The Shape of Authenticity in Elliott Merrick's Northern Nurse (Critical Essay‪)‬

OUTWARDLY, NORTHERN NURSE relays the non-fictional experiences of Kate Austen, an adventurous Australian nurse working in Labrador with the Grenfell Mission in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The story is told in her voice using the first person perspective, but it was actually written by her husband. As an author, Elliott Merrick is known for such works as True North and The Long Crossing and other Labrador Stories. As these texts indicate, Merrick's literary predisposition unequivocally involves the reshaping and idealization of northern-based adventures into captivating stories. Despite this tendency, however, he claims that Northern Nurse is the "true picture" (Merrick xvii) of his wife's work in Labrador and "contains no fiction or fictionalizing" (Blake 83). However, internal elements indicate that Merrick has indeed veered from his stated intention of providing a strictly factual representation of his wife's work in Labrador, and has actually created an idealization of not only Austen and her place within northern culture, but also the northern nursing experience. Northern Nurse details Kate's arrival in a land that differs drastically from all that she has ever known. Ever adaptable and capable, however, Kate immediately begins to tackle the many challenges with which she is faced. When the Mission doctor, Dr. Harry Paddon, is stricken with an ailment that prevents him from returning to Labrador, Kate is left for nearly a year to assume all the medical responsibilities. She travels to the remote interior when necessary, treats diseases and injuries with minimal supplies, and documents her procedures and the progress of all her patients. Thus, the book proceeds in an episodic manner, with each emergency taken in turn. It is these various encounters on which Merrick focuses, and, because of their basis in fact, the reader's attention rarely veers from the details unfolding on the page.