The War Nurse

By: Tracey Enerson Wood

Narrated by: Libby McKnight

Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

She asked dozens of young women to lay their lives on the line during the Great War. Can she protect them?   

Superintendent of Nurses Julia Stimson must recruit 64 nurses to relieve the battle-worn British, months before American troops are ready to be deployed. She knows the young nurses serving near the front lines will face a challenging situation, but nothing could have prepared her for the difficulties that await when they arrive at British Base Hospital 12 in Rouen, France. The primitive conditions, a convoluted supply system, and horrific battle wounds are enough to discourage the most hardened nurses, and Julia can do nothing but lead by example - even as the military doctors undermine her authority and make her question her very place in the hospital tent.   

When trainloads of soldiers stricken by a mysterious respiratory illness arrive one after the other, overwhelming the hospital’s limited resources and threatening the health of her staff, Julia faces an unthinkable choice - step outside the bounds of her profession and risk the career she has fought so hard for or watch the people she cares for most die in her arms. 

Based on a true story, The War Nurse is a sweeping historical novel by international best-selling author Tracey Enerson Wood that takes listeners on an unforgettable journey through World War I France.

©2021 Tracey Enerson Wood (P)2021 Recorded Books

I didn’t realize this person was a real person until the epilogue so this is a lot of historical non fiction.

How very far we have come in the medical and nursing field.somewhat interesting story . With mostly likeable characters

Excellent portrayal of WWI medical challenges

Although fictitious the story wove of fascinating love of but fascinating love affair between 2 characters that could have potentially been in a relationship in real life. The portrayal of the medical challenges that they faced on the front line during World War I We're very real and presented in a believable manner throughout the book

Narration great

This was a slightly different account of a war time nurse experience. I thought it was timeline appropriate, and very no-nonsense. Easy to follow characters. I enjoyed it.

wonderful nurse book

I'm always looking for a good nurse historical. This is history at its best. Recommended.

Not as much as I Expected

I was really excited to get this book since I love the topic. I was a bit disappointed in the delivery though. All of the components of a great story are there, but they need developed more. The whole book was rather anticlimactic and could have used more dramatization. When I finished the book I didn't realize it had ended until the authors note started playing because it didn't seem like the story was done or like it had built up anything. There's also a place where the narration overlaps so it sounds like it's playing two different things at the same time.

really enjoyed this historical fiction

you can tell the author was an RN and really did her research for the book. she has a short section at the end that talks about her time in Europe and the parts that are real, fiction, and the somewhere in between. a good book and storyline that speaks about the amazing things Matron Stimson did and her accomplished life.

History interesting, hated the writing

It is clear that significant research went into the writing of the War Nurse. While the history is interesting, the prose is clumsy and amateurish. I was very aware of Tracey Enerson Wood’s attempts to insert facts into her story. Frequent info dumps were didactic and kept the story from flowing. Sometimes Wood becomes repetitive, as if she couldn’t imagine another behavior for her character. Count how many times she describes Stimson’s stomach growling. The result is that I was always aware of the “hand of the writer,” and this kept me from becoming fully engaged in the story. Also unfortunate: Libby McKnight read as if this were a bedtime story. If Julia Stimson had a low voice, as Wood tells us, a reader with a more serious, lower register would have made more sense.