A Nurse’s War: A Diary of Hope and Heartache on the Home Front

by Patricia Malcolmson (Editor), Robert Malcolmson (Editor)

The remarkable wartime diary of nurse Kathleen Johnstone ‘Warm, chatty and endlessly absorbing, this delightful diary brims with intelligence and humour.’ Wendy Moore, author of Endell The Women Who Ran Britain’s Trailblazing Military Hospital The second world war could not have been won without the bravery and selflessness of women on the Home Front. Women like Kathleen Johnstone. This first-hand story of one extraordinary but unheralded member of Britain’s ‘Greatest Generation’ brings home with extraordinary lucidity and compassion the realities of wartime Lancashire. In 1943, Kathleen, then thirty, was a nurse-in-training at the Blackburn Royal Infirmary. For the next three years she kept a meticulous diary of her day-to-day existence, leaving behind a vivid record of the real-time concerns of a busy, thoughtful woman on the frontline of the war at home. Kathleen’s days were never the same. She writes in clear and lively prose about life in the of her fellow nurses, her patients, about death and dying, and the progress of the war as wounded soldiers returned from Normandy in the summer of 1944. She muses on being working class, wartime austerity, and her anxiety about examinations. Here too are dances, Americans and a POW boyfriend in Germany. Kathleen’s observations are witty, wry and astute – but above all relatable, even today. Poignant and engrossing, Kathleen Johnstone’s tale of trauma, romance and friendship will leave a lasting impression.

Genres: History

352 pages, Paperback

Published November 8, 2022

Reviews

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though the main character lives in a stressful time as a nurse, her diary entries are positive overall making this an enjoyable book to listen to. The narrator did a wonderful job.

[Jane Bunting · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really interesting book. Good to learn about how life and work was for a new nurse up north and how the war affected her life in Blackburn. It was interesting the way she took part in the mass observation diary writing. I had never heard of this and now want to learn more about it. Life was so different but you take from this diary that she was happy.

[Ellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant! A fascinating insight into nursing (and everyday life) in the English countryside during the Second World War. It’s a period and place that has been written about innumerable times, but this book stands out from the crowd for its matter-of-fact accuracy. No illusions of grandeur or exaggeration, this is a real account written by a real person. I’m grateful to Kathleen for being such an excellent diarist, and to Patricia Malcolmson for bringing the story to publication.

Highly recommend to anyone interested in social history of the period, and/or interested in nurses & nursing.

[✰matthew✰ · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was a great slice of history of the time, in the north of england and of the mass observation diary writing scheme, something i wasn’t aware of.

unfortunately for me this book didn’t have a great reading experience, i found it quite disjointed and repetitive, i realise the original authors life might have been this way.

[Ross Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting read
Great editing
Sorry it didn’t have a”happy” ending.

[Sharlene Rowan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good