If you are a nurse, know a nurse, or have had occasion to be cared for by a skilled nurse, you’ll want to read these historical novels featuring nurses as their lead or significant characters. What makes a nurse a particularly intriguing protagonist? They can effectively play so many roles. From savior to angel of death to medical investigator, these beloved professionals have the knowledge and intestinal fortitude to effortlessly possess nearly any role a novelist can invent. Take a trip back in time to the fascinating—and sometimes revolting—world of patient care in eras past.
Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms
A literary classic, this book is loosely based on Hemingway’s own World War II experiences. It follows the adventures of an American ambulance driver named Frederic Henry, who falls for a British Red Cross nurse, Catherine Barkley. Seemingly a mild character, Catherine proves her extraordinary mettle during a daring November open boat ride in which she holds the umbrella that will serve as a sail, steers, bails, and even rows for a while…all while pregnant. Want to read about brave nurses? Pick up a copy of this vintage novel.
The book does not have a happy ending, though, so if you prefer your stories to conclude with a happily-ever-after, this may not be your cup of tea.
Helen Wells, Cherry Ames, Student Nurse
The Cherry Ames nursing series (1943-1968) had two authors, Helen Wells (books 1-7 and 17-27) and Julie Campbell Tatham (books 8-16). Tatham was also the creator of the Trixie Belden series, which I loved as a kid. Although the series is geared to girls, it is a worthwhile entry to a list of historical nursing books for its impact on inspiring girls to become nurses. Written in the mold of Nancy Drew, Cherry (short for Charity) starts as a student nurse but works her way up to becoming a full-fledged nurse. She is independent, competent, travels around the country…and shrewdly solves mysteries.
Many of the books in the series have been reprinted and so are still available for your favorite young reader looking for good summer reads. This series will keep her occupied right up until the start of the new school year.
Anne Perry, The Face of a Stranger
This book launched Perry’s Monk detective series, and features Hester Latterly as a main character. As a nurse who served with Florence Nightingale in the Crimea, she returns home in 1856 and meets William Monk, who is investigating a crime related to her family. \Hester eventually manages to join Monk’s investigations. Meanwhile, she opens a medical clinic for prostitutes living in the Central London slums. She and Monk will eventually…well, I won’t spoil anything for you before you’ve had a chance to dive into this excellent series.
Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient
Any book that has been translated into 40 languages and has sold more than a million copies deserves a read, right? What’s fascinating about this book is that people seem to either really, really love it or really, really hate it. Perhaps that’s just the hallmark of a formidable story.
Written by Canadian Michael Ondaatje, the story takes place in war-torn Italy in 1944, and focuses on the relationship between Hana—a French-Canadian nurse—and a disfigured, dying patient suffering from amnesia. Her mobile army medical unit leaves the area and the nurse agrees to stay behind in an old Italian villa to tend to this patient until he dies. Thus, through flashbacks, the reader learns of the patient’s cloudy past. Hana is only twenty years old, and the novel reveals her struggle to emerge from adolescence into adulthood. She cares faithfully for the English patient, bringing him morphine and dressing his wounds. Yet she clings to childhood, wandering into the garden to play hopscotch. In that hazy in-between world, she imagines her patient to be a noble warrior who has suffered for his toils…but is she doomed to disappointment? You’ll want to keep the hankies close by for this one.
Jacqueline Winspear, Maisie Dobbs
Maisie Dobbs is not just any detective, but one who served as a nurse in the Great War and suffered great loss, In 1929, ten years after the Armistice, Maisie establishes her own private investigation firm. The series moves along, taking Maisie from World War I into World War II. Nurses as detectives are engrossing—particularly in war settings—but it’s doubly fascinating to see them emerge into completely different professions. The series has fourteen books to date, so you can stay happily immersed for a long time.
As a side note, Winspear wrote this book after becoming deeply interested in the effects of World War I on soldiers. Her grandfather was severely wounded and shell-shocked after serving in the Battle of Somme in 1916. I always love when an author has a personal connection to his or her stories.
Patricia O’Brien, The Glory Cloak
Perhaps I’m just weak for historicals featuring real nurses, but I find this a unique take on the genre by bringing together Louisa May Alcott and Clara Barton. The story traces Alcott’s (real) experience as a nurse during the Civil War, and inserts her into the world of Clara Barton, the “Angel of the Battlefield.” Nothing has prepared Alcott and her fictional cousin, Susan Gray, for the horrors of war—the amputated limbs, the typhoid fever, and, of course, the constant agony of dying men. However, the cousins’ experiences together matures them in ways they never could have expected. When a wounded soldier enters their lives and claims to be a blacksmith but seems to be something else entirely, the two nurses are ready to immerse themselves in a very healthy dose of mystery.
Interestingly, O’Brien wrote this story before the flurry of “mash-ups” that became popular in the mid-2000’s.
Charles Todd, A Duty to the Dead
The popular Bess Crawford Mysteries started with A Duty to the Dead. Written by Charles Todd (a pseudonym for mother-son writing team Charles and Caroline Todd), the series follows the adventures of a Great War nurse who is dedicated to helping the wounded and dying all around her. It only makes sense that some of those deaths are suspicious, right? There are currently ten books in the series, which hauntingly explores the impact of World War I on the battlefield soldiers, doctors, and nurses who endured it.
Robin Oliveira, My Name Is Mary Sutter
This one isn’t exactly about a nurse, as it focuses on a young midwife who sets out during the Civil War to gain enough experience to become a surgeon. However, the book contains vivid descriptions of common medical treatments of the time, which will no doubt be of interest to anyone who is fascinated by nursing and patient care. Attention history lovers: Abraham Lincoln, Dorothea Dix, General McClellan, and others are brought to life in this story’s pages.
