What do you think?
Rate this book
Our Country Nurse: Can East End Nurse Sarah find a new life caring for babies in the country?
All seems tranquil as newly qualified Health Visitor Sarah motors into a small Kentish hilltop village in her new green mini. She's barely out of the car when she's called to assist the midwife with a bride who's gone into labour in the middle of her own wedding reception. And so her adventures begin...As a health visitor Nurse Sarah is as green as grass but she puts her best foot into wellies and braves the mad dogs, killer ganders and muddy tracks of the farming community. Despite set-backs young Sarah is determined to help the mums she meets, from struggling young mothers in unmodernised farmhouses, to doyennes of the county dinner party set who slave over stuffed olive hors-d'oeuvres.Village life in 1970s isn't always quite the Good Life Sarah's been expecting; her attempts at self-sufficiency and cider making lead to drunk badgers and spirited house parties - but will it be the clergyman, the vet or the young doctor that win Sarah's heart. During her first year in Kent, Nurse Sarah Hill get stuck in - reuniting families and helping mums in the midst of community full of ancient feuds, funny little ways and just a bit of magic.
354 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 25, 2016
15 people are currently reading
34 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 8, 2017
Our Country Nurse is quite different from the genre of books I normally choose to read, but I’m always happy to broaden my horizons and after reading so many crime/thriller books recently I was ready for a change. As they say ‘a change is as good as a rest’ and Our Country Nurse was certainly a welcome break and perfect for a lighter summer read.
The story follows the true experiences of health visitor Sarah Beeson in 1975 as she moves from London to Totley village in Kent. Our Country Nurse is the follow up book to The New Arrival, however, it works well as a standalone. With a new setting and, therefore, new characters you do not feel as though you are missing any threads of the story.
I really liked the characters within the book. Sarah is a fairly young health visitor and her compassion for the job shines through. She is the kind of health visitor you would love to have visiting you and your child – non-judgemental, warm, full of appropriate and good advice, and caring. I also enjoyed the mix of periphery characters; from the glamorous Hermione to the somewhat sour Mrs Jefferies.
While the move from London to a quieter village is a big change for Sarah, and would appear on the surface to be, perhaps, an easier option. However, she meets a whole mix of characters in the families she works with who each face their own issues and difficulties. As an ex social worker who used to work alongside health visitors, it was particularly interesting to me to see how things in relation to child protection procedures have changed. I loved the way in which Sarah was able to assist her families in a timely manner around issues such as housing, without being as strangled by the current procedures I suspect current day health visitors are affected by. The setting and the time period gave me a real sense of the community within the village which appears to be, sadly, lacking in today’s cities and this made Our Country Nurse a really enjoyable read. Not everything is rosy though, as Sarah discovers, and difficulties within families alongside attitudes of the time ensure that Sarah is kept busy and challenged. Being transported back to the seventies also brought back fond memories (and less fond memories when it came to the state of some of the housing Sarah’s families reside in). Beeson has portrayed the era really well.
Our Country Nurse is a warm and enjoyable read with Beeson mixing heart-warming stories with the more moving stories in a way that works really well. Those who enjoy Call the Midwife I have no doubts will enjoy this book.
The story follows the true experiences of health visitor Sarah Beeson in 1975 as she moves from London to Totley village in Kent. Our Country Nurse is the follow up book to The New Arrival, however, it works well as a standalone. With a new setting and, therefore, new characters you do not feel as though you are missing any threads of the story.
I really liked the characters within the book. Sarah is a fairly young health visitor and her compassion for the job shines through. She is the kind of health visitor you would love to have visiting you and your child – non-judgemental, warm, full of appropriate and good advice, and caring. I also enjoyed the mix of periphery characters; from the glamorous Hermione to the somewhat sour Mrs Jefferies.
While the move from London to a quieter village is a big change for Sarah, and would appear on the surface to be, perhaps, an easier option. However, she meets a whole mix of characters in the families she works with who each face their own issues and difficulties. As an ex social worker who used to work alongside health visitors, it was particularly interesting to me to see how things in relation to child protection procedures have changed. I loved the way in which Sarah was able to assist her families in a timely manner around issues such as housing, without being as strangled by the current procedures I suspect current day health visitors are affected by. The setting and the time period gave me a real sense of the community within the village which appears to be, sadly, lacking in today’s cities and this made Our Country Nurse a really enjoyable read. Not everything is rosy though, as Sarah discovers, and difficulties within families alongside attitudes of the time ensure that Sarah is kept busy and challenged. Being transported back to the seventies also brought back fond memories (and less fond memories when it came to the state of some of the housing Sarah’s families reside in). Beeson has portrayed the era really well.
Our Country Nurse is a warm and enjoyable read with Beeson mixing heart-warming stories with the more moving stories in a way that works really well. Those who enjoy Call the Midwife I have no doubts will enjoy this book.
September 2, 2018
Interesting read especially as a true story and the ending is fantastic - made me want to punch the air !
October 13, 2016
I was fortunate to receive a review copy of Our Country Nurse from the author in exchange for an honest review.
Fans of Call The Midwife are sure to enjoy this book and the series, although these delightfully fascinating books have their own merit and set of fans.
Nurse Susan Hill arrives fresh from the East End to take up her position as a Health Visitor in a rural district in Kent in the 1970’s. Although she’s given the lovely Ivy Cottage to live in and a helpful couple next door to look after her needs, not all the locals are welcoming. Some of the older ladies and local busybodys who have taken on largely self-appointed roles at the weekly clinic in the church hall try to put her in her place and run it the way they think fit. The young newly qualified Health Visitor however, refuses to let them undermine her and soon shows them that she very much has her own ideas about how the clinic should be run effectively and efficiently, allowing her patients more access to her and a much better way of doing things.
The book is full of anecdotes; humerous, poignant and tragic in some cases and Nurse Hill shows compassion and gives help that is outside the usual remit of her position. She often ends up using her own funds and spare time to help those in need. There’s a feckless vicar in the village who trifles with the nurse’s affections but soon gets his comeuppance from the feisty Nurse Hill.
My daughter is a community nurse in Devon and I’m a retired nurse, so can relate to a lot of the situations within the book. The happy, the sad, the extraordinary and the tragic – all part of a nurse’s life
I read this in paperback form during a Switch Off and Read Day when all devices were turned off and no looking at social media allowed. Found it to be a very relaxing and enjoyable read.
Fans of Call The Midwife are sure to enjoy this book and the series, although these delightfully fascinating books have their own merit and set of fans.
Nurse Susan Hill arrives fresh from the East End to take up her position as a Health Visitor in a rural district in Kent in the 1970’s. Although she’s given the lovely Ivy Cottage to live in and a helpful couple next door to look after her needs, not all the locals are welcoming. Some of the older ladies and local busybodys who have taken on largely self-appointed roles at the weekly clinic in the church hall try to put her in her place and run it the way they think fit. The young newly qualified Health Visitor however, refuses to let them undermine her and soon shows them that she very much has her own ideas about how the clinic should be run effectively and efficiently, allowing her patients more access to her and a much better way of doing things.
The book is full of anecdotes; humerous, poignant and tragic in some cases and Nurse Hill shows compassion and gives help that is outside the usual remit of her position. She often ends up using her own funds and spare time to help those in need. There’s a feckless vicar in the village who trifles with the nurse’s affections but soon gets his comeuppance from the feisty Nurse Hill.
My daughter is a community nurse in Devon and I’m a retired nurse, so can relate to a lot of the situations within the book. The happy, the sad, the extraordinary and the tragic – all part of a nurse’s life
I read this in paperback form during a Switch Off and Read Day when all devices were turned off and no looking at social media allowed. Found it to be a very relaxing and enjoyable read.
November 2, 2016
I first came into contact with this talented mother /daughter writing duo when I was privileged to read their first collaboration, The New Arrival, which charted Sarah's tentative steps as a student nurse in London in the early 1970s. In this second volume of Sarah's adventures we meet up with her again as she takes up a post as a newly qualified health visitor in Totley, a small Kentish village. The setting couldn't be more idyllic and is such a change of environment for Sarah as she begins to adjust from the activity of London to the suppose tranquility of rural life. But all is not as tranquil as she would suppose and very soon Sarah is thrust into the hustle and bustle of caring for patients who have a multitude of problems.
