I was sent a free copy of The Nurse’s Secret by Amanda Skenandore through Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours. All opinions are my own.
Any of the purchase links below are affiliate links which means if you buy anything through them I will receive a small commission
About The Nurse’s Secret
Publication Date: June 28, 2022
Kensington Books:
Genre: Historical Fiction
From acclaimed author and registered nurse Amanda Skenandore, The Alienist meets The Light of Luna Park in a fascinating historical novel based on the little-known story of America’s first nursing school, as a young female grifter in 1880s New York evades the police by conning her way into Bellevue Hospital’s training school for nurses…
In the slums of 1880s New York, Una Kelly has grown up to be a rough-and-tumble grifter, able to filch a pocketbook in five seconds flat. But when another con-woman pins her for a murder she didn’t commit, Una is forced to flee. Running from the police, Una lies her way into an unlikely refuge: the nursing school at Bellevue Hospital.
Based on Florence Nightingale’s nursing principles, Bellevue is the first school of its kind in the country. Where once nurses were assumed to be ignorant and unskilled, Bellevue prizes discipline, intellect, and moral character, and only young women of good breeding need apply. At first, Una balks at her prim classmates and the doctors’ endless commands. Yet life on the streets has prepared her for the horrors of injury and disease found on the wards, and she slowly gains friendship and self-respect.
Just as she finds her footing, Una’s suspicions about a patient’s death put her at risk of exposure, and will force her to choose between her instinct for self-preservation, and exposing her identity in order to save others.
Amanda Skenandore brings her medical expertise to a page-turning story that explores the evolution of modern nursing—including the grisly realities of nineteenth-century medicine—as seen through the eyes of an intriguing and dynamic heroine.
You can purchase The Nurse’s Secret on Amazon.com
About the Author:
Amanda is the author of Between Earth and Sky, winner of the American Library Association’s 2019 Reading List Award for Best Historical Fiction, and The Undertaker’s Assistant, released from Kensington in July 2019.
She grew up in the mountains of Colorado and sang and danced her way through 68 cities on both sides of the Atlantic with the service organization Up with People before starting college. Her love of historical fiction started early with the stories of Kenneth Thomasma, Mark Twain, and Laura Ingalls Wilder.
When she’s not writing, Amanda works as an infection prevention nurse. She lives in Las Vegas with her husband and their pet turtle Lenore.
Amanda Skenandore is a historical fiction writer and registered nurse. Between Earth and Sky was her first novel. She lives in Las Vegas, Nevada. Readers can visit her website at www.amandaskenandore.com. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, BookBub, and Goodreads.
My Opinion:
This is, I believe my third book by Ms. Skenandore and I can’t wait for her next. Each one is unique and each takes a fascinating peak into a corner of history. In the case of The Nurse’s Secret the reader enters the world of the first nursing school in the US.
Bellevue offers rigorous training to nurses based on those of Florence Nightingale. It is not exactly the life the heroine of the story was looking for but as a pickpocket on the mean streets of New York Una finds a safe place to hide when the heat is on.
She also finds something she didn’t expect – a family and as it turns out a love of nursing. As she makes friends – OK a friend and learns the importance of cleanliness she finds that maybe, just maybe there is a better life ahead for her.
But will it all come crashing down?
As with all of Ms. Skenandore’s books this one was a page turner. It’s richly told and utterly fascinating if a little gory at times. But we are walking the floors of a hospital and a little gore is to be expected. Especially when you have a murderer in play. A nasty, knife wielding murderer.
Una is a very smart girl – street smart for sure but as it turns out she has a knack for nursing as well. She finds a place for herself but it could all come crashing down on her as the murders continue to plague the city and she learns more about him.
It’s as I noted above a real page turner and it didn’t take me long to finish. I now can’t wait for the next book from Ms. Skenandore. I hope it’s not too long!
Rating:
5
Read my reviews of Ms. Skenandore’s other books:
The Second Life of Murielle West
Giveaway Enter to win a copy of The Nurse’s Secret by Amanda Skenandore! The giveaway is open to the US only and ends on July 22nd. You must be 18 or older to enter. Embed Code: The Nurse’s Secret Direct Link: https://gleam.io/QHkOT/the-nurses-secret
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