Debbie Robson's Blog, page 7
February 7, 2012
Virginia Woolf and I
We go back years! I first came to her writing because of A Room of One's Own. I read it (like most women do) when embarking on my writing career. It was actually very sound advice and when I came to buy my first home as a single woman I was going to have that study if it killed me! I got the study at Eleebana and I now have one in my new home but not enough bookshelves I'm afraid. I now have boxes and boxes of books in the garage but I have somewhere to write besides my favourite cafe.
Last week I discovered that Virginia Woolf not only gives good advice but can be relied on in regards to the weather. A few weeks ago I started writing a new chapter entitled The News (all of my chapters have titles instead of numbers) and when describing the weather wrote: "It was cold but sunny." A very hopeful statement on my part I thought having lived through a London winter so I made a mental note to somehow check the actual weather for the 15 December 1917 later on. A few days after this I discovered there were actually two bombing raids in London that month which had me reeling in a orgy of research; as you do when an unexpected real life event turns up that puts a new twist on your writing.
After finding a marvellous book on the WWI blitzed by Ian Castle http://books.google.com.au/books/abou... I looked up which library held the first volume of Virginia's diaries (not for loan) and at Newcastle Library I sat and read her the first words for the 15 December 1917: "A cold but sunny day." Thank you Virginia!
And another thank you for an account of the first of the bombing raids on 6th December which helped me to bring my character's account to life. According to Virginia's diaries she was awakened by L to a most instant sense of guns. "As if one's faculties jumped up fully dressed." She goes on with a very vivid diary entry for the morning's events.
As I said, Virginia and I go way back and I've now gone back further with her as I have begun to read her very first novel Melymbrosia written in 1912. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/74...
Last week I discovered that Virginia Woolf not only gives good advice but can be relied on in regards to the weather. A few weeks ago I started writing a new chapter entitled The News (all of my chapters have titles instead of numbers) and when describing the weather wrote: "It was cold but sunny." A very hopeful statement on my part I thought having lived through a London winter so I made a mental note to somehow check the actual weather for the 15 December 1917 later on. A few days after this I discovered there were actually two bombing raids in London that month which had me reeling in a orgy of research; as you do when an unexpected real life event turns up that puts a new twist on your writing.
After finding a marvellous book on the WWI blitzed by Ian Castle http://books.google.com.au/books/abou... I looked up which library held the first volume of Virginia's diaries (not for loan) and at Newcastle Library I sat and read her the first words for the 15 December 1917: "A cold but sunny day." Thank you Virginia!
And another thank you for an account of the first of the bombing raids on 6th December which helped me to bring my character's account to life. According to Virginia's diaries she was awakened by L to a most instant sense of guns. "As if one's faculties jumped up fully dressed." She goes on with a very vivid diary entry for the morning's events.
As I said, Virginia and I go way back and I've now gone back further with her as I have begun to read her very first novel Melymbrosia written in 1912. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/74...
February 6, 2012
London, December 1917
As a single woman in 2012 I often look around and wonder where all the single men of my age are. I should not complain! Imagine living in the UK, the US or Australia during the last year or two of World War I (or any major conflict for that matter) and every day seeing maimed and disfigured young men back from fighting; trying desperately to adjust to their new lives as invalids. If you were in your early twenties during those years it was highly probable that you would remain single - so many future husbands lying in cemeteries in Europe instead of alive and well and looking to the future.
In my manuscript The Grey Silk Purse Phyllis has just encountered, in a Sloane Square cafe, one such disfigured young man:
'When I glanced towards the young man his face took my breath away. It was ravaged beyond belief. One eye appeared to be sewn shut and part of his face from his left forehead down was gone. In that instant I also noticed that his nose looked strange and his lips were shiny and bulbous.'
My character manages to stay calm. I don't think I would have been able to. During the latter stages of WWI young men such as these were given new faces at The Tin Noses Shop as the Tommies called it - the real name being Masks for Facial Disfigurement Department at the 3rd London General Hospital. There was also some marvellous work being done at Sidcup by pioneer plastic surgeon Harold Gillies http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_G... and during WWII Archibald McIndoe, Gillies cousin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archibal... who worked for the Royal Air Force and operated on badly burned aircrew.
During WWII my English aunt who was a WREN was stationed near the hospital where McIndoe operated and was instructed to smile and not flinch when she encountered the aircrew wandering the grounds, recuperating after their operations.This memory of hers relayed to me is the inspiration of the scene I just completed today - art immitating life.
In my manuscript The Grey Silk Purse Phyllis has just encountered, in a Sloane Square cafe, one such disfigured young man:
'When I glanced towards the young man his face took my breath away. It was ravaged beyond belief. One eye appeared to be sewn shut and part of his face from his left forehead down was gone. In that instant I also noticed that his nose looked strange and his lips were shiny and bulbous.'
My character manages to stay calm. I don't think I would have been able to. During the latter stages of WWI young men such as these were given new faces at The Tin Noses Shop as the Tommies called it - the real name being Masks for Facial Disfigurement Department at the 3rd London General Hospital. There was also some marvellous work being done at Sidcup by pioneer plastic surgeon Harold Gillies http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_G... and during WWII Archibald McIndoe, Gillies cousin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archibal... who worked for the Royal Air Force and operated on badly burned aircrew.
During WWII my English aunt who was a WREN was stationed near the hospital where McIndoe operated and was instructed to smile and not flinch when she encountered the aircrew wandering the grounds, recuperating after their operations.This memory of hers relayed to me is the inspiration of the scene I just completed today - art immitating life.
December 3, 2011
The World's Worst Travel Agent
Yes, that's me when it comes to moving my main character from A to B, ie England to Salonika during the last few days of 1917 to early 1918. Should I have her spend most of the travel time on board say, a French liner/hospital ship with the possibility of it being attacked by a submarine? During one week in April of 1917 55 ships were sunk in the Mediterranean. So maybe not...
Or then I can have her going overland to Le Havre, Rome, Taranto and then by ship via Corfu to Salonika but where did she stay on the way? On board the train or in small hotels? The mind wanders and at this rate she'll never get there! She is stamping her foot in frustration and I'm dithering around like a maiden aunt. But then of course I know what is ahead of her: driving an ambulance along a torturous road with men crying out in pain in the back, freezing cold such she has never known in Australia, horrible sights that no-one should have to witness and young orderlies, VADs and nurses did witness, sometimes for years, more often than not working incredible hours that would compromise their health in later life. Yes, it's all ahead of my Miss Summerville and I'm petrified for her. No wonder I am delaying sending her to Macedonia.
In fact I'm quite nervous about the writing of her Serbian diary. How did the real women live through it all? I am in awe of women such as Sister Alice Kitchen who served through the whole of the war, Sister Ross-King who was awarded a Military Medal for her bravery on the night of the 22nd July when her Casualty Clearing Station was bombed. And the wonderful dressing station sister Agnes Dorothy Kerr. Even just your average nurse who often worked up to 18 hours a day, particularly when a convoy of wounded men arrived! They deserve to be remembered.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion...
Now it's back to getting my girl over there and into action. I know she is going to be fearless!
Or then I can have her going overland to Le Havre, Rome, Taranto and then by ship via Corfu to Salonika but where did she stay on the way? On board the train or in small hotels? The mind wanders and at this rate she'll never get there! She is stamping her foot in frustration and I'm dithering around like a maiden aunt. But then of course I know what is ahead of her: driving an ambulance along a torturous road with men crying out in pain in the back, freezing cold such she has never known in Australia, horrible sights that no-one should have to witness and young orderlies, VADs and nurses did witness, sometimes for years, more often than not working incredible hours that would compromise their health in later life. Yes, it's all ahead of my Miss Summerville and I'm petrified for her. No wonder I am delaying sending her to Macedonia.
In fact I'm quite nervous about the writing of her Serbian diary. How did the real women live through it all? I am in awe of women such as Sister Alice Kitchen who served through the whole of the war, Sister Ross-King who was awarded a Military Medal for her bravery on the night of the 22nd July when her Casualty Clearing Station was bombed. And the wonderful dressing station sister Agnes Dorothy Kerr. Even just your average nurse who often worked up to 18 hours a day, particularly when a convoy of wounded men arrived! They deserve to be remembered.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion...
Now it's back to getting my girl over there and into action. I know she is going to be fearless!
November 19, 2011
Making a Submission
It's an awful word really for what is an already an often terrifying ordeal. Submission. It's down on your knees, saying please, please. That's why I'd rather say I made an application yesterday for a writing fellowship. Scary stuff but it has to be done to put myself out there and find a mainstream publisher. I won't say where to at the moment but it is actually a place. A place to get your foot in the door but more importantly write uninterrupted for a week in a wonderful location. Gardens, bushland, peace and quiet. More importantly, meals fixed! Yes, this place is real and it's wonderful to know it does exist. Bliss has a name!
When you actually think about it, a writing life is a very strange way to live. I've been living this life for thirty years now and both my children (11 years apart) just thought Mum was a bit weird. Thirteen years ago when I moved up north and bought a new house as a single mum, I decided I was going to have a study (a Room of My Own) even if it killed me. I even managed to get a wall to wall bookcase. I have another house now but unfortunately don't have that wonderful bookcase and strangely enough find I do most of my writing at cafes these days. Not sure why exactly but escape is a factor. You know, at home you have housework waiting for you, dogs to be walked, a garden to tend to. At a cafe all you can do is to talk to friends, write or read.
When I think about it, behind most of my "submissions," has been the desire for fame and fortune (of course) but also the desire for more time to write. A bit of money coming in so that I don't have to work forty hours per week AND WRITE. Instead, say, three days a week with two to do my writing. A dream? Maybe but it's lovely to have something to aim for and gives me the strength to make these submissions.
Wish me luck!
When you actually think about it, a writing life is a very strange way to live. I've been living this life for thirty years now and both my children (11 years apart) just thought Mum was a bit weird. Thirteen years ago when I moved up north and bought a new house as a single mum, I decided I was going to have a study (a Room of My Own) even if it killed me. I even managed to get a wall to wall bookcase. I have another house now but unfortunately don't have that wonderful bookcase and strangely enough find I do most of my writing at cafes these days. Not sure why exactly but escape is a factor. You know, at home you have housework waiting for you, dogs to be walked, a garden to tend to. At a cafe all you can do is to talk to friends, write or read.
When I think about it, behind most of my "submissions," has been the desire for fame and fortune (of course) but also the desire for more time to write. A bit of money coming in so that I don't have to work forty hours per week AND WRITE. Instead, say, three days a week with two to do my writing. A dream? Maybe but it's lovely to have something to aim for and gives me the strength to make these submissions.
Wish me luck!
November 7, 2011
Writing Challenges and Passions
When I'm writing two very important things have to be there for everything to fall into place. 1. The writing of the manuscript has to challenge me in some way and 2. I must be passionate about my subject matter. The Grey Silk Purse is my sixth book and both these things definitely apply. In my earlier novels this wasn't quite so obvious to me. I was just writing a book! But now after writing prose for thirty years, themes and concerns do become clearer.
With my first novel, just putting my ideas down was enough of a challenge. I mean could I even finish the damn thing let alone write coherently? With my second novel this was even more true because I began writing the enormous (still unpublished second manuscript) when my second child was five months old. I have vivid memories of Elise in a capsule and me struggling to borrow a heap of library books before she screamed the place down. And later of clasping her as a toddler between my legs to stop her from crawling off whilst I desperately tried to finish some photocopying for my research into the Broken Hill Proprietary Co.
With my third manuscript the construction of the novel defeated me (for the moment) but themes were emerging. Themes of loss - loss of place, loss of memory. Of abuse and madness. With my first published book (and fourth manuscript) the writing challenge was how to blend the past with the present; how to move smoothly from 1942 to 1972 and back again many times. Luckily the passion kicked in (a passion to raise awareness of the wonderful Australian GI brides who gave up everything for love).
For my last novel Crossing Paths, the challenge was enormous! To create eight very different characters and give them succint personalities. I'm not sure that I succeeded but I gave it a fair old try. And the passion was of course for the wonderful world of BookCrossing.
Now I am facing a new writing challenge and it is quite daunting - to recreate life as an ambulance driver working in the Macedonian front of 1918; my passion to highlight the wonderful work of the Scottish Women's Hospitals and other heroic women such as the Australian Olive Kelso King.
Wish me luck!!
With my first novel, just putting my ideas down was enough of a challenge. I mean could I even finish the damn thing let alone write coherently? With my second novel this was even more true because I began writing the enormous (still unpublished second manuscript) when my second child was five months old. I have vivid memories of Elise in a capsule and me struggling to borrow a heap of library books before she screamed the place down. And later of clasping her as a toddler between my legs to stop her from crawling off whilst I desperately tried to finish some photocopying for my research into the Broken Hill Proprietary Co.
With my third manuscript the construction of the novel defeated me (for the moment) but themes were emerging. Themes of loss - loss of place, loss of memory. Of abuse and madness. With my first published book (and fourth manuscript) the writing challenge was how to blend the past with the present; how to move smoothly from 1942 to 1972 and back again many times. Luckily the passion kicked in (a passion to raise awareness of the wonderful Australian GI brides who gave up everything for love).
For my last novel Crossing Paths, the challenge was enormous! To create eight very different characters and give them succint personalities. I'm not sure that I succeeded but I gave it a fair old try. And the passion was of course for the wonderful world of BookCrossing.
Now I am facing a new writing challenge and it is quite daunting - to recreate life as an ambulance driver working in the Macedonian front of 1918; my passion to highlight the wonderful work of the Scottish Women's Hospitals and other heroic women such as the Australian Olive Kelso King.
Wish me luck!!
October 18, 2011
On Memory
One of the things that drives me as a writer, my passion I suppose you could call it, is to recreate the past incorporating memories of those that were there or there through their parents' recollections. It is very important to me to uncover these personal details that can make the past come alive - because not everything is recorded in history books.
Nine years ago I began interviewing many elderly residents of Port Stephens to help me understand what Nelson Bay was like during WWII for my novel Tomaree. This time I am writing about WWI so I am relying heavily on first hand accounts of people that of course have since died. Luckily, I have though, two helpers who are very much alive: Vera Deacon and Helen Marshall. Both have memories going back to the Thirties and Forties and as Mayfield didn't change too much from 1920 until about 1935 or so, I am able to use a lot of those memories.
Vera Deacon is an island girl. She grew up on Dempsey and Moscheto islands - islands that no longer exist. (They have been covered in slag and turned into Kooragang Island). And Helen Marshall (who helped create the Mayfield walks) http://libguides.newcastle.edu.au/con...
has a prodigious memory going back to around 1933. Helen has been marvellous in helping me map out three walks my main characters Miss Summerville and Adrian Langley take in my novel The Grey Silk Purse. We have had some wonderful discussions about Waratah House and Argyle House, two properties that have been demolished years ago. We have also talked about the colour of Platts Channel, the way a gate faced surrounding Argyle House, also the Black Wharf off Ingall Street and Shelly Beach (both long gone). I only hope I can do her and Vera's memories justice.
Nine years ago I began interviewing many elderly residents of Port Stephens to help me understand what Nelson Bay was like during WWII for my novel Tomaree. This time I am writing about WWI so I am relying heavily on first hand accounts of people that of course have since died. Luckily, I have though, two helpers who are very much alive: Vera Deacon and Helen Marshall. Both have memories going back to the Thirties and Forties and as Mayfield didn't change too much from 1920 until about 1935 or so, I am able to use a lot of those memories.
Vera Deacon is an island girl. She grew up on Dempsey and Moscheto islands - islands that no longer exist. (They have been covered in slag and turned into Kooragang Island). And Helen Marshall (who helped create the Mayfield walks) http://libguides.newcastle.edu.au/con...
has a prodigious memory going back to around 1933. Helen has been marvellous in helping me map out three walks my main characters Miss Summerville and Adrian Langley take in my novel The Grey Silk Purse. We have had some wonderful discussions about Waratah House and Argyle House, two properties that have been demolished years ago. We have also talked about the colour of Platts Channel, the way a gate faced surrounding Argyle House, also the Black Wharf off Ingall Street and Shelly Beach (both long gone). I only hope I can do her and Vera's memories justice.
October 2, 2011
More Heroic Women
This post was originally uploaded on wordpress last month:
Now that my main character has just stepped ashore in England (on the 28th November, 1917) I have switched my research to find out more about the last year of the war. Along the way I have met more heroic women. I am only a third of the way through Women on the Warpath by David Mitchell but within the pages of this book I have already met some wonderful, inspiring women:
The indefatigable Pankhursts who took on Womens Suffrage (of course), the Huns and the Bolsheviks. Lady Muriel Paget who formed a hospital unit (among many other achievements) that was sent to Russia. Lady Leila Paget who organised a hospital unit in Serbia and liaissed with the Bulgarians to open an emergency clinic in Skopje. Sarah Macnaughton who set up a soup kitchen at Furnes in Flanders and Mrs. St Clair Stobart who was the leader of a coloumn through the terrible Serbian Death March of late 1915.
