Book Review: Wilderness Nurse by Marguerite Moders Marshall
Denise Burke is a nurse, and a good one. Despite her relative youth, Denise is skilled enough to be given assignments as a “special nurse” who provides round the clock care for patients who need the extra attention and can pay. However, one too many special assignments with no real breaks has brought Denise to the point of burnout. She’s thinking of quitting nursing!
This 1949 romance novel doesn’t keep our heroine on the sidelines too long. Boyfriend Lawrence “Larry” Reynolds invites Denise on a fishing/business trip for a month on the Cote du Nord in Quebec. Larry’s been after Denise to give up nursing in any case so that she can become his accessory wife. Larry may be handsome and a persuasive speaker, but he’s clearly a bad choice for Denise’s husband.
So it’s no surprise that when Denise starts helping the inhabitants of the local fishing village with healthcare issues, Larry loses his temper. Denise going off to the nearest small hospital with a critical patient is the last straw for him, and he breaks off the relationship. (It does not hurt that a more suitable woman has been making time with Larry.) Her interest in nursing revitalized, Denise agrees to stay the next six months as an employee of the remote hospital.
Local doctor Edward “Ned” Eliot is nice enough, and has an interest in Denise, but she finds him a bit too meek and pines for Dr. Curtis “Curt” Steele, the imperious but brilliant orthopedic surgeon from her old hospital. She does, however, love the work, the scenery and the people of this “wilderness.”
When Denise suffers a crippling accident and is faced with losing her foot, matters come to a crisis.
The novel is intelligently written, and Denise feels believable as a nurse of her time and place. She may defer to doctors and men as was the custom, but has a strong work ethic and a love of nursing that prevents her from just giving in.
The author spent much of her life on the North Coast of Quebec, and her love of the area shines through. She also used her own accident as a template for what happens to Denise. (And in a bit of author appeal, gave Denise a dog just like hers.)
My favorite part of the book, though, was the description of nursing work in 1949, both in the big city hospital and in the remote rural area Denise moves to. It’s both very different from and very similar to the work of nurses in the 21st Century.
Note that there is some period sexism and ethnic prejudice in passing; Larry is especially bad for this.
Recommended to fans of nursing stories and romance novels, highly recommended to fans of nurse romances.
