Author Interview:
1.
What do we need to know about Call the Midwife before we read
this book?
Nothing at all. The book is a
self-contained story about Millie Sullivan who is a district nurse and midwife
in East London 10 years before Call the Midwife. You’ll follow Millie as she
cycles around to visit her patients in the bombed out London docks. Join in the
celebration on VJ day and see how she and her fellow nurses coped with
rationing. The story is set just after WW2 around the London docks, where I was
born and raised.
2.
Will there be another book after this one?
I’ve just sent the second part of Millie’s
story in to my publishers and this will be released in February 2014. When I’ve
completed the edits and had a holiday I’m starting the third East London nurse
book featuring Millie’s best friend and fellow nurse Connie Byrne.
3.
How was it different being a nurse then versus now?
Where do I start? Firstly, nursing then was
seen as a vocation not a career. Nurse
would see their patients care and wellbeing as their main priority and personal
responsibility. The training was much stricter and nurses had to obey the
hospital sisters and matron without question.
Qualified nurses carried out all tasks for their patience including
washing, dressing and feeding whereas nowadays these tasks are often delegated
to assistants. Doctor at that time had total authority over all things medical,
including nurses, and couldn’t be argued with. Today however, there are many
specialist nurses who have taken over many of the doctors’ responsibilities and
the two professions work in partnership.
Women’s education wasn’t as aspirational as
men and often parents wouldn’t send their daughters to grammar school as they
felt it was a waste as their main job in life was to be wives and mothers. WW2 changed
much of this thinking as they took up demanding roles in factories and farms
throughout the country. However, when the men returned home women were expected
to return to their traditional role as homemaker, which many women resented. They
had kept industry going while the men were out fighting and didn’t see why they
had to give up their economic freedom. I would say that the 1970’s Women’s
Movement was born in the post-war decade.
4. Is this based on a true story?
Not so much a true story as a compilation
of many stories. Millie Sullivan is a
fictitious character, as is her hero Alex Nolan, but many of her
patients are drawn from people I’ve come across in 25 years as an East London
district nurse.
5. What would you like my readers to know?
I’d like to tell your readers’ that Call
Nurse Millie is published by Orion Fiction:
ISBN-13: 978-1409137405
And it’s available in paperback and kindle on Amazon
And that it has been described as: An absorbing and richly detailed
novel following the life and work of a young nurse in post-war East London -
perfect for anyone who loved CALL THE MIDWIFE
Blurb
It's 1945 and, as the troops begin to return
home, the inhabitants of London attempt to put their lives back together. For
25-year-old Millie, a qualified nurse and midwife, the jubilation at the end of
the war is short-lived as she tends to the needs of the East End community
around her. But while Millie witnesses tragedy and brutality in her job, she
also finds strength and kindness. And when misfortune befalls her own family,
it is the enduring spirit of the community that shows Millie that even the
toughest of circumstances can be overcome.
Through Millie's eyes, we see the harsh realities and unexpected joys in the lives of the patients she treats, as well as the camaraderie that is forged with the fellow nurses that she lives with. Filled with unforgettable characters and moving personal stories, this vividly brings to life the colourful world of a post-war East London.
Through Millie's eyes, we see the harsh realities and unexpected joys in the lives of the patients she treats, as well as the camaraderie that is forged with the fellow nurses that she lives with. Filled with unforgettable characters and moving personal stories, this vividly brings to life the colourful world of a post-war East London.
Excerpt
Chapter One
Millie Sullivan pushed an escaped curl
of auburn hair from her eyes with the back of her hand. She wished she’d put on
her cotton petticoat under her navy blue uniform instead of the rayon one.
Although the milk float was only just rolling along the street, it was
already sweltering hot.
With a practised hand Millie wrapped the newborn infant in a warm towel.
‘There we go, young lady, say hello to your ma.’
She handed the child to the woman propped up in the bed. Mo Driscoll,
already mother to four lively boys, took the baby.
‘Thank you, Sister,’ she said, tucking her daughter into the crook of
her arm and gazing down at the baby. ‘Isn’t she beautiful?’
