Sue Barton Visiting Nurse

Sue Barton #3

by Helen Dore Boylston

Having finished her course in a metropolitan hospital, Sue moves on to New York where she and her friend Kit are fortunate enough to secure positions with the Visiting Nurse Service of the Henry Street Settlement - a service made famous by Lillian Wald.

The city is new to them and the test of their skill is absorbing. Their assignments take them to the most colorful slums in the world. They work with newborn babies and obstinate old people, with immigrants who can hardly speak English, and with people in Harlem. Their uniforms are their passports wherever they go, but more than once they have to rely on the friendly assistance of Sergeant O'Day. The girls find quarters for themselves in a tiny frame house in Greenwich Village, and at the outset their days are so crowded that they have almost no time for themselves. Gradually the suspicion dawns upon them that either their house is haunted or someone else is living in it when they are away. As if this were not enough to worry about, along comes Dr. Bill Barry, who was an intern when Sue was in training, and now urges her to step out of the ranks and marry him. Sue ultimately has to make a choice between the work she loves and the man who loves her.

5 hrs. 50 mins.

Genres: Fiction, Young Adult, Childrens, Medical, Romance, Historical Fiction, Historical

Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1938

About the author

An 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

- More information

Series:
* Sue Barton
* Carol Page

Reviews

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good piece of my enjoyment of this book is nostalgia, I know. (Along with a recognition of where I got writing habits, like the dash. All over early 1900s literature, British and American alike.) This is not a great work. But:

There were only general impressions at first: the black line of tenement roofs against the sky; the sharp cold of the February wind; the smell of sea and smoke; hallways with plaster peeling from the walls; dark flights of shaking stairs; grimy doors; a smell of cabbages and unaired feather beds - and a sudden, sharp picture of Mrs. Kirmayer standing on a windy street corner looking up at the tenements. Her hat brim cast a slanting shadow across her steady eyes. "I love these old streets," she said.

The words were simple, direct, and undramatic, but they were the summary of twenty-five years of toil and teaching in crowded tenements - twenty-five years of trudging through winter snows and the stifling heat of summers that vanished, one by one, into a rich past.

Sue felt a little staggered. "What a - full - life you've had," she said.

"Yes," Mrs. Kirmayer returned quietly.

There's something tremendously engaging and open about the writing, and about the way the book is a love letter to early 1900s New York. This isn't a great book - it can be indirect and rambling and unfocused - but it has a great heart.

[chucklesthescot · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sue and Kit are both excited to be accepted at the famous Henry Street Nursing Service in New York, where they will become Visiting nurses.. Their joy is tinged with sadness that Connie will not be with them, as she gives up nursing to prepare for her wedding to Phil. Add in that they are staying in a haunted house and things are not going to be dull.

This book was a complete departure from the other books in the series. The girls are working as visiting nurses, going out into New York to make home visits to those in need of medical help and guidance. They are responsible for teaching families how to care for sick relatives, teaching them health and hygiene, getting them financial aid and employment, and helping them with social problems. I would say that Sue's job was that of nurse and social worker rolled into one. It was quite fascinating to see what this kind of nursing involves and I imagine that there would be a lot of satisfaction involved in helping these people and solving their problems.

The book gets even more interesting when Sue gets her own placement to work in Harlem. I liked that we were seeing a new side of Harlem instead of just the scare stories about it being a bad place for white people. In this book, Harlem welcomes Sue with open arms and she loves working there and making a difference. The people are warm and friendly and I really enjoyed this part of the book.

There were a few niggles for me. Bill was being a bit of an ass, indicating that Sue's work was not very important and that she should give it up and move to New Hampshire with him. He totally disregards her feelings and does not treat her well, which puts her into stubborn mode. I understand that he doesn't want to wait forever to marry her, and it was unreasonable to be asked to wait another two years, but sulking and demanding does not work with Sue and their whole relationship is in jeopardy.

I didn't like the fact that Connie has just given up nursing to get married. It basically proves that the other students in book one were right about the rich girl taking up nursing to pass the time or amuse herself, and not being interested in it as a career. Connie fought for two books to prove everyone wrong and then just quits, proving they had her pegged right. I felt it was a betrayal of the determined girl we met as a student.

The other thing I didn't like was the arrival of Marianna. I don't like the way Kit and Sue took her on as a pet project. Giving her a place to stay was one thing, but trying to force her to go to night school to finish her education, changing the way she speaks to be more 'normal' and picking out a more acceptable job for her just smacks of changing the girl to be a clone of themselves. Next thing, they are encouraging her to become a nurse. I didn't like this at all. I also didn't much like the personality of Marianna and she was a poor substitute for Connie or even Hilda.

However I did enjoy the book overall. It was nice to see a totally different nursing environment, and Sue blossoms as she helps people. It was a perfect setting for her to express herself and become part of a community, good experience for her plans to work with Bill in New Hampshire. Despite the niggles I had here, none were enough to spoil the book for me and I look forward to the rest of the series.

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is really long on descriptions of the everyday lives of nurses in NYC in the 1940s. I mean, down to the brass tacks. The "action" (I use that word under advisement) is periodically sidelined when Nurse Barton and her colleagues provide exposition about nursing procedure. In this book, we learn that nurses carried their own bags with everything they need, but when they enter a home, they must ask for newspaper to provide a "sterile" surface for their instruments.

There are lots of descriptions of local character, by which I mean, well-meaning stereotypes. This book was undoubtedly progressive in its time, but I feel a little squiggy reading her depictions of immigrants and African-Americans.

As I implied in my review of Sue Barton Rural Nurse , the central mystery of the book is "solved" halfway through, i.e., you find out who is haunting the house relatively quickly. Still, I think that these books work best as character studies and snapshots of the time period.

As I'm writing about this, I am struck with the sudden realization that these books are advertisements for the career and also descriptions of what to expect in different nursing jobs. These are like vocational manuals, in a way. In this book, we find out what it is like to be a visiting nurse, taking care of people in their homes, in a big city. In other books, we find out what it is like to be, well, a "neighborhood nurse," a "student nurse," a "rural nurse," and so on. Not only that, but we also learn about the benefits of education and specifically of vocational education. In this book, Sue lives with one of her former classmates, who is now her best friend. And we meet another character who is inspired by them to complete her own education, turn her life around, and work to make the world a better place.

I think we owe a debt to Nurse Barton and her ilk, both literarilly and real-worldily. She paved the way for other women, fictional and real, to have lives centered around their own careers, their own friendships with other women, and their own contributions to the world.

[Dani]

Blurb: In this installment of the series, Sue Barton has graduated from her nursing program and has been accepted as one of the famous Henry Street nurses in NYC. She loves her job, but will she choose it over marriage to Dr. Bill Barry?

I'm not sure what age group this book was intended for when it was published in 1938, but I imagine that it gave young girls a good idea of what public nursing was about. I know that it drove me to find out more about Lillian Wald and the real Henry Street program.

Another aspect of this book that I enjoyed is that Boylston shows Sue Barton as something of an independent woman, or as independent as a woman could be in the 1930s. Not only does she insist on having some time on her own before she marries, but this agreement with her fiance becomes a major plot point. This is in contrast to "The Real Thing" by Rosamond DuJardin, a book that was probably aimed at the same audience but that made husband-hunting sound like the main reason for going to college.

This is the type of book I would have no problem handing to my 12-year-old, but she probably wouldn't read it because of the outdated writing style. It is a good "palate cleanser" for an adult who just finished reading a more intense book, though.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes this book is old-fashioned but that doesn't mean that it couldn't be good!!! I loved this book. I liked all of the descriptions of the different charactors and I loved the little bit of excitement put into parts of the book. Some parts of the book were hilarious and some were sad but overall it was a fantastic book and I give it a 5+.

[Trine · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the other Sue Barton books this gives a delightful picture of life as a visiting nurse in New York in the time around WW2. And though a lot of it must be outdated it is still captivating and interesting.

