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Sue Barton #5
Sue Barton, Superintendent of Nurses
With her student days behind her and her career well underway, Sue and Bill, now married, together try to run a little hospital in the New England hills that was presented to the community by the town's wealthiest citizen, Elias Todd. Sue is Superintendent of Nurses, and her old friend Kit is helping her along with many of her fellow students from her years of training.
After all the exciting nursing adventures these two girls have shared together, one might think they would find their new work rather tame. It is anything but tame for Sue, however, with that irrepressible street urchin, Marianna, as a student nurse; with Jean Ditmarr, sophisticated New Yorker, thinking she could put something over on the young Superintendent; with Dr. Bill so busy being a good doctor that Sue feared for a while he might not prove such a good husband; and above all, with the mysterious disappearance of the hospital sheets! Sue Barton is at her best with all the excitement and fun that this nurse seems destined to find in her nursing profession. The authentic setting of rural hospital life is the perfect backdrop for another great Sue Barton story.
After all the exciting nursing adventures these two girls have shared together, one might think they would find their new work rather tame. It is anything but tame for Sue, however, with that irrepressible street urchin, Marianna, as a student nurse; with Jean Ditmarr, sophisticated New Yorker, thinking she could put something over on the young Superintendent; with Dr. Bill so busy being a good doctor that Sue feared for a while he might not prove such a good husband; and above all, with the mysterious disappearance of the hospital sheets! Sue Barton is at her best with all the excitement and fun that this nurse seems destined to find in her nursing profession. The authentic setting of rural hospital life is the perfect backdrop for another great Sue Barton story.
239 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1940
8 people are currently reading
121 people want to read
About the author
Helen Dore Boylston
41 books23 followersAn only child, Helen Dore Boylston attended Portsmouth public schools and trained as a nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital. Two days after graduating, she joined the Harvard medical unit that had been formed to serve with the British Army. After the war, she missed the comradeship, intense effort, and mutual dependence of people upon one another when under pressure, and joined the Red Cross to work in Poland and Albania. This work, often in isolation and with little apparent effect, wasn't satisfying. Returning to the U.S., Boylston taught nose and throat anaesthesia at Massachusetts General for two years. During this time Rose Wilder Lane read Boylston's wartime diary and arranged for it to be published in the Atlantic Monthly. - Source
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Series:
* Sue Barton
* Carol Page
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Series:
* Sue Barton
* Carol Page
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
July 17, 2015
I noticed with a groan that the plot on the back of the book featured yet another relationship crisis for Sue and Bill, AND she was doing a job that she doesn't like. I had a few reservations about this book and it turned out to be the poorest in the series.
Lets start with Bill and Sue. Bill is in a mood because Sue doesn't want to go fishing with him. Bill is in a mood because when he returns from fishing, Sue is more concerned about his bleeding hand than the big fish he has caught. Your wife is a trained nurse you idiot! Of course she is going to deal first with the bleeding hand of her doctor husband and not be caring much about the fish until that has been dealt with. Bill is in a mood because Sue keeps talking about her problem with Marianna. Bill doesn't like Sue being flippant sometimes. Bill is in a mood because Sue was out with Kit instead of him, and like a spoiled brat, he won't let Sue explain what happened. He is back to the sulky boy we saw in book two. I wanted to shoot him in this book. He does not treat Sue well and then he gets sulky again when Sue won't confide in him about Marianna! You told her you didn't want to hear any more about Marianna and now you think Sue doesn't love you because she won't talk to you about Marianna? Jeez Bill, why don't you grow up???
Is Kit ever planning to be anything other than Sue's sidekick? In the last book, Bill got Kit the job in charge at a hospital nearby, yet here she takes a demotion to play assistant to Sue? Frankly, Kit is the one who should be Superintendent and Sue on the wards, instead of having both women in jobs unsuited to their skills. It seems as if Sue can't function without Kit being there. I do like Kit and I'm pleased she features heavily in the book but please let her get the job she deserves! And I miss Connie who has vanished from the universe it seems.
The student nurses are a mixed bunch and Jean is seriously in need of a slap. Ooh I'm going to hate Sue just because you all love her. How childish is that? I was more mature at ten than some of these dumb girls are at 18 and over! Every time Jean appeared I got even more fed up with the book. Then we get Marianna behaving like a rude little brat as usual-but the good news is that she decides to leave nursing and runs away! Hurrah! It was fun not to have to listen to her moan and complain for a while.