One of my aims in writing The Grey Silk Purse is to highlight what it was like during WWI for women with a driving need to help others. It was a time when women really made a difference. Opportunities arose because of the war and the shortage of men, and these amazing woman and thousands more grabbed life with both hands and achieved startling results.
Now that my main character has just stepped ashore in England (on the 28th November, 1917) I have switched my research to find out more about the last year of the war. Along the way I have met more heroic women. I am only a third of the way through Women on the Warpath by David Mitchell but within the pages of this book I have already met some wonderful, inspiring women:
The indefatigable Pankhursts who took on Womens Suffrage (of course), the Huns and the Bolsheviks. Lady Muriel Paget who formed a hospital unit (among many other achievements) that was sent to Russia. Lady Leila Paget who organised a hospital unit in Serbia and liaissed with the Bulgarians to open an emergency clinic in Skopje. Sarah Macnaughton who set up a soup kitchen at Furnes in Flanders and Mrs. St Clair Stobart who was the leader of a coloumn through the terrible Serbian Death March of late 1915.
One of my aims in writing The Grey Silk Purse is to highlight what it was like during WWI for women with a driving need to help others. It was a time when women really made a difference. Opportunities arose because of the war and the shortage of men, and these amazing woman and thousands more grabbed life with both hands and achieved startling results.
August 19, 2011
The Ostrovo Unit
Well, the mystery surrounding the massacre of what I'm guessing was an outpost of the Ostrovo unit, has deepened. No more details via Stella Miles Franklin and nothing at all in the biography of Dr Agnes Bennett by Cecil and Cecilia Munson. Nothing either in a referenced work Australians and Greeks, Volume 2 by Hugh Gilchrist. But it doesn't really matter as I'm fairly sure the event occurred towards the end of 1917 - well before my characer arrives on the scene. Still it would help my writing to understand the historical context and how such a thing happened.
Despite this slight setback, I have actually been picking up some very interesting facts and historical details along the way: information about the day to day running of the unit, the politeness and old world charm of the Serbian officers, the large numbers of Australian women who were doing war work at the Macedonian Front. Even the odd Serbian word as well, which may prove useful if my heroine happens to fall in love with a Serbian orderly. It's a possibility!
At the moment my girl is still on board HMAT Kanowna which has recently (October, 1917) stopped off at Durban and Cape Town. At this very moment (well today as far as my writing goes - actually 15th November, 1917) she has just spent a few hours wandering around Sierra Leone before she must embark for the last leg of her voyage to England and a confrontation with her difficult aunt. Will post again when she arrives in London.
Despite this slight setback, I have actually been picking up some very interesting facts and historical details along the way: information about the day to day running of the unit, the politeness and old world charm of the Serbian officers, the large numbers of Australian women who were doing war work at the Macedonian Front. Even the odd Serbian word as well, which may prove useful if my heroine happens to fall in love with a Serbian orderly. It's a possibility!
At the moment my girl is still on board HMAT Kanowna which has recently (October, 1917) stopped off at Durban and Cape Town. At this very moment (well today as far as my writing goes - actually 15th November, 1917) she has just spent a few hours wandering around Sierra Leone before she must embark for the last leg of her voyage to England and a confrontation with her difficult aunt. Will post again when she arrives in London.
July 31, 2011
It's a Mystery
After posting my last blog a mystery has developed. On Saturday 13th July I spent the day at the Mitchell, after first viewing the World Press photos and the SMH Photos1440 http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/events/exhib... I went carefully through A History of the Scottish Womens Hospitals by Eva Shaw McLaren looking for a reference to the tragedy at the Ostrovo Unit. Nothing. Just a mention of the unit being moved. Now I know from our excellent historian Susanna De Vries’s book Heroic Australian Women in War, in a chapter on Agnes Bennett and Lilian Cooper, that the skeleton staff of the unit were massacred by the Bulgarians and our very own Miles Franklin was referenced. I am waiting for my local library to get a copy of De Vries book that features Miles Franklin – The Complete Book of Great Australian Women for more details.
In the meantime I decided to go back again yesterday to the Mitchell and had a very interesting day. I went through two old directories (1914 and 1919) of the Newcastle, Cessnock, Maitland districts and also leafed through Flora Sandes’s two autobiographies. Sandes was the first woman to be commissioned as an officer in the Serbian Army. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flora_Sa... I also went through Stebbing’s At the Serbian Front in Macedonia – again no details of the massacre of the unit. The mystery deepens.
Lastly I went through the 1917 diary of Miles Franklin which proved to be fascinating – particularly descriptions of the camp. Matron was a terror evidently and the work in the kitchen exhausting. Unfortunately I ran out of time to read the 1918 diaries but am looking forward to reading the chapter on MF in De Vries’s book and delving deeper into what happened to the unit.
In the meantime I decided to go back again yesterday to the Mitchell and had a very interesting day. I went through two old directories (1914 and 1919) of the Newcastle, Cessnock, Maitland districts and also leafed through Flora Sandes’s two autobiographies. Sandes was the first woman to be commissioned as an officer in the Serbian Army. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flora_Sa... I also went through Stebbing’s At the Serbian Front in Macedonia – again no details of the massacre of the unit. The mystery deepens.
Lastly I went through the 1917 diary of Miles Franklin which proved to be fascinating – particularly descriptions of the camp. Matron was a terror evidently and the work in the kitchen exhausting. Unfortunately I ran out of time to read the 1918 diaries but am looking forward to reading the chapter on MF in De Vries’s book and delving deeper into what happened to the unit.
July 14, 2011
Adventures with the Scottish Womens Hospitals
Are writers paranoid? Well, it turns out I am. Six weeks ago I spent the day researching at the Mitchell Library. Most of my time was spent reading the diary of James Ray Lewis who was on board the the transport ship Euripides departing Sydney 31st October, 1917 but I also requested A History of the Scottish Womens Hospitals by Eva Shaw McLaren. I was told very nicely by the staff of the Mitchell that the book was off site and wouldn't be available for a few days. As I had caught the train down from Newcastle, I explained that I wouldn't be back for some time to view the book again. The library staff told me to simply request the book online a few days before I needed it. No worries.
Last week with my writing going well, I realised I needed to do more research into the Serbian Front during WWI. It was time to request the McLaren book again. I logged on to the State Library and much to my surprise found this 1919 book was IN USE. Weird but that's okay, it was a Saturday. Unbelievably someone was reading it. Tried on Monday. Again IN USE. The next day my imagination was turning feral. Who else was researching the Scottish Women's Hospitals? Someone was planning a major novel with their heroine involved in the war in Serbia! OH MY GOD!
Rang the Mitchell today and was told, yes, it was still in use. Of course the penny dropped and I asked, "Did that someone happen to be me, Debbie Robson?" and they said yes. I explained I did request it some time ago etc etc. Very obligingly the staff have now organised the book for me for Saturday along with Eleanor Dark's first novel Slow Dawning. Looking forward to reading up about the Ostrovo hospital unit but nervous too. The unit was very close to the action and I believe many of the staff were killed. Very daunting! Not sure if I'm up to the challenge (never mind the fact that the real women were) but I'll find out soon.
Last week with my writing going well, I realised I needed to do more research into the Serbian Front during WWI. It was time to request the McLaren book again. I logged on to the State Library and much to my surprise found this 1919 book was IN USE. Weird but that's okay, it was a Saturday. Unbelievably someone was reading it. Tried on Monday. Again IN USE. The next day my imagination was turning feral. Who else was researching the Scottish Women's Hospitals? Someone was planning a major novel with their heroine involved in the war in Serbia! OH MY GOD!
Rang the Mitchell today and was told, yes, it was still in use. Of course the penny dropped and I asked, "Did that someone happen to be me, Debbie Robson?" and they said yes. I explained I did request it some time ago etc etc. Very obligingly the staff have now organised the book for me for Saturday along with Eleanor Dark's first novel Slow Dawning. Looking forward to reading up about the Ostrovo hospital unit but nervous too. The unit was very close to the action and I believe many of the staff were killed. Very daunting! Not sure if I'm up to the challenge (never mind the fact that the real women were) but I'll find out soon.
