Jean FullertonRecensioni

This book is in some lists book 5 in the Ration Book series. It is a novella that covers one memorable Christmas for 12-year old Michael Brogan. It is a quick read and one I enjoyed involving the saga of the Brogan family. I think the book may only be available on Kindle, at least in the US.

The saga of the Brogan family continues in the 4th book in the 4th book of the Ration Book series. The family handles the ups and downs of life while being bombed in East London during WWII. A lot happens in this book, which has an emphasis on Charlie and his marriage and Francesca's life. As is generally the case, all ends well in this feel-good page turner.

This book takes place in East End London during the early part of WWII. Reading about what the people went through at that time, during all the bombings, was eye-opening. The characters are regular, working class people whose lives must go on despite the war and shortages. There is love and romance and tension and secrets in the Brogan family. Third book in the Ration Book series. Previously read in 2021 when I did not realize that the book was part of a series. I reread it after reading the first 2 books.

This is the second in the Ration Book series. The London Blitz has begun in East London, and the Brogan family continues to live their lives and do their part for the war effort. The central character of this volume is Jo, the younger sister, and her romance. Again, I found the descriptions very interesting, and I went online to see some pictures from the Blitz and read some about this terrible time in English history.

This is the first of the Ration Book series. In fact, this book is published under another title, A Ration Book Dream. East London prepares for the inevitable war with Germany with members of the working class Brogan family getting ready to do their part. Spies and counterspies are involved in this story. I felt like I was in East London as I read, and I like all the members of the Brogan family. Ultimately, however, this is a romance.

I was sorry to find this last visit to the Brogan family was rather laboured so I enjoyed it much less than its predecessors. The central mystery was hinted at over and over again, despite having been introduced in earlier books and probably guessed by any astute reader before 'A Ration Book Victory' was published. I kept reading but found myself becoming irritated by the repetitions and hyper-aware of mistakes in the chronology. And by the tunnel vision of Mena, who sees faults in others but not in herself.

It was nice to see romantic entanglements resolved, men returning from wartime service, new housing and medical care in the offing, new career opportunities for the family and the emergency services returning to a peacetime footing. It was less pleasant to notice how characters are shown to be so blatantly good or evil, with the sole exception of Billy who is able to mature and change. More nuance would have been welcome.

I’m not a big non fiction fan, but I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed Jean Fullerton’s touching and nostalgic memoir. I have read and also enjoyed a couple of her fictional books. Although I don’t come from the East End of London and I’m a little younger than the author, it was like a trip down memory lane and I could relate to some of the events and traditions. It’s an honest, warts and all account of life growing up during the 1950s, 60s and 70s. Written in an easy to read style, it made me smile as well as a little tearful. A truly inspiring life story.

This is the most recent book written by Jean Fullerton who has written a series of books about the lives of an East End family who are known as the Brogans. The stories take place during the second world war , they are now getting near the end of the war and the families are getting rather weary of it all. To add to their troubles, their lifelong friend and local Priest has been taken seriously ill and they fear he could die.
A Ration Book Victory takes the reader back in time , both to the East End in 1945 and then back even further to Ireland in the nineteenth century. This is because two of the main characters in the story met in Ireland as children. These two characters are Queenie Brogan and Father Patrick Mahone. Queenie was not always known by this name because her real name is Philomena and her maiden name was Dooley. Patrick was a farmer`s son.
Philomena and Patrick first set eyes on each other while attending a church service with their families. They became friends and then sweethearts, but their love was not meant to be. They met several years later when Queenie moved to the East End with her husband and Patrick was the Priest of their neighbourhood. So after knowing each other for many decades it comes as a shock to Queenie when Patrick is taken ill and she realises how much he has meant to her over the years.

A Ration Book Victory by Jean Fullerton is the eighth novel in The East End Ration Book Series. I was able to read A Ration Book Victory as a standalone, but I believe it would have benefited me to have read the whole series. I could have gotten to know the characters and their backstories. I thought A Ration Book Victory was well-written with interesting, developed characters. I enjoyed getting to know the extended Brogan family as they endured World War II. This is Queenie and Father Patrick Mahon’s story. The whole family is present, but the focus is on those two. There are flashback chapters that gives us Queenie and Father Mahon story from the beginning. It is an emotional story. There is plenty of family drama as well. We get to see the good times and the bad with the Brogan clan. Queenie is a special character. I like that we get to see glimpses of the little girl who became the matriarch of the Brogan clan. It was enjoyable learning about the bond between Queenie and Father Patrick Mahon. We get to see the indomitable British spirit as these brave people endure a long war with a stiff upper lip and plenty of tea. It did not matter which house you were in, there was always a kettle on the hob. They get to have a cup of tea, get a shoulder to cry on, and then they carry on. I am definitely going to go back and read all the books in The East End Ration Book Series. A Ration Book Victory is a fitting end to this charming saga. A Ration Book Victory is tickety book with egg exchanges, a bothersome sister, gregarious grandchildren, ration frustrations, a poorly parish priest, a special sense, and a lasting love.

I love this series. It ticks all my boxes! A Ration Book Daughter is book 5 in the Ration Book series about the every day lives of the Brogan family as they deal with everything that's thrown at them, against the backdrop of the blitz.

This story focuses on Cathy Brogan. She is married to Stanley Wheeler, a truly bad lot, and has a young son, Peter, to him. Stanley is overseas fighting for King and country, leaving Cathy and Peter living with his mother, the mean and spiteful Violet Wheeler. When news reaches Cathy that her husband is missing in action, she begins to count the days for when she will be completely free of him.

In a bid to undermine Cathy, Violet ensures that Cathy does not have enough money to pay the rent and feed them all. To make ends meet, Cathy decides to take in a lodger. The idea of a lodger is repellent to Violet, and she is further incensed when Cathy's lodger, Archie, moves in.

My blood boiled as I read about how Violet was treating Cathy, and the malicious lies she was spreading about her daughter-in-law. Cathy deals with the whole situation with a calm dignity with only her family and Archie to support her.

A Ration Book Daughter tells of the growing attraction between Cathy and Archie. Whilst Archie is already a widower, Cathy is still a married woman, counting the days until Stanley Wheeler is officially declared dead and she is free to remarry.

Although Queenie Brogan, Cathy's gran, only has a small part in this story, she is still my favourite character. We learn a bit more about her younger self, her husband, and Jeremiah's father. But I especially love her moments of clairvoyance; particularly when she tells Violet Wheeler something that should bring the vindictive woman great happiness, but delivers the information more like a curse. I do love a bit of retribution!

The Ration Book series is filled with historical facts which I find adds to my enjoyment of the stories. In this book, we find Cathy and Ida caught up in Bethnal Green Tube Disaster of 1943, and learn about the dangerous work of the Royal Engineers Bomb Disposal Unit.

A Ration Book Daughter is another well-researched story, which can be read as a standalone. However, I would definitely recommend reading all the earlier books in this series before reading this one, to really appreciate the Brogan family and the times in which they lived.

I love stories set in this era, and have found each book in this series has been well-researched, and delivered so brilliantly, that I feel I'm living the drama alongside the Brogan family.

As the war rages on, Charlie Brogan is injured and returns home to convalesce. He is now married to the loathsome Stella Miggles, and they have a son, Patrick. The cigarette-smoking, good-time girl that she is, Stella leaves Patrick nightly with Ida Brogan while she continues to work in the BonBon club, and takes full advantage of her in-laws generosity.

Cathy Wheeler hasn't spoken to her sister, Mattie McCarthy, since Cathy's husband Stan was convicted of being a Nazi. He is now on parole in the army. Cathy believes it is Mattie's fault that Stan was arrested. But there's another Brogan wedding coming up, Jo is marrying Tommy Sweete and both Mattie and Jo would love to have Cathy back in the fold again.

Francesca Fabrino, who has long held a torch for Charlie, leaves behind factory work to join the BBC Overseas Service, working at Radio Roma. Here she meets Count Leonardo D'Angelo, who her father, Enrico, believes would be an excellent catch for her. Leo is instantly smitten, but Fran still hankers after the married Charlie.

The wonderful Ida struggles on, now that she has Michael as well as Billy to look after. Billy is feeling a bit pushed out now that Jeremiah's son Michael is firmly ensconced in the Brogan family, and he shows it. Holding it all together, Ida is a bit under the weather. Or is it more than that?

A Ration Book Wedding had me hooked from the first page. It picks up the story of the Brogan family a couple of months after the end of A Ration Book Childhood. It's an absolutely enthralling read. It feels so realistic; the people, the family dramas and the backdrop of war; I felt I'd stepped back in time and was part of the story.

I love the strong characters in the Brogan family. I am still immensely fond of Jeremiah's mother, Queenie, and admire her greatly for taking matters into her own hands when Cathy arrives at the Brogan family home in a sorry state. Part of me thinks she did what she did to show Cathy's in-laws there is no messing with the tight-knit Brogans. But part of me wonders whether she intervened before then Brogan men could get themselves into serious trouble. The old lady is a bit fey too - though not always sure what the signs are telling her!

A Ration Book Wedding is another truly great story, well-researched and written, leaving the reader wanting more. And I for one, cannot wait for the next instalment!

This book is set in the war and looks at the lives of those who have to live on rations. Despite the book being called, "A Ration Book Childhood", the book hardly focuses on the rations and how it affects them and focuses more on the lives of the main family. I was a bit disappointed because I had hoped to learn more about how it was like to live on rations. But with this being said, it was a great book. Every single character, even the minor ones, were very well-developed. I couldn't help but care for them all, even if some of them were painted a bit more negatively. This is a great feat for a book. I would definitely recommend this book to those who love to read about civilian lives during the war.

I loved it! I loved the writing style, the story, the settings, the characters...

Written by Jean Fullerton, whose WWII Ration Book series I am avidly following, The Rector's Daughter is set in the 1820s.

It tells the story of a well-born young woman called Charlotte Hatton, the daughter of the Reverend Percival Hatton, Rector of St Mary's in Rotherhithe, South East London. Charlotte's mother died some time ago, and Charlotte has stepped into her shoes, and taken on the sort of tasks expected of a cleryman's wife. In the course of her duties she meets Josiah Martyn, an engineer working on the construction of the Rotherhithe Tunnel, and over time they fall in love.

Knowing that her father would never allow them to marry, they make plans to elope, but events overtake them, and Charlotte is sent away to marry a man she has never met.

The Rector's Daughter has been well researched, and delivered. My mother was born in Rotherhithe, so I am familiar with the tunnel, St Mary's, and the road names used in this story. I got quite excited wondering which landmarks would appear next, and what else I might learn about the area.

As I have already said, I loved this story. I was hooked from the first page. I love historical novels that provide me with some facts about the time in which they are set as I'm absorbing the story. I am a big fan of Barbara Cartland for just this reason, and The Rector's Daughter was every bit as good as any of Ms Cartland's historical novels.

I enjoyed the sub plot of Mrs Palmer, an impoverished widow with a dreadful, badly-behaved son, setting her cap at the Reverend. Mrs Palmer's own behaviour is also questionable; her hands rove as much as her eye! At first I didn't think the Reverend deserved her, but soon changed my mind when I realised he was more concerned with this own importance than his daughter's welfare.

The Rector's Daughter is a carefully crafted story, and one which I would highly recommend.

I absolutely fell in love with this saga when I read A Ration Book Christmas last year, and have been eagerly awaiting the next instalment ever since. This is another must-read story that I'd strongly recommend for readers who enjoy historical family stories. This saga speaks to me personally because I can see many parallels with my own family's wartime experiences.

A Ration Book Childhood picks up the story of the Brogan family in October 1941. Stella has married Charlie and they have a son, Patrick. Charlie is in the army, now fighting in North Africa. The wonderfully stoic Ida helps Stella with childcare so that she can work the night shift in a factory canteen.

Queenie, Ida's mother-in-law, is still taking bets for Fat Tony, and her son, Jeremiah, is still scraping a living as a rag and bone man, and working nights with the heavy rescue. Jeremiah comes up with a business idea to earn a bit more cash but suffers a setback when Samson, his horse, killed.

Mattie and Cathy are married with their own babies, and Jo is desperate to marry Tommy, and has asked Ida to persuade Jeremiah to let them marry at Whitsun next year.

The youngest Brogan, Billy, overhears a disturbing conversation and starts to play up.

The main plot revolves around a friend from Ida's past appearing with an unwelcome surprise for Ida and her family. Despite her initial devastation at this revelation, Ida pulls herself together and adds another burden to her load.

A Ration Book Childhood is a really well written and researched story. I love the historical details which kept popping up, such as the siren suit, the bombing raids, the food rations, and the attack on Pearl Harbor. But the real story is about an East End family getting on with the ups and downs of day-to-day life during WWII. They have enough challenges to face without having to toddle off to the air raid shelter every night, the constant worry about being bombed out, queuing half the morning for food rations, and generally just scraping by all the time.

The Author's Note at the end of the book is also worth reading, talking about Fullerton's own family living in the East End of London and the system of evacuation of the children.

Queenie's court appearance brought to mind a story my aunt told me about her manager leaving lights on in a kiosk during a blackout. Having been in court twice for the same offence, the manager asked my aunt to say she'd left the lights on. She reluctantly agreed and had to attend Tower Bridge Magistrates' Court to face the music.

I found this to be a really engrossing read. I was already hanging by a thread after A Ration Book Christmas, wanting to know whether Stella would indeed marry Charlie, and why she wanted him, when he was so obviously not right for her. Stella doesn't get any better in this story. So now I'm waiting for the next book in this series, and hoping that life will improve for the Brogans, of whom I've become very fond.

A Ration Book Christmas is a really super read. It is set in London's East End in 1940, during WWII, amid nightly heavy bombing raids and families getting on with their daily business.

This story has been really well researched and delivered. The King and Queen's visit to the East End is cleverly incorporated into the story, and provides a bit of light relief in Ida's recounting of it. I thought the story was well-written, and it brought to mind many of my own family's wartime escapades.

I avidly followed Jo and Tommy's romance, and their brush with the law after the robbery, but completely missed all the clues leading up to Tommy's posting. Although, as soon as it was revealed, all the little pieces fell into place, and it was forehead slapping moment!

My favourite character would have to be Queenie, the savvy grandmother, who is not beyond rolling up her sleeves to dig survivors out of the wreckage, standing between two angry men to prevent a fight, and daily, working hard for the family she loves. She is known to the police for being a bookie's runner and probably Actually, I thought she took a stronger role in the family and household than did Ida, her daughter-in-law.

I hope there is another book to come, continuing the Brogan's family saga, as I want Francesca to be reunited with her brother and father, and to find happiness with the man she loves. I also want to see Stella get her comeuppance, because this story leaves her looking like the cat who got the cream!

Although it has the word 'Christmas' in the title, this is another book which I would not necessarily pigeonhole as a 'Christmas read'. It's a multi-threaded family saga beginning in the summer of 1940, drawing to a close in January of 1941, and one which I wholeheartedly recommend.

My thanks to author Jean Fullerton for a free digital copy of this book to review.

This is a lovely, heartwarming and nostalgic story set during war time in the East End of London about two families.

It’s a vividly told tale, so much so I felt transported back in time. There is a real sense of time and place. The courage and tenacity of people during such a tough and tumultuous era are very well depicted. There is a strong feeling of community spirit, something which is sometimes lacking in today’s world, I think. There are some great and likeable characters - I felt I knew them by the end of the book. The research which has gone into writing A Ration Book Christmas is praiseworthy, I was totally immersed in the story and invested in the lives of the families involved. It is a little predictable, the reason for 4* not 5*, but even so it was such an enjoyable, pleasure to read!

I really, really like historical nurse stories for some reason. Perhaps it’s the promise of a simpler life combined with a bit of medicine, perhaps it’s because I loved the Sue Barton stories growing up (and I still can’t find the last three books in the series!). Jean Fullerton offers a delightful series of two nurse friends, Millie and Connie. This is the second story about Connie, who hasn’t had an easy life since her fiancé came home married to someone else. At the end of the previous book, Fetch Nurse Connie, she had found happiness with Malcolm (and also the ultimate in mother-in-law from hell).

Reading this story is relaxing as you let the story take you over and become fully engrossed in Connie’s world. Connie is now much happier working for the Spitalfields and Shoreditch Nursing Association but we meet her on a very big day in history, 5th July 1948. This was the first day of England’s NHS, where people had their nursing and medical care covered by the government. It takes Connie’s patients a little to get used to, but soon everyone wants to ‘try’ the new NHS and life is busy. But Connie’s personal life isn’t quite as rosy. Malcolm is quite a bore and sitting in on a Friday night with his demanding mother? Forget it. Connie turns to work and her friends for fun and interest. With new doctor Hari, she’s found a great professional friend, but could there be something more?

I loved the story with its descriptions of life in the East End, the slowly disappearing slums and the rise of new housing out further. Reading the story from Hari’s perspective was also interesting and gave an insight into attitudes towards Asian/Indian people of the time (rather varied). I always enjoy the nursing aspects, as it reflects on just how far medicine has come in nearly 70 years! There’s also other taboos of the time tackled such as contraception and management of the disabled.

The supporting characters were also wonderfully done – the familiarity of Millie and the introduction of old, set in his ways Dr Marshall who is a horrible piece of work. Miss O’Dwyer, Connie’s superintendent is a gorgeous, loving character who vents her frustrations in such a funny way! Naturally my heart goes to Hari, POW and forward thinking GP who is as sweet and handsome as he is clever.

My only qualm was that I found the writing incredibly detailed at the start, possibly a hangover from the last book I read. However, once I was engaged in Connie’s world I hung on every word and wanted every detail! I feel that this could be the last book starring Connie, but I’d love to read more of Jean’s books, particularly if they have a nursing aspect. A wonderful, comforting read!

For more reviews, please visit http://samstillreading.wordpress.com

I do love a good historical fiction story about nurses and Jean Fullerton’s books are just the ticket when I need a comforting read. Reading about the highs and lows of the nurses of Munroe House is all-absorbing and Jean Fullerton’s detail is second to none.

For those of you who have read the Nurse Millie books (Call Nurse Millie and All Change for Nurse Millie), you will be familiar with Connie. She’s Millie’s best friend and a fellow nurse and midwife. This book is written parallel to the events in Call Nurse Millie, but from Connie’s perspective. You may think that this means that there are no surprises, but take my word that there are many! As Connie works a different part of the district to Millie, there are plenty of new patients with their joys and sorrows to meet. We also find out that Connie was hiding a few things when it came to ex-fiancé Charlie. His story is also told in this book and he’s not quite the former knight in shining armour that Connie led us to believe…

One of the highlights of Fetch Nurse Connie is the attention to detail. Settings, nursing procedures and period details all come to life through Jean Fullerton’s pen. There has obviously been a lot of research done into the streets of London’s East End and nursing procedures of the time. It’s fascinating to see how things have changed, from treatment of whooping cough to managing very premature babies. The balance is just right between hope, happiness and facing what life has to throw at you. I loved the characters of the East End as they all had their quirks. For instance, Connie’s mum Maud is determined to get her own back on Charlie’s mum as he jilted her. She has quite a few colourful turns of phrase! Charlie’s new wife Rosa is also bold and ready to defend her husband even if it means causing a scene. Connie is also no stranger to controversy, writing a letter to the governing body of the Queen’s Nurses, demanding a repeat assessment for one of her nurses behind her superintendent’s back. All of these women are strong in their own right, ready to take on what life throws at them.

Connie wasn’t a perfect angel herself, which I think made her more likeable. She defies her superiors to help an expectant mother (and also rallies other nurses to be the same) – it’s clinically appropriate to do so, but not financially viable. She’s also unable to sever ties with Charlie, which has her skating on thin ice many a time. It will be interesting to see if she’s finally cured her Charlie-itis in the sequel, Wedding Bells for Nurse Connie. I haven’t yet snuck a look to see who the lucky groom is, but it better not be Charlie! (Likewise if it’s Malcolm, son of a fussy patient, Connie has interesting times ahead!)

Fetch Nurse Connie is a lovely story, sure to treat Call the Midwife withdrawal and transport the reader back to the past.

http://samstillreading.wordpress.com

I was really happy to see that there was a second Nurse Millie book after finishing Call Nurse Millie earlier this year. Millie had more than her fair share of scrapes in the first book, but it was still a fascinating look at London and nursing post World War II. I was hoping for more of the same in All Change for Nurse Millie, but was crossing my fingers that things would be a bit happier for poor Millie this time around. Not all of my wishes came true – it is an exciting time again at Munroe House as the nurses meet the challenge of the new National Health Service but Millie gets put through the wringer again in ways I’d never considered. It does make for action packed reading though!

The book opens as Millie and new husband Jim are both preparing for major changes in their lives – Jim plans to campaign for to be a MP for the Labour Party and Millie is hard at work preparing for the start of the NHS. Both are very busy, especially as Millie’s patients realise free health care is actually…free and Jim’s got a lot of people to wine and dine. They don’t see all that much of each other and a lot of Jim’s dinners end up in the rubbish. On the weekends, Millie supports her husband on the campaign trail, but then she begins to learn things about Jim that she really doesn’t like – a hotel tells Millie they’ve found her lost earring, but Millie was never there… Then Millie finds out she’s pregnant. Will she turn a blind eye or try to work through her problems?