[Vass · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the Henry Street details. I was particularly interested in how Sue and Kit graciously favoured the inhabitants of Harlem with the benefits of their class and skin colour - and, OK, with Sue's dilemma of marriage versus work. (It makes me *furious* that Connie chose marriage right away versus her dream of being an anaesthesiologist. She would have loved that so much. What a waste.) I thought Sue and Bill's argument was a bit contrived, as if the author was theorising beyond her knowledge of human interaction, but was still very eager to keep the omniscient third thing going.

[cloudyskye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sue and Kit live in New York and work among the poor with the famous Henry Street settlement. They meet interesting people and learn to work in less than optimal conditions. The idealism and commitment are absolutely wonderful. To be part of a community like this, no wonder Sue hesitates when her fiancé Bill urges her to marry him and move with him to New Hampshire.
Beautiful series. Stories like these never get old.

[Cera · Rating 3 out of 5]

I honestly can't remember if I finished this one -- I thought I hadn't read it at all, but the details in the reviews look familiar, so maybe I did?

Yes, yes, I did read this. And it was my favourite of the series; yes, the stereotypes of immigrants are cringe-inducing, but Boylston really is trying to portray them sympathetically, so I am a little forgiving.

[Katey Lovell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sue is now a Henry Street nurse in NYC, living in a haunted house and working in some of the toughest neighbourhoods. Of course, she has the skills to better the lives of those in her care, but at what cost to her relationship with Bill? The plot of this book in the series is not especially strong but the characterisation makes up for that.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have long since finished my Sue Barton reading project, but for some reason, my review writing stalled on this one. Personal circumstances had something to do with it, but the main reason is that I had a variety of somewhat conflicting reactions to this one, so it was hard to organize my thoughts.

In this third installment of the series, Sue and her friend Kit, having graduated from nursing school, move to New York where they work as visiting nurses for the Henry Street Settlement, which was in fact an actual establishment, founded by Lillian Wald. In a note at the beginning, Boylston thanks several women, including two "who tramped the districts with me day after day," for "sharing with me their knowledge and experience." While looking up these passages to quote them, I also noted that the actual edition I read (a British paperback from the 70s, my childhood copy) has a disclaimer that states, "The reader will understand that the institution, the staff, and the patients mentioned in this story are wholly imaginary." Um, okay, if you say so! Anyway, a lot of research went into the book and it shows in ways both good and bad. Sue's daily routine -- the tiredness of her feet, the heaviness of her bag, the sometimes overwhelming nature of her work, but its very great rewards are all conveyed well, but there is also sometimes a rather leaden feel to the imparting of information about the Henry Street nurses.

As a transplant to New York City, I usually enjoy reading books about New York in the past, and this one was no exception in that respect. I can't quite decide if $60 a month for a house in Greenwich Village (a tiny one, we are told, with about as much space as a small apartment) is cheap by 1938 standards. After Sue and Kit sign the lease for this house, and the caretaker learns they are nurses, he is dismayed, and tells them if he'd known he wouldn't have let them sign it because the house is haunted. When I read the book as a child, the ghost part of the story was my favorite aspect. Now, not so much; it seems a little silly.

Midway through the book, the ghost issue is resolved, and at this point the focus of the story switches to Sue's fiancee, Bill Barry, pressuring Sue to leave her work to join him in rural New Hampshire so that they can get married right away -- even though he previously agreed to give her two years on her own, and Sue feels strongly that she needs to stay with the Henry Street Nurses for at least that length of time to justify the investment they made in her training. Bill really comes across as a jerk. The ending left me disgruntled. After Sue and Bill have made up from their big fight, and Sue gives in to him, in their tender tete a tete they summarily decide that Kit and Marianna (the "ghost"), will join them in New Hampshire as though they have no say in the matter. Sue apparently has no problems with *two* Henry Street Nurses quitting shortly after completing their training!

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is probably one of my favorite of the books. I read some of the comments that complain about the technical aspects of the book and the explanations of nursing procedure (as it was in the '30s, at least). But I found it fascinating, and I enjoyed reading about the difficulties of implementing techniques in places that weren't designed for them. Of course, again, lots of it is outdated (newspapers are sterile? Really? Because I've delivered papers and they are filthy), and some of the things are actually kind of shocking. The constance used of "colored," for instance, although it was used as the proper term of the time and not to be insulting. Some of the stereotypes she used were pretty blatant, but you have to kind of take them for what they were meant to be and move on.