This was not a great book. There was too much pointless angst and very little about the actual nursing. The lack of plot and focus on silly fights between Sue and Bill made this a bit disappointing.
Lets start with Bill and Sue. Bill is in a mood because Sue doesn't want to go fishing with him. Bill is in a mood because when he returns from fishing, Sue is more concerned about his bleeding hand than the big fish he has caught. Your wife is a trained nurse you idiot! Of course she is going to deal first with the bleeding hand of her doctor husband and not be caring much about the fish until that has been dealt with. Bill is in a mood because Sue keeps talking about her problem with Marianna. Bill doesn't like Sue being flippant sometimes. Bill is in a mood because Sue was out with Kit instead of him, and like a spoiled brat, he won't let Sue explain what happened. He is back to the sulky boy we saw in book two. I wanted to shoot him in this book. He does not treat Sue well and then he gets sulky again when Sue won't confide in him about Marianna! You told her you didn't want to hear any more about Marianna and now you think Sue doesn't love you because she won't talk to you about Marianna? Jeez Bill, why don't you grow up???
Is Kit ever planning to be anything other than Sue's sidekick? In the last book, Bill got Kit the job in charge at a hospital nearby, yet here she takes a demotion to play assistant to Sue? Frankly, Kit is the one who should be Superintendent and Sue on the wards, instead of having both women in jobs unsuited to their skills. It seems as if Sue can't function without Kit being there. I do like Kit and I'm pleased she features heavily in the book but please let her get the job she deserves! And I miss Connie who has vanished from the universe it seems.
The student nurses are a mixed bunch and Jean is seriously in need of a slap. Ooh I'm going to hate Sue just because you all love her. How childish is that? I was more mature at ten than some of these dumb girls are at 18 and over! Every time Jean appeared I got even more fed up with the book. Then we get Marianna behaving like a rude little brat as usual-but the good news is that she decides to leave nursing and runs away! Hurrah! It was fun not to have to listen to her moan and complain for a while.
This was not a great book. There was too much pointless angst and very little about the actual nursing. The lack of plot and focus on silly fights between Sue and Bill made this a bit disappointing.
October 20, 2016
It's been a year since I completed my Sue Barton reread, and it seems a pity that I didn't get around to recording my impressions of the later books, so this is a retroactive review, from fast-fading memory.
The fifth book in the series picks up about a year after the last one, and finds Bill and Sue as newlyweds jointly in charge (Sue on the nursing side) of a brand new hospital which had its genesis at the end of the book 4. Hospitals sure got built fast in those days! I had read this installment only once before, and I remember, around age 12 or whenever it was, feeling annoyed at the improbability of Sue managing to round up virtually all of her notable nursing school classmates to work at a tiny new hospital in rural New Hampshire. I still feel this is a silly touch, and really unnecessary on Boylston's part, as these characters play no pivotal role in the story.
I enjoyed the hospital parts of the story very much. Sue's dissatisfaction with an administrative role is believable. It's fun to see how the first ever nursing class (because of course this tiny hospital has a full fledged nursing school attached) shapes up. The presence of Kit, Sue's stalwart best friend and companion in nursing, was a nice constant from the earlier books, and gives the book, with its sometimes uncomfortable plot, a sense of warmth of coziness that it might otherwise lack. The denouement of Mariana's story was surprising but felt emotionally honest.
I loathed the part of the book about Bill and Sue's marriage. Their misunderstanding -- which lasts the course of the whole book -- is so petty and contrived. My earlier sense that Bill is not a real character, but only exists as a convenient source of some sort of romantic conflict that Sue must overcome in book after book was confirmed ten-fold.
Fortunately, as I've written before, the series is somehow something better than the sum of its parts.
The fifth book in the series picks up about a year after the last one, and finds Bill and Sue as newlyweds jointly in charge (Sue on the nursing side) of a brand new hospital which had its genesis at the end of the book 4. Hospitals sure got built fast in those days! I had read this installment only once before, and I remember, around age 12 or whenever it was, feeling annoyed at the improbability of Sue managing to round up virtually all of her notable nursing school classmates to work at a tiny new hospital in rural New Hampshire. I still feel this is a silly touch, and really unnecessary on Boylston's part, as these characters play no pivotal role in the story.