‘She’s an angel,’ Mo’s mother, standing on the other side of the bed,
replied. ‘And a welcome change.’ She looked at Millie. ‘I’ll clear up, Sister.
You look done in.’
‘I am, but thankfully it’s my last night on call.’ Millie handed a
parcel of newspaper containing soiled gauze to the older woman. ‘Could you pop
these on the fire?’
‘To be sure.’ She took the packet and threw it in the zinc bucket
alongside the dirty linen. ‘That superintendent works you nurses too hard. You
should try and put your feet up when you get back.’
Millie smiled.
Chance would be a fine thing. She plopped her instruments into the small
gallipot half-filled with Dettol, took off her gloves and glanced at her watch.
Eight-thirty a.m.!
Thank goodness.
She’d be back by the time Miss Summers gave out the day’s work. Also, as
Annie Fletcher, the trainee Queen’s Nurse student assigned to Millie, was laid
up with tonsillitis, Millie had given a couple of Annie’s morning insulin
injection visits to Gladys to do, and she wanted to make sure she’d done them.
‘Do you know what you’re going to call her?’ Millie asked Mo, washing
her hands in the bowl balanced on the rickety bedside table.
‘Colleen, after me mum,’ she replied.
Mother and daughter exchanged an affectionate look and Mille glanced at
her watch again.
She ought to get on, as she’d promised her own mum that she’d pop home
in time for Churchill’s announcement at three p.m.
Her parents, Doris and Arthur, only lived a short bus ride away in Bow
but, as Millie had two newborns to check plus a handful of pregnant women to
see before she swapped her midwifery bag for her district one for her afternoon
visits, it would be a close-run thing.
Millie packed the four small enamel dressing-bowls inside each other,
then stowed them in her case between her scissors and the bottle of Dettol. She
snapped the clasp shut.
‘I’ll call back tomorrow, but if there’s any problem just ring Munroe
House to get the on-call nurse,’ Millie
said, squeezing down the side of the bed towards the door.
Like so many others in East London, the Driscolls’ home was just the two
downstairs rooms in an old terraced house that Hitler’s bombs had somehow
missed.
Colleen took the manila envelope tucked into side of the dressing-table
mirror and passed it to Millie.
She opened it and taking out two crumpled ten-shilling notes, popped
them into the side pocket of her bag. ‘I’ll write it in when I get back to the
clinic.’
Author’s
Bio.
Jean Fullerton is the author of
four previous historical novels. She is a qualified District and Queen's nurse
who has spent most of her working life in the East End of London, first as a
Sister in charge of a team, and then as a District Nurse tutor. She is also a
qualified teacher and now lectures on community nursing studies in a London
university.
She has three grown-up daughters
and now lives just outside her native City with her husband, an eight stone Bernese Mountain Dog called Molly,
and two cats.
And you
can connect to me on my website at www.jeanfullerton.com
to find out about me, my previous books, and my East London heritage along with
pictures of the actual East London locations I use in my books.
You can also find me on Facebook as Jean
Fullerton and follow me on Twitter as @EastLondonGirly
My Review:
I love stories about women who were strong during the states past. During wars women are especially strong. They provide and take care of their families, while not knowing what their future holds. I feel as though it is even harder for a midwife. You see fatherless babies come into the world. Each baby is a blessing. I would imagine that times were tough enough, and extra mouths to feed make it worse. War is not easy for anyone. Freedom is not free and the soldiers and their families make the ultimate sacrifice. The story shows how strong Millie is in tough times and it also shows what war can do.
This story was nice in the way that it was set when troops started to come home. As a nurse Millie knew about wounded soldiers. What she didn't count on was her heart getting wounded. This author did a great job in showing the aftermath of war. So many wounded, and so much death.
I liked that Millie was strong, and she had a group of other strong women to turn too. I didn't like when Millie lost one of her own and I was so sad. The author created characters that I really felt for. I also liked the ending and was so happy for Millie.
I am giving this book a 5/5. I was given a copy to review, however all opinions are my own!
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