I do have a couple of caveats with her writing in general, which are really jumping out at me this time. One is her switching of POV. She mostly stays in Sue's POV, but every once in awhile a narrator will jump in to add a comment, and then jump out. It drives me crazy when we're going along and all of a sudden the narrator will add "In the future, this would cause," or add something that Sue had no way of knowing or wouldn't think. If we're going to go with a 3rd person limited, then I should only know what that person knows when they know it, so the extraneous information and commentary is very jarring and out of place.

She also tends to set up plot points by dropping hints the size of anvils. her idea of a hint or foreshadowing is to hit you in the face with a sledgehammer, which takes you out of the story. Only for a second, but then you have to get back in, and that's a speed bump you really don't need.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Megan H for the recommendation. What an interesting snapshot in time...a visiting nurse in NYC in the 30s. We learn about nursing procedures, neighborhood conditions, cultures, and public health issues...all set against the backdrop of the career-marriage tension experienced by women of this day.

From teaching how to discipline children to facilitating an elderly lady's desire to travel before she dies, Sue Barton does it all. Part social worker, part nurse and part friend, each chapter is a short story representing a day in the life of our heroine.

In addition, there were little tidbits that touched me personally. For instance, she managed to weave in a reminder of Ruth's words to her mother in law on the choices we can make and the steadfastness of some relationships...

Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.

A quick, pleasant and entertaining read.

[Maria Elmvang · Rating 4 out of 5]

This used to be my favourite of the series, but I've had to downgrade the rating somewhat. I still absolutely I love reading about Sue's work in the streets of New York and how she has to be imaginative and think up solutions to problems she'd never have met at the hospital, but the older I get, the more the disagreement between her and Bill annoys me. I am completely on Sue's side and found Bill totally unreasonable, which made the end somewhat less than satisfying... especially as it's rather clear that the author is on Bill's side. A sign of the times, I guess, but annoyed me regardless.

[Veronica · Rating 5 out of 5]

The problem with this book is the dry-I'm-not-going-to-cry-but-it's-just-so-good feeling you get in the back of your throat - SEVERAL TIMES. I know that's a cheesy review but It's far from a serious read. Love this whole series but I cant give the other 6 books 5 stars like this one. I first read this book at about 13 and most recently received the series for my 27th birthday and still love it!

[Jeanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Third in the series. Kit and Sue head to New York to become nurses for the Henry Street Nurses Association. They rent a "haunted" house and have many adventures, some of which are perilous and some of which are amusing. Towards the end, Sue and Bill have a big argument and break up. Will they get back together? Of course they will!

[Camilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enforced my young dream of becoming a nurse

[Audrey Ettinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic children’s lit that I enjoy every few years, this time over Thanksgiving. I appreciate the diversity of perspectives in this one — Sue encounters a lot of people very different from herself, and the portrayals are generally startlingly respectful for the time in which the book was written. The romantic conflict is somewhat easily resolved, again in a fairly modern way — it’s not that Bill doesn’t want Sue to work, he just wants them to get married and have her work near him, where there is a desperate need for visiting nurses. Phew. All’s well!

I learned recently that Helen Dore Boylston was friends with Rose Wilder Lane, and spent time with Laura and Almanzo in Missouri. This alone made me want to reread these books! I own this one, but I know I had others from the library. The cover shown here is a little horrific (I assume the kid is “Alonzo,” who gets a sympathetic treatment in the book); mine has a photo of a lively “Sue” going out to work.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Even allowing for the fact that this was written in 1938, Sue Barton in Harlem is a YIKES. Big white savior energy here. There's also a dumb ghost story and a fiance who turns out to be a controlling, terrible guy. Then there's a woman who became clinically depressed and agoraphobic after her newborn baby died, and her doctor (who might not be a real doctor, but no one can prove it) won't give her a referral for mental health services, so after talking to her for ten minutes, Sue decides she's the perfect person to adopt the motherless baby Sue's been trying to find a home for. The whole thing reminded me of the time my mom watched exactly one episode of ER, which unfortunately was the very bloody episode directed by Quentin Tarantino, and halfway through looked at me and said, "what kind of hospital is this?"