As always the writing is sharp and crisp and the fine attention to even the smallest detail ensures that the reader always feels fully immersed in the story. The community of Totley and surrounding district comes alive with great compassion and more than a hint of humour which I suspect were both commodities much needed during this time.
I think what comes across in Our Country Nurse is that this was much simpler age to work in and yet people's problems were very real and the care and compassion which was needed was vitally important to communities. There's a generosity of spirit which is apparent in the way that Sarah recounts her story. There is no doubt that she was an enthusiastic practitioner and this comes across in the way that the people of Totley warmed to her. All was not plain sailing for Our Country Nurse but the story evolves so beautifully that it is a joy to read from start to finish.
As always the writing is sharp and crisp and the fine attention to even the smallest detail ensures that the reader always feels fully immersed in the story. The community of Totley and surrounding district comes alive with great compassion and more than a hint of humour which I suspect were both commodities much needed during this time.
I think what comes across in Our Country Nurse is that this was much simpler age to work in and yet people's problems were very real and the care and compassion which was needed was vitally important to communities. There's a generosity of spirit which is apparent in the way that Sarah recounts her story. There is no doubt that she was an enthusiastic practitioner and this comes across in the way that the people of Totley warmed to her. All was not plain sailing for Our Country Nurse but the story evolves so beautifully that it is a joy to read from start to finish.
August 26, 2016
A very enjoyable read, bringing back memories of my nurse training and experiences. I could really imagine the scenes and the situations described and see myself in them! It continues Sarah's story into the next phase of her life and I look forward to more books in the future!
January 9, 2019
Really enjoyed this - a smooth, engaging read, peppered with poignant stories and some wry humour too. Sarah & Amy's latest book gives a great snapshot of life in Kent during the mid 70's and left me really wanting to learn what happens to the characters introduced in this lovely read.
January 17, 2019
Perfect winter afternoon reading. I almost wanted to step back in time and work with the ladies!
July 3, 2024
Because life in a small village is perfect, right?
I loved Sarah Beeson's first book ("The New Arrival") which deals with her training at Hackney Medical Center in London's gritty East End in the early 1970's. It was culture shock for a seventeen-year-old raised in a middle class family, but she quickly toughened up. She dealt with children who were chronically ill because of horrible living conditions and went toe-to-toe with authorities to get them into better housing.
She learned to cope with the byzantine hospital chain of command, with some helpful, caring supervisors and others who weren't. She faced down dangerous gangsters who refused to believe that hospital rules applied to them. They routinely defied police and judges, but the teen in a nurse's uniform stood her ground.
After five years, she decided to train as a home visitor and apply for a job in rural Kent. She wanted the opportunity to live by herself (impossible with London rents) and welcomed the peacefulness of life in a sleepy farming village. She was in for a surprise.
Much to her astonishment, her new patients weren't always rosy-checked and bursting with good health from fresh food and clean country air. There were exhausted, over-whelmed new mothers with husbands who believed their contribution ended with the sperm donation. There were children living in poverty, some of them abused and some the products of incest. There was a young woman trapped in virtual slavery in a primitive farmhouse for the "crime" of having a baby out of wedlock.
Not all the people were poor, of course, but even in expensive homes there are sad situations. Money doesn't buy happiness, although it does allow you to be miserable in more luxurious surroundings. Greed, arrogance, racism, and cruelty aren't limited to housing projects.
The elderly caretakers of the Totley Clinic are sweethearts and the two senior home visitors are mature women who prove to be fine mentors to their frightened young colleague. The local mid-wife is a jewel. Having a flat to herself is heaven and the bright green Mini-Morris issued to home visitors gives her the freedom to explore the countryside, IF there's ever a free moment to do so.
The unfairly-maligned National Health Service provides a variety of health services, even in rural areas, but the staff is stretched thin. With over 800 pre-school children to oversee and a number of elderly people with no family to care for them, the three home visitors stay busy. The District Nurse has her own responsibilities and no inclination to help the newcomer. She's just lost her husband to a younger woman and the sight of a pretty girl is a red flag waved in front of a bull.
One of the doctors is competent and caring, but over-loaded. One is a grumpy old drunk who's more of a liability than an asset. Even the long-time clinic volunteers are set in their ways and have no intention of changing to suit a mere GIRL. The most violent gangsters at Hackney weren't as tough as the formidable matriarch Martha Bunyard and her band of harpies.
Any nurse has wonderful stories to tell, but a home health nurse gets to know her patients in a way impossible for those who practice only in hospitals and clinics. This author (and her daughter) have written two books about very different types of health care, but both are fascinating. Like teaching, nursing is the greatest job in the world, but only for those who truly love it and wouldn't be happy doing anything else.
After a long career, Mrs Beeson was awarded several honors for her service to her country. I'm disgusted by titles given to low-life athletes and entertainers and it's comforting to learn that at least some of the royal honors go to REAL heroes who make lasting contributions to society.
I can't imagine anyone not loving this book.
I loved Sarah Beeson's first book ("The New Arrival") which deals with her training at Hackney Medical Center in London's gritty East End in the early 1970's. It was culture shock for a seventeen-year-old raised in a middle class family, but she quickly toughened up. She dealt with children who were chronically ill because of horrible living conditions and went toe-to-toe with authorities to get them into better housing.
She learned to cope with the byzantine hospital chain of command, with some helpful, caring supervisors and others who weren't. She faced down dangerous gangsters who refused to believe that hospital rules applied to them. They routinely defied police and judges, but the teen in a nurse's uniform stood her ground.
After five years, she decided to train as a home visitor and apply for a job in rural Kent. She wanted the opportunity to live by herself (impossible with London rents) and welcomed the peacefulness of life in a sleepy farming village. She was in for a surprise.
Much to her astonishment, her new patients weren't always rosy-checked and bursting with good health from fresh food and clean country air. There were exhausted, over-whelmed new mothers with husbands who believed their contribution ended with the sperm donation. There were children living in poverty, some of them abused and some the products of incest. There was a young woman trapped in virtual slavery in a primitive farmhouse for the "crime" of having a baby out of wedlock.
Not all the people were poor, of course, but even in expensive homes there are sad situations. Money doesn't buy happiness, although it does allow you to be miserable in more luxurious surroundings. Greed, arrogance, racism, and cruelty aren't limited to housing projects.
The elderly caretakers of the Totley Clinic are sweethearts and the two senior home visitors are mature women who prove to be fine mentors to their frightened young colleague. The local mid-wife is a jewel. Having a flat to herself is heaven and the bright green Mini-Morris issued to home visitors gives her the freedom to explore the countryside, IF there's ever a free moment to do so.
The unfairly-maligned National Health Service provides a variety of health services, even in rural areas, but the staff is stretched thin. With over 800 pre-school children to oversee and a number of elderly people with no family to care for them, the three home visitors stay busy. The District Nurse has her own responsibilities and no inclination to help the newcomer. She's just lost her husband to a younger woman and the sight of a pretty girl is a red flag waved in front of a bull.
One of the doctors is competent and caring, but over-loaded. One is a grumpy old drunk who's more of a liability than an asset. Even the long-time clinic volunteers are set in their ways and have no intention of changing to suit a mere GIRL. The most violent gangsters at Hackney weren't as tough as the formidable matriarch Martha Bunyard and her band of harpies.
Any nurse has wonderful stories to tell, but a home health nurse gets to know her patients in a way impossible for those who practice only in hospitals and clinics. This author (and her daughter) have written two books about very different types of health care, but both are fascinating. Like teaching, nursing is the greatest job in the world, but only for those who truly love it and wouldn't be happy doing anything else.
After a long career, Mrs Beeson was awarded several honors for her service to her country. I'm disgusted by titles given to low-life athletes and entertainers and it's comforting to learn that at least some of the royal honors go to REAL heroes who make lasting contributions to society.
I can't imagine anyone not loving this book.
March 23, 2020
Great read , true to life,can't wait to read more.
June 21, 2023
I couldn't put it down a country nurse is a great read
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews