The War Nurse, Tracey Enerson Wood, author
The author’s background in nursing informed a great deal of the narrative. In addition, one of the characters, Nora, was the great aunt of the author’s husband, so she was invested in telling the true history of the work of the unsung women who were the nurses during World War I, albeit around a narrative that is historic fiction. She takes some liberties, of course, to create a narrative, because there is not an abundance of information about them. She highlights the plight of women during the early days of the 20th century, when men ruled in all fields and thought of themselves as superior. Women were to be their obedient followers and caregivers, keeping house and taking employment that enhanced the men they worked for as nurses, secretaries, teachers, wives, etc. Not many fields were open to women, so they had to fight their way to the top rather than earn it.
Julia Catherine Stimson was gainfully and successfully employed in St. Louis at Washington University as the Superintendent of Nurses. She had also been the head of nurses at Harlem Hospital. After serving at the army base in Rouen, France, during World War I, she became The Chief of Nursing Services for the Red Cross, which was founded by Florence Nightingale. Because this is a novel, some of the characters are real, like Dr. Marie Curie, Dr. Fred Murphy, Julia Stimson and her brother Phil, Margaret Cox, Annie Goodrich, and Dr. Ernst, but many others are not, but were necessary to create the novel.
Julia Stimson’s insecurity because of her masculine looks is apparent throughout the story, and perhaps it was that issue that informed the path of her life, as well as the fact that the possibility of becoming a physician was not open to her. Although the story is based on her real background, much of the story is there to enhance the author’s message and is not fact, but the product of her supposition or imagination. Still, while little may be known of her private life, Stimson was a trailblazer for the cause of women, as she was responsible for empowering the nurses to earn the right to make decisions and to earn respect for their services, especially in emergency situations. It must be told, though, that men were often against giving the women any powers that would threaten their own.
Stimson dedicated herself to the care of others, first and foremost. She advanced through the ranks as she stood out as an exemplary nurse and supervisor, willing to go the extra mile, and sometimes, to stick her own neck out to advance the cause of their profession. The unknown flu pandemic, that threatened soldiers and citizens alike at that time, was highlighted, as was the difficulty of handling the recent pandemic that threw our world into turmoil. The author related the details of World War I authentically, and with regard to disease, even utilized the idea of masking and using social distancing to prevent the spread of disease. Through her narrative, the conflicting ideas about those issues that still rage on today, are illustrated.
This is not a book that I would ordinarily have chosen, because it often had the feeling of chick lit or romance, sometimes losing the thread to the past and its history for me. That said, it was chosen by my book group, and I discovered many interesting scenes that were informative about the war, the field of battle, the responsibilities of the nurses and the relationship between men and women, at the time. Although power was concentrated in the hands of the men, women like Marie Curie and Julia Stimson were able to make names for themselves and advance the cause of women, sometimes without realizing it.
The author commemorates the nurses’ efforts, the efforts of the entire medical staff and the war heroes of the armed forces participants who sacrificed themselves for the cause of others, for the greater good. Unfortunately, the war to end all wars, did not end all wars and pandemics still occur.