The East End Nurse
Review:
We meet the main character, Hester Stainsby, working at the laundry room in Poplar Hospital (once a real hospital in London), supporting her family as the oldest child. After a tragic accident at work, leaving her father injured as an amputee, Hester begins her journey of desire to become a nurse. The book follows the life of Hester and her family in the 1890s, showcasing intriguing historical events and environments in what life was like back then.
Although finding the history intriguing, the story started confusing with major time jumps at the beginning of the majority of chapters. This creates complications for the reader, since sometimes I’m unsure what has happened during that period of time. Also, this could make character development difficult, but the author made sure it wouldn’t.
Due to the time jumps, I felt that I wanted more time with each character. This story was shorter than I thought, so it felt like we had only small moments for the characters. I wanted to know what’s happening with some of the characters that don’t get as much written about them.
In the end, the time jumps were smaller, and I loved how the plot all tied up. It was a bittersweet ending! I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the theatre and hospitality in the 19th century. It was fascinating to read since it felt immersive. Additionally, I appreciated how the docks are tied to an important event for Queen Victoria.
Overall, it was a wonderful book to read, but since the story felt short, we didn’t spend as much time with the characters as I wished. However, all of the plots ended nicely and made the ending lovely.
