REVIEW: The Sea Nurses by Kate Eastham

The Sea Nurses by Kate Eastham

Genre: Historical fiction, Wartime fiction, Sagas, WW1

Read: 4th June 2022

Goodreads

Amazon

Published: 6th June 2022

★★★★ 3.5 stars (rounded up)

DESCRIPTION:

The young nurse ran across the wooden deck, her feet skidding. She spotted an injured young man clinging to the ship’s rail, his eyes wide with terror. She could see the water rushing up to meet them. ‘We need to jump!’ she screamed. In that moment, a wave washed over them. She lunged forward to grab his hand, but she was a second too slow. Somewhere, deep inside the vessel, came a loud crack. The hospital ship was breaking apart…

1914. Evie Munro is a Scottish fisher girl, working the herring season from Wick to Great Yarmouth. For Evie, every day is the same – gutting fish at the docks, shoulder-to-shoulder with her friends, followed by fresh bread, a warm whiskey toddy and an early night. But when Germany declares war on Britain, everything changes.

As her village begins to empty of young men, Evie’s life is marked by a heartbreaking tragedy at home. Her happiness destroyed, she vows to join the war effort as an army nurse, caring for wounded soldiers on the imposing hospital ship Britannic.

But as the war rages on and the ship comes under direct fire, Evie’s courage is put to the ultimate test. Can Evie and the nurses of the HMHS Britannic save the day and heal the patients in their care? Or will her life become one more casualty in Britain’s heroic fight for freedom?

A heartbreaking wartime saga – guaranteed to have you grabbing for the tissues! Perfect for fans of Nadine Dorries, Diney Costeloe and Nancy Revell.

MY THOUGHTS:

I am excited to be taking part in the #BooksOnTour #BlogTour for Kate Eastham's wartime saga tale THE SEA NURSES.

This is the third book by Kate Eastham I've read and it was relatively enjoyable with the unique aspect of beginning on a cruise ship liner to becoming military hospital during the war. In the early 1910's, there were three sister ships built for the White Star Line for passage from London to New York primarily. They were Olympic, Britannic and the ill-fated Titanic. But even after Titanic's demise, the Olympic and Britannic continued to make the TransAtlantic voyage. THE SEA NURSES begins on one and continues on another.

It's 1914 and Iris Purefoy is a stewardess and nurse for the White Star Line on board the RMS Olympic to New York. There have been whispers of war amongst the passengers though many believe if it were to come it would be over in weeks anyway. Others are dismissing the idea of war as ludicrous. Beginning in second class, Iris soon made her way up to First Class and found herself as the occasional personal maid for Miss Amelia Duchamp, on passage from Paris to New York. The elderly woman has a feisty little Pekingnese called Marco whom she dotes on and who has nipped Iris more than once. Miss Duchamp is incredibly demanding with high expectations but Iris sees to her needs as her charge requires.

One night on deck, Iris sees a flash in the shadows and meets Jack Rosetti, a young American who lost his ticket in a car game but managed to stowaway on the liner. Iris took pity on him when he disclosed that his mother was dying and he wanted to reach her before it was too late. Against her better judgement, Iris chose to ignore his illegal passage and tried to ignore the young man each time she saw him. But there was something captivating about him. His smile, his eyes, his laughter. He asked to see her on shore before the ship made its way back to Britain, but news of the war changed any plans made and the RMS Olympic hastily made its return to become a troop ship.

Arriving back in England, Iris had decided to put her nurses training to good use and join a military hospital, following matron to Netley in Southampton.

Meanwhile, in Great Yarmouth Evie Munro was a fisher girl who travelled from her native Scotland each year to the Norfolk coast to work the herring season. This year she meets Jamie who captures her heart. But life as a fisherman is a hard one out on the roughs of the North Sea, and it is often fraught with tragedy. Life as a fisher girl is also a tough one, and Evie jumps into action to assist when one of them is injured, using her skills to suture and bandage and even nurse her charges back from the onset of sepsis. She is not a nurse but she has the skills of one. When the season is over, Evie travels home to Scotland with her friends with a heaviness she'd never felt before. And with the war approaching, she makes a decision. Leaving her past behind her, she travels to Southampton as a probationary nurse where she falls under the charge of Nurse Purefoy.