I enjoyed the hospital parts of the story very much. Sue's dissatisfaction with an administrative role is believable. It's fun to see how the first ever nursing class (because of course this tiny hospital has a full fledged nursing school attached) shapes up. The presence of Kit, Sue's stalwart best friend and companion in nursing, was a nice constant from the earlier books, and gives the book, with its sometimes uncomfortable plot, a sense of warmth of coziness that it might otherwise lack. The denouement of Mariana's story was surprising but felt emotionally honest.
I loathed the part of the book about Bill and Sue's marriage. Their misunderstanding -- which lasts the course of the whole book -- is so petty and contrived. My earlier sense that Bill is not a real character, but only exists as a convenient source of some sort of romantic conflict that Sue must overcome in book after book was confirmed ten-fold.
Fortunately, as I've written before, the series is somehow something better than the sum of its parts.
November 19, 2014
This time, we see training to be a nurse from the supervisor's point of view, rather than the student's. Sue doesn't really enjoy it, but she's good at it nevertheless.
Really, though, the story is about Sue and Bill, and shows how a happy ever after actually requires quite a lot of work. Where many books end with a description of the wedding, this one starts with that description, as a flashback while Sue is nerving herself to start her new job; and although marriage seems all rosy contentment, Sue finds out - slowly, rather than in some dramatic incident - that in fact it requires a lot of give and take.
Of course it all works out in the end, but it's a good journey.
Really, though, the story is about Sue and Bill, and shows how a happy ever after actually requires quite a lot of work. Where many books end with a description of the wedding, this one starts with that description, as a flashback while Sue is nerving herself to start her new job; and although marriage seems all rosy contentment, Sue finds out - slowly, rather than in some dramatic incident - that in fact it requires a lot of give and take.
Of course it all works out in the end, but it's a good journey.
March 25, 2013
I have read this before, but it was a long time ago. Still, I didn't expect to be able to predict just about every major plot development. This is probably partly due to that fact that the author uses a lot of overt foreshadowing of how things will play out. There are a lot of cliché plot points and also a lot of psychological commentary about marriage. The whole thing about Sue and Bill's marriage, especially the chapter near the end where the unexpected guests pop in just when Bill and Sue are trying to have a serious discussion about the nature of their relationship, reminded me very much of a '30s or '40s screwball comedy. It must have been a popular plot scenario of the time.
I loved these books as a kid, so it's kind of disappointing that I find myself rather bored with this one. They’re still cute and charming and everything, but just for a younger audience.
The relationship between Ira and Marianna seems unlikely, but it was a tidy way of tying up the situation. I also wonder, when is Kit ever going to get a life beyond being Sue's sidekick?
The ending was very predictable, but I almost think I would've been disappointed if it had deviated from the expected course.
I loved these books as a kid, so it's kind of disappointing that I find myself rather bored with this one. They’re still cute and charming and everything, but just for a younger audience.
The relationship between Ira and Marianna seems unlikely, but it was a tidy way of tying up the situation. I also wonder, when is Kit ever going to get a life beyond being Sue's sidekick?
The ending was very predictable, but I almost think I would've been disappointed if it had deviated from the expected course.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 28, 2020
3.5 stars
Another fun story about Sue Barton.
While this book was enjoyable, it wasn’t as much fun as some of the others. Perhaps because it covered so many years and there was trouble between Sue and Bill that took some of the pleasure out. (It did get resolved before the end.) There were some funny and intense times. And it was fun to have Kit back in the story. All the other characters added their own personal tales and challenges, fun and trouble. I’m eager to reread the next book in this series.
This is not a Christian book. There are a few euphemisms and maybe one or two swear words.
Another fun story about Sue Barton.
While this book was enjoyable, it wasn’t as much fun as some of the others. Perhaps because it covered so many years and there was trouble between Sue and Bill that took some of the pleasure out. (It did get resolved before the end.) There were some funny and intense times. And it was fun to have Kit back in the story. All the other characters added their own personal tales and challenges, fun and trouble. I’m eager to reread the next book in this series.
This is not a Christian book. There are a few euphemisms and maybe one or two swear words.
