Review ~ Call Nurse Millie by Jean Fullerton

Published 23 May 2013
The Orion Publishing Group

It’s 1945, and the Second World War is over, but for 25 year old Millie Sullivan, her life as a qualified nurse and midwife in the East End of London is as busy as ever. Together with her nurse colleagues at Munroe House Nurse’s Home, Millie witnesses her share of tragedy and yet her determined spirit sees her though the harsh reality of living through some tough circumstances. The indomitable spirit of the people who inhabit the overcrowded streets and the bomb damaged buildings of the East End, come gloriously alive in this wonderful historical saga.

This is the first of Jean Fullerton’s books I have read, but I am impressed with the way she controls the narrative and allows the characters to develop, so that by the end of the book you really care about what happens to them. Millie in particular is a feisty heroine who encapsulates the spirit of the time in her no nonsense approach and down to earth way of dealing with whatever life throws at her. By using her undoubted skill as qualified nurse, the author has used her medical knowledge to good effect, and has written a story which pulls you in from the very beginning.  The individual stories really tug at your heart strings, and yet beyond the heartbreak and tragedy, there is always hope for a better future.

 Overall, this is a really lovely story, which will appeal to anyone who enjoys post-war social history. I really enjoyed it, and have no hesitation in recommending it to my blog readers.

My thanks to Jean Fullerton and The Orion Publishing Group for my copy of this book.