After almost a year at Netley, Iris and Evie along with some of the VADs, begin work on the former cruise liner Britannic, now a military hopsital ship that had been requisitioned for the war, collecting soldiers from the Front and bringing them back to England. Their job is to nurse the injured men and help keep them alive until they are then transferred to a hospital on shore. Life is far different for both women - from the luxurious state rooms Iris had worked as a stewardess or the fishing wounds Evie had once tended. Despite their's being a military hospital ship displaying a prominent red cross and signage to give them clear passage and prevent them from being fired upon but this is war and no one is safe. There was nothing stopping them hitting an underwater mine or a U-boat firing upon them, mistaking them for the enemy.

Life changes for both Iris and Evie in profound ways throughout the course of the war. Particularly when a new orderly is taken on Britannic and Iris is shocked to be looking into the smiling eyes of Jack Rosetti once again. Ever the professional, Iris keeps her distance particularly as fraternisation between male and female staff is not permitted and Sister frowns upon such a blatant disregard for the rules.

And then life changes in an instant off the Mediterranean coast and each must make a snap decision to save themselves before it's too late.

A heartrendering and emotional tale, THE SEA NURSES takes on a unique aspect of a wartime saga in that it is on board former cruise liner ships now decked out as floating military hospitals. I like how it began with Iris as a stewardess so we get a glimpse of life aboard those ships before the war and therefore becoming military hospitals or troop ships. There was a hint of glamour befor being thrust into the horrors of war and the promise of something to come when it was all over. 

With Evie it was a little different. I felt that she was more of a secondary character to Iris' main one. I also felt that the friendship between the two women wasn't at the forefront of the story as much as the premise alluded to. I felt the women didn't really connect as friends throughout the story...not until almost the end after Evie's shocking find beneath the pier. I found Evie connected more with her fisher friends - Rita and Minnie - and even her brother and sister in law, more than Iris. To me, Iris felt more of her superior than a friend and any connection between the two women was lost. Their meetings up on deck in the evenings wasn't enough to make a close friendship as the narrative spoke or Iris in one context or Evie in another. The women were hardly ever together, forming a bond of friendship, not on page at least.

I liked both women but I didn't feel there was enough there to make them such close friends. They were too separate and never seemed to really connect. I found Iris closer to Miss Duchamp and she hadn't seen her since that final voyage at the beginning of the war, though the women remained in constant contact via letter.

I enjoyed THE SEA NURSES but not near so much as "When the World Stood Still" which I absolutely loved. I would have liked the ending to have gone a little further than another sea voyage, with a final glimpse of New York.

An entertaining read, THE SEA NURSES is an interesting and engaging historical wartime saga complete with drama and suspense of life, love, friendships and loss. Perfect for fans of Nadine Dorries and Diney Costeloe.

I would like to thank #KateEastham, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheSeaNurses in exchange for an honest review.

MEET THE AUTHOR:

A change in circumstances meant Kate Eastham made the shift from a career in nursing to being a full time carer for her husband. Determined to make the most of this new role ‘working from home’ and inspired by an in-depth study of the origins of nursing, she wrote her first novel at the kitchen table. Miss Nightingale’s Nurses was published by Penguin in 2018, closely followed by three more in the series. With her passion for history, Kate aims to make visible the lives of ordinary yet extraordinary women from the past. Her current historical fiction is set during the World Wars and will be published by Bookouture. 

Social Media links:

Twitter | Goodreads

PUBLISHER:

Stay up to date with upcoming releases from Bookouture by following them on these social media accounts.

Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

REVIEW: When the World Stood Still by Kate Eastham

When the World Stood Still by Kate Eastham

Genre: Historical fiction, WW1

Read: 19th February 2021

Goodreads

Amazon

Published: 22nd February 2021

★★★★★ 5 stars

DESCRIPTION:

The nurses were putting in twelve-hour shifts now, day and night. Emily felt broken inside, dried out, not even capable of tears. They were short-staffed after a softly spoken Irish nurse, who’d only been with them for four days, had died from the deadly flu and two more had fallen ill. And more patients were coming in every hour, though the hospital beds were already full…

1918. Twenty-year-old Emily Burdon has been training as a nurse in London, learning on the job as she tends to patients from the crowded poorhouses that ring the hospital as well as wounded soldiers returning from the war. She pours her heart into her nursing while she waits for happier times – peace in Europe and the return of her childhood sweetheart Lewis from the Western Front.

But when the deadly Spanish Flu arrives in London on the heels of the war, Emily’s faith and courage are put to the test. All around her men and women in the prime of their lives are wasting away, and until a cure is found there is nothing for Emily and her colleagues to do except make them comfortable, treat them as best they can… and, eventually, ease the pain of their passing.