Anyway, this was a departure from the delightful first two books in the series, so I'm going to continue on and read the next four because, well, I already paid for them.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have loved this series since 1969 and I still reread them every so often And they are still fantastic. Not just because I'm nostalgic but because Helen Boylston was a really talented writer. Her dialogue is very very funny and very well written and the atmosphere and the discussions of nursing are very detailed and very accurate for their time and it's just fantastic stuff. One thing that is particularly evident in this particular book is the very early feminism being displayed by the author and the main character. I don't believe the author was ever married and she was a career woman back at a time when women rarely had careers. In the storyline, Sue was being pressured to become a housewife and she does not want to. She wants to continue her career. This is insanely unusual for a book written in the 1930s. I really love that aspect of it.

[Rebekah Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Another book in the Sue Barton series. This one focuses on the work of a Visiting Nurse with the Henry Street nurses. There is humorous situations, and some sad things. There’s even a mystery at the house where Sue and Kit live which is pretty exciting and funny.
But oh, I really wanted to shake Sue and tell her a few things even if she didn’t want to hear them. Why must she be so stubborn even if she “thought” she was right but didn’t bother to check and see?
A fun story.
There were some euphemisms used. This is not a Christian book.

[Donna Tarver · Rating 4 out of 5]

For these books I am more interested in what the characters are doing, than in the relationships. The relationships are good, with some conflict that was somewhat easily settled. Being this book was written in the late 1930’s some descriptions of folks were typical of the era, and some people will not want to read it due to that. I, however want to see how a nurse lived and worked in this time. For me reading about how the nurses helped the people in their districts was the highlight of the book.

[Pfotenstaben · Rating 5 out of 5]

Continuing to re-read this childhood favourite series, for the first time in English. (See also my review for the first book of the series.)
I never can decide which one of the series is my favoutie, but this one is among the top three. As a teen I was fascinated by the description of the visiting nurse services, which was unknown to me as a German. Today, about fourty years later, this reads more like a history book, shedding interesting light on parts of a culture so unfamiliar to me, and still being as entertaining as back in my teenage days.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is obviously a re-read from many years ago. This series was a favorite from my intermediate elementary years. 45 years later this was quite the fast read, but as I recollect, it was even faster as a child.

I am glad to say this stood the test of time - and my memory. I must admit that the dated language, and attitudes may be offensive to younger readers; however, for me it brought back positive memories of a long ago well loved character.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love that Kit and Sue are still able to spend some time together after nursing school - their friendship is funny and delightful. The nursing part is interesting since it's based on a real, historical organization. And Sue and Dr. Berry's relationship dilemma is also an interesting twist since both of them had a point. I think I'll always love the nursing school books the best, but it's also good to keep up with Sue as she gets older and faces new challenges in the rest of the series.

[Charlotte]

I love the visiting nurse part of the book, which is why four stars (and was thrilled to find myself by chance at the Henry Street house on a trip to New York years ago), but Kit is rather flat in this one and the Dr. Barry romance angst and the rehabilitation of homeless Mariana aren't my favorite plotlines in the series.

[Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insightful and Inspiestional

This is the third book in the series. In some ways it is an eye-opening insight into how things used to be and how there still needs to be changed. It is also inspirational about how to help low-income people.

[Uuttu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Otin tämän kirjan ilmaisosastolta mukaan vitsillä, mutta tämä olikin yllättävän hyvä vanhaksi/vanhoilliseksi nuortenkirjaksi. Tarinassa tapahtui paljon ja monissa tilanteissa jäi ihan odottamaan ratkaisun paljastumista.

Mukava luettava vanhoilta ajoilta.

[Mai · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love All of this! Such good memories!

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember reading the entire Sue Barton series as a child and loving them all