Book Description:
Jo forced herself to look into the cot, but at first all she could see was grey dust from the explosion. Then, a tiny hand poked out through a layer of grit. In seconds she had the child scooped up and she could feel its little body warm against her own. She felt an almost painful surge of emotion welling up from the pit of her stomach. With tears pouring down her cheeks, she stood rocking and soothing the baby, knowing there was very little chance the child’s mother had survived.
England, 1941. After three nights of relentless bombing from German aircraft, trained nurse Jo Brooks is told to report to the basement theatre of Mill Road Hospital. She goes with a heavy heart, not wanting to leave behind her best friend Moira, who is desperately soothing new mothers on the maternity ward. As Jo arrives safely underground, the ward takes a direct hit.
Pulling herself from the rubble, Jo’s first priority must be her patients… but she can’t stop herself frantically searching for Moira. When Jo eventually finds her, buried beneath a foot of bricks and stone, Moira is barely clinging to life. Jo makes a solemn vow: she will do whatever it takes to help the allies win the war, even if it means sacrificing her own safety.
The opportunity to make good on her promise comes sooner than she expects – nurses are badly needed to evacuate wounded allies across enemy lines. It will be dangerous, heartbreaking work and her life will be at risk every moment, but Jo knows that the moment has come to prove herself at last…
A powerfully emotional wartime novel about friendship and love in the most terrible of circumstances. Perfect for fans of Diney Costeloe, Jean Grainger and Soraya M. Lane.
BLOG TOUR REVIEW
Review for 'An Angel's Work' by Kate Eastham.
Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymous
Publication date 21st October 2020
This is the first book that I have read by this author.
I was originally drawn to this book by its beautiful and colourful cover and intriguing sounding blurb. I also wanted to read something other than my usual genre of crime fiction and this book fitted the bill perfectly. I must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Bookouture. I have yet to read a book published by Bookouture that I haven't enjoyed. Hopefully this won't be the first... Watch this space! (Written before I started reading the book).
This novel consists of a prologue and 25 chapters. The chapters are medium in length so possible to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!
This book is set in England 🏴 UK 🇬🇧. I always seem to get on with books that are set in the UK better as I am from Wales and have sometimes visited places mentioned in the book.
This book is written in third person perspective and the main protagonists are Jo, Mac, Don, amongst a few others. The positives of books written in third person perspective is that you get to see more of what is going on and what other characters are doing and feeling, building a bigger picture overall.
This book is beautifully written from start to finish with descriptions and events that really impact the reader. The settings were perfect for the storyline and I felt as if I was going through everything with the characters. It also shows that the author has obviously done her research so a big congratulations on that as it is really irritating when I read historical novels to find the author has done no research and there's so many obvious errors throughout.
The storyline itself is very powerful and will stay with me for a long time. I also believe it will make a beautiful film. I love the fact that although it is set in darker time that's there's many moments of light hearted humour which lifts the atmosphere on occasions while keeping in mind the seriousness of the situation. I love that this book highlights the importance of women's roles during the war as these can be easily forgotten. This book was a true eye opener to some of the horrific things that would have happened during the war. I held my breathe on several occasions with the many close encounters of several kinds and red herrings which u kept falling for time and again all the way up to the end so well done on that trickery Kate Eastham!!
All the characters were portrayed perfectly. I love that there are many strong female role models, mainly that of Mac and Jo who have a fantastic relationship which I loved watching grow and bond deeper. Macs character made me laugh on several occasions with her great and huge personality along with her no nonsense attitude. Along with Jo I really enjoyed that they both were very strong, independent and dedicated role models.
Overall a powerful, emotional and heart wrenching beautiful novel about friendship, dedication and love during the war.
Genres covered in this novel include Historical Fiction among others.
I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as World War II historical Fiction lovers or anyone looking for an aspiring book to read.
279 pages.
This book is 99p to purchase on kindle via Amazon or free on kindle unlimited which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!
Rated 5/5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.
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@KateEastham @Bookouture @Bookworm1986 @bookworm86
Author Bio:
A change in circumstance meant Kate Eastham made the shift from a career in nursing to being a carer for her partner. Determined to make the most of this new role ‘working from home’ and inspired by an in-depth study of the origins of nursing, she wrote her first novel at the kitchen table. Miss Nightingale’s Nurses was published by Penguin in 2018, closely followed by three more in the series. With her passion for history, Kate aims to make visible the lives of ordinary yet extraordinary women from the past. Her current historical fiction is set during the World Wars and will be published by Bookouture.
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