"The Nurses' War" was based on real experiences and for me was historical fiction at its best. It was engaging. compelling, heartwarming, heartbreaking and informative.

The story focuses on Australian nurses Gora, Gertie, Lenora and Fiona who, in 1915, enlisted to help set up a hospital for injured Australian diggers at the beautiful country estate, Harefield House, London. Jessie and her mother, local villagers, also help while waiting for the first casualties to arrive. Later Jessie becomes a hospital volunteer, giving gentle, tender care to all those in need.

At first, Cora sees everything as an adventure but nothing has prepared her for what she and the other nurses are about to face. As the days turn into months and the months into years, they become battle-weary from the constant demands placed upon them and from the horrific wounds they have to deal with daily. However, despite their exhaustion, despair, frustration and lack of sleep, the girls fight for the men in their care with dedication, kindness and courage, often forsaking their own needs.

"The Nurses' War" was an amazing story of bravery, sacrifice, friendship and hope. It made me cry and rage at the physical and psychological carnage that the war inflicted on both the soldiers and those who tended in their recovery. The author didn't hide from the brutalities of war or the horrific injuries inflicted upon the soldiers. However, the stark realities of war were interspersed with humour and good old Aussie larrikinism from the soldiers.

While the nurses weren't perfect, they were real and authentic, compassionate and professional, working under terrible conditions knowing that if they did their job well they would be sending their patients back to the Front. I was with Cora and her colleagues every step of their journey sharing their joys, frustrations and sorrow. A wonderful read and highly recommended. ( )

Set in the first Australian Auxiliary Hospital established in Britain for the recuperation and rehabilitation for Australian soldiers during WWI, The Nurses’ War by Victoria Purman is an emotional story of service and sacrifice, based on true events.

In 1915, Nurse Cora Barker arrives from South Australia to staff a sixty-bed Australian convalescent hospital at Harefield Park, a country estate offered by Australian heiress and her husband for military use, on the outskirts of London. At age thirty-one Cora is an experienced nurse, eager to serve her country and provide care for the men injured in battle, but nothing has prepared her for the challenges of wartime nursing.

Within days of its opening on June 1st, the hospital was forced to expand its services for soldiers evacuated from the battlefields of Gallipoli, France and Serbia. By mid month the grounds of Harefield Park were home to more than a dozen hastily erected wards to accommodate 360 patients, barely a year later it housed over thousand, while thousands more had passed through its doors, having been discharged from duty due to injury or disease, or recovered and sent back to rejoin the fighting. With sensitivity and compassion, Purman details the daily operation of the hospital as Cora and her fellow nursing staff spend long shifts caring for men, many with gruesome physical injuries and fragile mental health, while contending with their own exhaustion, home sickness, and emotional distress. The determination of the nurses to do everything they can for ‘their boys’ is inspiring, and I loved learning about the ordinary, and extraordinary, work and achievements of the Number 1 AAH and its staff, thanks to Purman’s meticulous research. Three of my four great grandfathers served in the Australian forces during WWI and may well have passed through the hospital. (I’d be interested to know if a patient list exists, I couldn’t find one with a cursory search.)

It’s easy to feel for Cora as the war that was expected to be ‘over by Christmas’ drags on. Though she has support from her fellow nurses, Leonora, Gertie and Fiona, no one could truly be prepared for what was to come, and Purman explores how the Cora was changed by her experiences. It’s a subtle process as Cora gains a clearer understanding of the human costs of war, and lets go of some of the social strictures she was raised with. I really liked Cora’s unexpected relationship with surgeon Captain William Kent, and the support they were able to offer each other.

Introducing the perspective of Jessie Chester allows Purman to explore the effects of the war on the civilians of Britain. A young local seamstress, Jessie is a sweet character who lives with her widowed mother and palsied brother. I thought the development of her character was very well done, as the establishment of the Harefield Hospital brings an unexpected opportunity for romance, and a change of career.

I did feel the pacing was a little off, a casualty in part of the nearly five year timeline I think, and I felt there was some instances of repetition, however these are very minor quibbles that didn’t detract from my satisfaction with the story overall.

I found The Nurses’ War to be a moving, thoughtful and absorbing tribute to the women who served with courage and compassion. ( )