October 29, 2024
I simply love the world of Sue Barton, now Mrs Barry. Newly married with a new job she is now settled down in her New Hampshire mountain village. There are problems, and the solution is not always easy-peasy, but we get there in the end. I love how it's about character and honesty and commitment, so refreshing in our world of superficial flashy lies (and liars).
Two more to go ...
Two more to go ...
May 18, 2017
The foreshadowing in this series is getting out of hand. A little is fine, but I don't need a paragraph at the start of each chapter telling me what's going to happen in the chapter.
This was a very difficult book to read. I still enjoy the stuff happening at the hospital, but it had the sad sub-plot of how a married couple can fall apart... not through harsh words and mean actions, but simply because of misunderstandings that aren't handled in time, but allowed to grow large.
This was a very difficult book to read. I still enjoy the stuff happening at the hospital, but it had the sad sub-plot of how a married couple can fall apart... not through harsh words and mean actions, but simply because of misunderstandings that aren't handled in time, but allowed to grow large.
July 5, 2009
No problem if you never read the other books in the series. The author spends a lot of time alluding to ALL of Sue's adventures from the previous three books. Which makes you wonder--why did she need three whole books to describe them originally. :-)
Not Boylston's best effort--perhaps because Sue does not really like being a superintendent of nurses, yet stays in the position three years.
Not Boylston's best effort--perhaps because Sue does not really like being a superintendent of nurses, yet stays in the position three years.
November 9, 2012
Lægens højre hånd er spændende, gribende og jeg var lige ved at fælde en tåre. Lægens højre hånd, følger tråden fra de andre bøger i serien, men kommer med noget fornyelse til serien. Lægens højre hånd er simpelthen bare fantastisk
January 31, 2015
Another cute book exploring the trials of the head of a nursing school. The writing was just as descriptive and well done as the others. I did feel the "problems" with Bill were a little funny and easily solved. It felt as if the book was filling time, months kept passing!
May 16, 2008
If I was Marianna, I'd want to kill Sue and Kit. And having run away, I would not have come back. 'Make something of her', ugh ugh ugh. Apart from that it was fine.
July 11, 2021
There were some really wonderful scenes in this (the Adeline scene especially was just hilarious) but I think overall this was my least favourite of the series. I didn't love the Marianna saga (although I'll admit it was within character for her, although where she ended up seemed a little rushed). I wish Sue had loved being a Superintendent Nurse because I think she was good at it but I guess that also made sense character-wise. I found it really hard to reconcile my 21st century ideals with the 1940s context in regards to Bill and Sue's marriage (throughout but particularly in this book and in Visiting Nurse). Overall though I did still really enjoy the story, I liked the characters, and I liked all the mini adventures throughout
September 3, 2023
Parts of this book are better than the books 3 and 4 of the series, but those parts are just retreads of book 1, so if you've read that one, you don't need to read this one. Sue's husband Bill continues to be an ass (the breakdown of their marriage begins the day she fails to properly ooh and aah over the fish he caught), and she continues to indulge him and blame herself. So I'm not really liking Sue so much anymore.
July 16, 2018
Sue Barton: Superintendent of Nurses by Helen Dore Boylston. Nursing is no longer like this, a classic look into old time nursing. Also great reading for teenagers and lessons in the altruism that is still the foundation of nursing today.
June 1, 2022
Another fondhearted trip down my reading memory lane (see also my review for the first book of the series). I particularly enjoyed to see the stories of Sue's nursing students unfold, and how she deals with the difficult parts of married life.
July 9, 2019
My last favorite of the books as it is so much about relationship problems and not enough of what I love about the series. Still well written and a great memory.
September 21, 2019
I remember reading the entire Sue Barton series as a child and loving them all
June 8, 2023
Mysterious!
This was a hard to stop reading book because there were a few mystery based story lines. It is also realistic about Sue and Dr. Barry.
This was a hard to stop reading book because there were a few mystery based story lines. It is also realistic about Sue and Dr. Barry.
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June 29, 2023The fifth in this series begins about 2 years after the end of Rural Nurse. The hospital has been built and Sue is about to start her training school. Brewing troubles between her and Bill (now married) and the difficulties and pleasures of being a superintendent and an adventure for Marianna.
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May 23, 2017I'm almost sad to be done with the 7 book series. I am really enjoying these books knowing my mom read them while she was pregnant with me and named me after one of the main characters.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews