One Pair of Feet: The Entertaining Memoirs of a Young Nurse During World War II: A Virago Modern Classic (Virago Modern Classics) - Softcover

Dickens, Monica

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1844089088 ISBN 13: 9781844089086

Publisher: Virago, 2013

Synopsis

As the effects of the war raging in Europe begin to be felt at home in London, Monica Dickens decides to do her bit and to pursue a new career, and so enrols as a student nurse at a hospital in rural Hertfordshire. By nature clever and spirited, she struggles to submit to the iron rule of the Matron and Sisters, and is alternately infuriated and charmed by her patients. That's not to mention the mountains of menial work that are a trainee's lot. But there are friends among the staff and patients, night-time escapades to dances with dashing army men, and her secret writing project to keep her going.

About this title

About the Author:

Monica Dickens (1915-92) was born into a well-to-do London family and was the great-granddaughter of Charles Dickens. Chafing against her background and having been expelled from St Paul's Girls School, she trained as a domestic servant and her experiences inspired her first memoir,One Pair of Hands(1939). She then turned to nursing, and producedOne Pair of Feet(1942). She wrote numerous novels and memoirs, and found huge popular recognition as creator of the TV and children's books seriesFollyfoot. In the 1950s she moved to the US, and remained there for much of her life, writing and doing humanitarian work - she founded the US branch of the Samaritans - before returning to the UK in 1985.

Review:

Cheerful impudence ... And occasional touches of pathos. -- JB Priestley A brilliantly funny account. -- Elizabeth Bowen One Pair of Feet is not just a spirited and entertaining account of the training of a hospital nurse in wartime but a fascinating glimpse into a time and a culture so recent and yet so utterly changed. * Marina Lewycka *

About this edition

• Publisher: Virago
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1844089088
• ISBN 13: 9781844089086
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256