But then Lewis catches the deadly flu himself on his way back home, just as a new doctor is transferred to head up Emily’s ward. From the distant land of Prince Edward Island in Canada, Dr James Cantor is the first of a generations-old farming family to have left the island, and wartime London feels a long way away from the rugged beauty of his homeland. But despite their differences, he and Emily find common ground in their passion for helping patients and stopping the spread of the disease. But with life forever changed around her and Lewis’ future hanging by a thread, can Emily survive the most terrible epidemic in the history with her life – and heart – intact?

A heartbreaking historical novel based on true history – emotional and unforgettable. Perfect for fans of Jean Grainger, The Beantown Girls and Diney Costeloe.

MY REVIEW:

I am excited to be taking part in the #BooksOnTour #BlogTour for Kate Eastham's heartbreaking tale set during the Spanish flu WHEN THE WORLD STOOD STILL.

How ironic that an historical fiction should take readers back a hundred years to another pandemic that crippled the world over at the end of the Great War. But it wasn't a coincidence that this story was told. In the midst of our own current pandemic, author Kate Eastham (a retired nurse herself) was approached by her editor to write an historical tale set during the Spanish flu. It would be something readers could well identify with some similarities drawn between the two pandemics, a hundred years apart. 

The Spanish flu is something I had heard of and was well aware of, but not of just how crippling and deadly the disease was. You could fall ill with a headache and fever in the morning and be dead by tea time. Without the advances of medicine today or a vaccine, the Spanish flu pandemic was far deadlier than COVID and all medical staff could do was nurse them the best they could. Some lived, some didn't. It is estimated that about 500 million people, or one-third of the world's population, became infected with the Spanish flu and the number of deaths was estimated to be at least 50 million worldwide. It was a time WHEN THE WORLD STOOD STILL.

“I’ve never seen anything like this pandemic...Whatever it is, it’s filling patients’ lungs with so much fluid that they’re drowning. We need more time to study but it’s ripping through every city in the world….”

September 1918: As the Great War nears its end, probationary nurse Emily Burdon has just about completed her training at London's St Marylebone Infirmary alongside her best friend Lucy. While her friend was on the Female Surgical ward, Emily was on the Military ward treating injured soldiers who have returned with war wounds before being fit for discharge. 

From Lancashire, Emily left her family behind and moved to London to train as a nurse. Her fiance and childhood sweetheart Lewis Dupree went off to war in 1914 and has survived it thus far. He writes regularly and visits her when he has leave although he never returns to their village, which has become a bone of contention between them, as Emily misses her family dreadfully and yearns to visit them. Despite this, Emily loves her work and cannot wait to become a fully qualified nurse.

When the hospital is overwhelmed by an incredible number of deadly flu cases, so sudden and so powerful that it can kill in a matter or days or even hours, the nurses face their biggest and deadliest challenge treating the sick as the flu sweeps not only the country but the world. Emily must draw on all her training to help her patients as best she can wearing only a cloth mask for protection herself. But the flu spreads rapidly, discriminating against no one, leaving the hospital short staffed and ill equipped. However, the hospital has always heeded Florence Nightingale's philosophy regarding the importance of strict hygiene and ventilation, as staff wash their hands after every patient and keep the windows open allowing fresh air to sweep through the wards. And now it is more important than ever to heed the late nurse's wisdom. But when Emily's best friend Lucy is taken ill suddenly, she puts all her training to use to nurse her in the hope that she can save her.

Then Emily receives word that Lewis has contracted the flu, having already watched many soldiers on the front die from it. He writes from a Dunkirk hospital asking for a bed at St Marylebone where she can nurse him. But Lewis is a changed man. Having survived the entire war and watching his best friend die on the battlefront, will the flu be the death of him? Just days beyond the war's end? And if he survives, will he be the same man Emily fell in love with that went to war four years ago?

Emily enlists the help of newly arrived Dr James Cantor, from Prince Edward Island in Canada, to arrange Lewis' transport from Dunkirk to St Marylebone. The two have worked well together since his arrival but the news that Lewis is Emily's fiance comes as something of a shock to James, who is clearly attracted to Emily. She has sworn him to secrecy as nurses are encouraged to give their whole lives to the profession with no room for marriage or motherhood to distract them. So when Lewis arrives on the ward, no one but James knows her secret.

