 |
Historical fiction brings the past to life in ways that scholarly collections of facts simply cannot. Lives that were lived and events that actually happened are relived more fully when novelized. That’s certainly the case in this vibrant retelling of the life and death of World War I nurse Edith Cavell.
Edith was an English woman who travelled to Belgium to supervise the country’s first nursing school. Having studied, learned, and practiced the healing arts in her native country, she leapt at the chance to help create a place of learning for a country that had theretofore relegated nursing virtually to Catholic Nuns only. Most women in Belgium society viewed the practice as socially beneath them. Edith wanted to change that. She wound up doing much more. When the First World War began, Germany occupied Belgium, Edith decided to stay rather than returning to her native England. Under occupation, she treated German soldiers while simultaneously hiding, nursing, and aiding allied soldiers in their attempts to avoid capture. She was arrested, tried, and convicted by the German occupational government. Her subsequent execution shocked the world.
Arthur’s telling of Edith’s life story overflows with respect and admiration. A nurse herself, she realistically depicts the physical and emotional obstacles that must be overcome to deal with contagious diseases such as typhoid fever, the empathy required to sooth the sick, and the courage needed to deal with the horror of war wounds. Mostly however, she compellingly breathes life into a real heroine who scarified everything to do what she believed was right. This second edition also includes photographs, postcards, plus other relevant memorabilia, as well as a list of memorials to nurse Cavell found in locations around the world.