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
There is more than one way to fight a war...An extraordinary story of grit, love and loss, based on the true history and real experiences of Australian nurses in World War 1.
'Heart-achingly raw yet filled with the beauty of the human spirit, this novel is a triumph that will linger in the heart and psyche.' Karen Brooks, author of The Good Wife of Bath
In 1915, as World War 1 rages in Europe and the numbers of dead and injured continue to grow, Australian nurse, Sister Cora Barker, leaves her home in Australia for England, determined to use her skills for King and country. When she arrives at Harefield House - donated to the Australian Army by its expatriate Australian owners - she helps transform it into a hospital that is also a little piece of home for recuperating Australian soldiers.
As the months pass, her mission to save diggers lives becomes more urgent as the darkest months of the war see injured soldiers from the battlefields of France and Belgium flood into Harefield in the thousands. When the hospital sends out a desperate call for help, a quiet young seamstress from the village, Jessie Chester, steps up as a volunteer. At the hospital she meets Private Bert Mott, a recovering Australian soldier, but the looming threat of his return to the Front hangs over them. Could her first love be her first heartbreak?
Cora's and Jessie's futures, their hearts and their lives hang in the balance as the never-ending wave of injured and dying soldiers threatens to overwhelm the hospital and the hopes of a nation rest on a knife edge. The nurses war is a war against despair and death, fought with science and love rather than mustard gas and fear - but can they possibly win it? And what will be the cost?
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
The Nurses’ War is an immersive long read from bestselling novelist Victoria Purman that explores both the brutal cost of war and the ways women’s lives changed in the early part of the 20th century. It’s 1915 when Adelaide nurse Cora Barker arrives at a grand English manor, Harefield House, to help transform it into a makeshift hospital for Australian diggers injured on the battlefields of World War I. As patient numbers swell, Jessie Chester, a seamstress from the nearby village, is also drawn into the world of the hospital. The inner strength and personal convictions of these purposeful, spirited women will be tested as the fighting wears on.
Customer Reviews
Important story told so well
I loved this. Such an insight into the nurses and soldiers and their bravery and struggles during WW1.