But it seems Lewis has a secret of his own. And when Emily uncovers the truth, her whole world will be shaken to its core. It is then that she draws on her strength and the friendship of those around her as she must decide whether her feelings for the man she once loved have changed. But it also means that Emily must now return home to Lancashire.

Can Emily survive the changes the pandemic has brought to her life with her heart intact? And when a child at the hospital loses her mother, Emily must make a choice - family or career?

It is interesting reading the challenges people faced in WHEN THE WORLD STOOD STILL as they endured a fast moving and deadly pandemic, much like today. There are certain parallels, to be sure, but without the advancement of medicine at the time, no cure and no vaccine, death rates were high. And how ironic to come out of the Great War alive only to be claimed by a deadly flu, in some cases. With only aspirin, poultices, tepid baths and steam treatments to treat patients, the courage and strength of these nurses at the time is to be commended. Many also lost their lives but they also saved those they were treating.

I was quickly drawn into the compelling story which I just about read in one sitting. Emily's story is a touching one as it takes us through the pandemic and then from London to Lancashire. It is also interesting to note that people then were made of more stoic stuff than today...as we truly are incredibly lucky to have the luxuries of modern medicine and more that we often take for granted and that were not available to the generations before us. It bears thinking about, how would we live through and survive not only such a life-changing war but an even deadlier pandemic? COVID can be deadly, yes, but there was nothing to treat the Spanish flu - nothing but good nursing.

WHEN THE WORLD STOOD STILL is an emotive story of another era, another time, but one not unlike today...despite the some 100 years between us. It is well written, well researched and well developed. I thoroughly enjoyed it and fans of historical fiction will devour it just as I did. My only complaint was that it didn't explore the ending a little further before it concluded. Even so, it was a heartbreaking and heartwarming read with a satisfying end. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

I would like to thank #KateEastham, #NetGalley, #Bookouture for an ARC of #WhenTheWorldStoodStill in exchange for an honest review.

MEET THE AUTHOR:

A change in circumstances meant Kate Eastham made the shift from a career in nursing to being a full time carer for her husband. Determined to make the most of this new role ‘working from home’ and inspired by an in-depth study of the origins of nursing, she wrote her first novel at the kitchen table. Miss Nightingale’s Nurses was published by Penguin in 2018, closely followed by three more in the series. With her passion for history, Kate aims to make visible the lives of ordinary yet extraordinary women from the past. Her current historical fiction is set during the World Wars and will be published by Bookouture. 

Social Media links:

Twitter | Goodreads

PUBLISHER:

Stay up to date with upcoming releases from Bookouture by following them on these social media accounts.

Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

REVIEW: An Angel's Work by Kate Eastham

  

An Angel's Work by Kate Eastham

Genre: Historical fiction, WW2, General fiction

Read: 15th October 2020

Goodreads

Amazon

Published: 21st October 2020

★★★ 3 stars

DECSCRIPTION:

Jo forced herself to look into the cot, but at first all she could see was grey dust from the explosion. Then, a tiny hand poked out through a layer of grit. In seconds she had the child scooped up and she could feel its little body warm against her own. She felt an almost painful surge of emotion welling up from the pit of her stomach. With tears pouring down her cheeks, she stood rocking and soothing the baby, knowing there was very little chance the child’s mother had survived.

England, 1941. After three nights of relentless bombing from German aircraft, trained nurse Jo Brooks is told to report to the basement theatre of Mill Road Hospital. She goes with a heavy heart, not wanting to leave behind her best friend Moira, who is desperately soothing new mothers on the maternity ward. As Jo arrives safely underground, the ward takes a direct hit.

Pulling herself from the rubble, Jo’s first priority must be her patients… but she can’t stop herself frantically searching for Moira. When Jo eventually finds her, buried beneath a foot of bricks and stone, Moira is barely clinging to life. Jo makes a solemn vow: she will do whatever it takes to help the allies win the war, even if it means sacrificing her own safety.

The opportunity to make good on her promise comes sooner than she expects – nurses are badly needed to evacuate wounded allies across enemy lines. It will be dangerous, heartbreaking work and her life will be at risk every moment, but Jo knows that the moment has come to prove herself at last…

A powerfully emotional wartime novel about friendship and love in the most terrible of circumstances. Perfect for fans of Diney Costeloe, Jean Grainger and Soraya M. Lane.  

MY REVIEW:

I am excited to be taking part in the #BooksOnTour #BlogTour for Kate Eastham's WW2 historical novel AN ANGEL'S WORK.

My first novel by Kate Eastham, AN ANGEL'S WORK follows two nurses throughout their wartime nursing careers from the May Blitz in 1941 right up to the end of the war. I enjoyed getting to know both Jo and Mac and waiting to see how their respective stories would unfold.

Liverpool, May 1941: Staff nurse Josephine Brooks and staff nurse Moira (Mac) MacDonald are best friends and roommates working at the civilian Mill Road Hospital. The two women are different in personalities as they are in looks, with Jo dark haired and reserved and Mac the outgoing redhead enjoying life while she can. While both women loved their work they also savoured their time off as well but each time the air raid siren sounded, the nurses would report to Casualty immediately to help tend to the wounded...even if they are not on duty. 

On one particular night, Mac went out while Jo stayed in reading, and met a dishy aircrew trainee named Don (his surname escapes me just now) who called Mac his "Rita Hayworth" on account of her flaming red hair. The pair enjoyed a passionate encounter leaving Don declaring his love for Mac who felt it was just the adrenaline of being caught up in wartime.

On 3rd May, Liverpool had endured three consecutive nights of bombing and Jo was working in the basement theatre whilst Mac was enjoying the new mums and babies in maternity. When the hospital takes a direct hit, Jo and the surgeon are virtually trapped in the basement with their patient until she manages to scramble out a window. Her first thought is of Mac up on the top floor in maternity and she races up there, calling her friend's name. There is nothing but rubble on the maternity ward but Jo does hear the faint cry of a baby, and scrambles through the debris to find the distressed infant, just 1 day old, her mother now dead. She gives the baby to a Sister and continues her search for Mac on the floor below since there was now a gaping hole in the maternity floor. She finds one of their friends dead beside an unconscious Mac who has a head wound. 

Mac is stretchered out and taken with Jo and surgeon Angus Dunbar to a nearby hospital where he sutures her head wound in the corridor. There doesn't appear to be any other damage which is good news...they just have to wait for Mac to regain consciousness. But when she does, she is dazed and confused and it isn't long before she falls into unconsciousness again. After spending a few days in hospital, the two women head to Jo's family farm to recuperate.

But when Don turns up at the farm to see Mac he is upset to discover she has no memory of the days surrounding the bombing...including him. And Mac is incredibly distressed to find a strange man running up to her and encircling her in his arms. However, when her memory does begin to return she decides that what they had was a wartime fling and sends him on his way. But Don will not be swayed, declaring he will come looking for her after the war.

The bombing of the hospital and the injuries Mac sustained as a result has lead her to rethink how she would like to help with the war effort. Jo, it seems, has been doing much the same thinking...with neither wishing to return to Liverpool. Jo suggested they join the WAAF and work at the Morecambe Military Hospital but Mac has other plans. She has decided to join the army as a nurse and work at the front. So the two women for the first time go their separate ways - Jo as a flying nightingale with the air ambulance, ferrying injured patients from Europe back to Britain and Mac as an army nurse in a field hospital. Both are extremely dangerous of coming under attack in the air as well as on the ground.

The story is told the third person narrative from the alternating perspectives of Jo and Mac, as well as the occasional from Don and even from Don's mate Zach detailing their individual experiences. And despite Mac turning Don away three years before, she still carries a torch for him which she continually tries to suppress. But the moment she hears he is missing in action presumed dead, she goes to pieces. 

AN ANGEL'S WORK is an engaging read with all the adrenaline of frontline nurses working under pressure often in dangerous locations. It is also a gentle read, an easy read of life during wartime that by the story's end when they announce "The war is over!" even I felt a building of emotion and tears in my eyes. It still has the capacity to touch your heart and make you feel as if you are in the air with Jo and in the field hospital alongside Mac. The story is very real and will leave you with a sense of having lived through it as well.

An enjoyable read, I recommend AN ANGEL'S WORK to anyone who enjoys wartime fiction.

I would like to thank #KateEastham, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #AnAngelsWork in exchange for an honest review.

MEET THE AUTHOR:

A change in circumstance meant Kate Eastham made the shift from a career in nursing to being a carer for her partner. Determined to make the most of this new role ‘working from home’ and inspired by an in-depth study of the origins of nursing, she wrote her first novel at the kitchen table. Miss Nightingale’s Nurses was published by Penguin in 2018, closely followed by three more in the series. With her passion for history, Kate aims to make visible the lives of ordinary yet extraordinary women from the past. Her current historical fiction is set during the World Wars and will be published by Bookouture.   

Social Media links:

Twitter | Goodreads