If you know Millie, you know that she’s not afraid to meet things head on, whether it be her nursing superintendent or her husband. But this book sees Millie making decisions that are incredibly strong for a woman of her time, despite all and sundry telling her she’s mad. It reflects some of the attitudes of the time – it’s ‘okay’ to put up with a husband that hits you, as long as it’s not ‘too often’ (the definition of often is contrasted in two different cases of abuse), sexuality and infidelity. There are also plenty of light moments, mainly relating to Millie’s nursing – there’s a patient who insists on borrowing all of Munroe House’s equipment, just because it’s free (and rubber sheets are so useful for putting over holes in the roof). There are also some heartbreaking moments Millie sees at work, again reflecting the attitudes towards disability at the time and class divides.

Even though Millie experiences a lot of hardship in this novel, she meets it with a stiff upper lip and a determination not to let gossip get to her. There’s a particularly astonishing phone call she makes that seals her fate but she’s also rewarded by the return of a familiar character. Jean Fullerton has the ability to make positives out of the negatives, so Millie does get her happily ever after – I just hope it lasts longer than the one at the end of the first book!

My only quibble with this book was there were less nursing stories because of Millie’s pregnancy. But it’s a minor thing and opens up a whole new chapter of the expectations of women in the late 1940s/early 1950s. I hope there’s another adventure in Millie or three, this book is wonderfully nostalgic and perfect for those in Call the Midwife withdrawal.

http://samstillreading.wordpress.com

I, like millions of other people, am a big fan of the television series Call the Midwife. I’ve enjoyed two of Jennifer Worth’s memoirs (Call the Midwife and Shadows of the Workhouse), but as for medical fiction set in that time period? There’s not a lot on offer in general fiction that I’ve found (but am open to suggestions). So when I found this novel while browsing in a bookshop, I grabbed it. Could it live up to my expectations of creating the Call the Midwife world within a book?
In short, yes. But of course you need to remember that Nurse Millie is not Nurse Jenny Lee and Millie does a lot more general nursing than Jenny does. Plus, Call Nurse Millie is set much earlier than Call the Midwife – it opens on VE Day, 1945. There the comparisons should end, but if you’re looking for a historical novel charting the changes in London’s East End post World War II, this is a great book. It has wonderful characters, a sense of place and a bumpy ride for Nurse Millie and her friends and colleagues.
As the book opens as all of London is preparing to listen to Winston Churchill on the radio announcing the end of World War II (in Europe at least), Millie is a busy nurse in the East End, attending to births and illness as part of the local district nursing association. A Queen’s Nurse, she is young but highly regarded amongst the majority of her peers. She’s smart and willing to take charge where her superintendent falls down. Unfortunately for Millie, what should be a happy day ends in tragedy and sets off a number of events in her life that will continue for the next couple of years. As she tries to cope with an ill mother and a sly colleague, she also manages to fall in love and rise at work. It’s a very bumpy ride for Nurse Millie, but the tale is told with warmth, humour and hope. Fullerton also has a knack for ending a chapter just on the precipice of a major event, so the ‘one more chapter’ will easily become three or four.
The period detail in Call Nurse Millie is also very well done. Fullerton has obviously done a lot of research in not just post-war East End London, but into district nursing and Queen’s Nurses. The medicine is historically accurate (and shows just how far we’ve come in research since then – can you imagine a nurse administering every insulin dose these days?). All the research is brought to life in the wonderful characters created here. Millie, at first, seems a bit of a do-gooder, teacher’s pet, but as the novel progresses we see that she’s not perfect, but trying her best to help everyone she can (sometimes with negative consequences). She’s also not afraid to stand up for what she believes in or injustices, which gets her into trouble several times. But there’s still time for romance for Millie after meeting a handsome policeman…
I found this novel beautifully done. It has real warmth and comfort flowing through the pages, but it’s not all sweet. It’s an interesting look at the lives of everyday people in the post-war world, from saving coupons for wedding dresses to cardboard cake cut outs (rationing didn’t allow for a proper wedding cake). To my delight, I found that there is now a sequel to Call Nurse Millie called All Change for Nurse Millie and an eBook novella, Christmas for Nurse Millie. I look forward to reading these and immersing myself in Millie’s world once again.

http://samstillreading.wordpress.com

Good story, well defined characters, and the writer vividly portrayed what life was like in the diseased part of London in the early nineteenth century. I sometimes felt as if I needed a strong stomach reading about the different types of illnesses and causes of deaths hitting the populace, when crusading Doctor Munroe struggles to help those in need, and nasty villain Danny Donovan controls the towns coffers.