The Nurse’s Promise

by Rosie James

In World War I, every act of courage counted…

Angelina Green never knew her mother, who left her in a cardboard box by the East London docks on a freezing November night when she was a tiny baby. Saved by a local orphanage, she knows she owes her life to the kindness of others. And she’s determined to repay her debt by working as a nurse.

Strong, kind and patient, Angelina is a natural on the ward. But when war breaks out in 1914 and she is sent to The Front, her courage is tested like never before…

As war rages around her, a chance meeting with a familiar soldier sends Angelina’s whole world into turmoil. Can she hold her nerve, save the men around her – and protect her heart?

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Romance, World War I, Historical, War

225 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 1, 2019

Reviews

[Karren Sandercock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley, HQ Digital and Rosie James for my copy of her new book : Front Line Nurse.
On a cold English night in 1900, Randolph Garfield is walking home after a busy day working at his tobacco importing business and he's in a hurry to get home to his young son Alexander. As he's walking he hears a noise and he finds a abandoned new born baby girl in a cardboard box and he takes her to the near by orphanage.

He knocks on the door and meets Emma Kingston the superintendent of the orphanage. He's walked past it many times, he's never given a thought to how many children live there and he is shocked to find out it's going to be closed in a couple of weeks due to lack of funds.
He decides to become the orphanages new benefactor, both Mr Garfield and his son Alexander visit the orphanage often, they witness little baby Angelina grow up and enjoy the visiting the other children.

When she and her friend Ruby turn 14 they leave the orphanage, they move into a boarding house and start working. Ruby starts working at the near by hairdressers and Angelina dreams of one day being a nurse.
She applies to be a nurse, she is quickly accepted due to WWI having just started and they need as many nurses as they can train.

The story is about Angelina's experiences as a nurse during the great war, the information is accurate for the time, you read how horrible it was in the trenches, the terrible wounds, how they set up tent hospitals, how casualty clearing stations worked, the huge loss of life and the side effects of what we now call shell shock.

I really enjoyed Front Line Nurse it's a great book and you fall in love with the character's. The kind Mr Garfield, his handsome son Alexander, sweet kind Ruby, strong determinant Angelina, and the steady influence of Mrs Kingston. I gave the book four stars and it's a delightful story to read.
I shared my review on Goodreads, Twitter, Australian Amazon and my blog. https://karrenreadsbooks.blogspot.com/

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Angelina Green was found in a box on the street by Randolph Garfield on his way home from work on night in 1900. He took her to the orphanage close by only to find they were to close from lack of funds. He bought the building and kept the orphanage going. He checke don Angelina as she grew up. She wanted ot be a nurse and worked to train to be one as soon as she could. She was so good she was sent to France during the war. The story gives some insight as to what it was like to be a nurse then. The story follows her life until she marries. Those nurses showed such courage with the work they did.

[Margaret Burrell · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a very one- dimensional book. I felt no emotion reading it - despite the fact that some of the situations that Angelina found herself in should have stirred up plenty - and the ‘plot’ was virtually non- existent. (A fairy tale book with an easily predicted, unrealistic ending.)

I enjoy a good historical novel and I’d enjoyed The War Girls by the same author, but this was a huge disappointment.

Not the worst book I’ve read, but a long way from being the best.

[Lisbeth Zabihi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Angelina blev fundet i en æske som helt spæd. Hun bliver anbragt på et børnehjem, men børnehjemmet står overfor lukning pga. manglende økonomi. Børnehjemmet bliver dog reddet af manden der fandt Angelina. En lokal virksomhedsejer, der bestemmer sig for at købe og vedligeholde børnehjemmet.

Angelina får derfor en god opvækst på det lille børnehjem. Da hun bliver 14 år, skal hun rejse ud i verden for at finde et nyt liv. Hun bliver optaget på sygeplejerske uddannelsen allerede som 14 årig og indenfor et år, bliver hun sendt til Frankrig til frontlinien. I en meget ung alder, oplever hun krigens gru på allernærmeste hold.

Det er en god og læseværdig roman, der fortæller rigtig meget om, hvad krigen gør ved mennesker.

[Layla · Rating 3 out of 5]

read this in the soft cover edition not kindle as stated.

A good little book. But I kept picking it up and putting kit down but anted to finish it. I have read better storys but this was a little light hearted boOk set in WW1. about an orphan that is found in a box on a cold winters night and put in a home to be cared for,

[J · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oooh boy. This book was not very well written. There was very little character development with very thin and hollow plotting. It was also full of so many grammatical and spelling errors not to mention exclamation points being overused. This is probably the weakest WWI historical fiction I've read yet.

[Trell65 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would have given this one star if I hadn't read another review likening the writing to a fairy tale. From that perspective, I can tolerate the way this story was written. And, maybe some of my disappointment in this book is my fault; maybe I expected a different story from the one being told. I expected the story to start closer to Angelina's nursing career and her work at the Front. I didn't expect it to spend the first 3 chapters focused on secondary characters. I get what the author is setting up. I just don't care for how the author has done it.

As for writing style: for me, the distant POV is off putting. It keeps me from identifying with any of the characters. Four chapters in, I just don't care what is going to happen next. I also don't care for the head hopping slips the author has made. I don't blame the author for that so much as the editor who should have caught them.

I'm sad because I was really looking forward to the story and the possibility of a new author to follow. Instead I put the book down and marked the author as one not to waste my time with again.

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a neat story. A baby girl is left in a cardboard box and found by a wealthy business man. He takes the child to a near by orphans home. He decides to support the home not only changes his life but many others. Anglica Green was the abandoned baby girl who grows up to become nurse and spend time carring for injuried soldiers in France in 1916-18. She later becomes a doctor which was her dream and later marries the son of the orphanage benefactor, Alexander Garfield, whom she had always loved. Not only a page turner but a book that will stir your soul and leave you with a warm fuzzy feeling.

[Erika Clements · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Nurse's Promise (aka The Frontline Nurse) is a story of an orphan named Angelina Green who defies her meek beginnings to become a front line nurse. There are undertones of love as well as historical fiction in this hidden gem. I was rooting for Angelina from when she was found in a box on the sidewalk & her determination was inspiring. A quick read that left me happy I took a chance on a book I'd not heard of before.

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great story, totally predictable but fun. It’s a cross between Vera Britain’s TESTAMENT OF YOUTH and the war-years volumes of the perfect, incomparable Maisie Dobbs saga. NOWHERE as good, suspenseful or well-written as either of those, it’s nonetheless a decent, quick pandemic diversion.

[Stephen E · Rating 5 out of 5]

Helping others

This the third story I have read about the horror as one sees as a nurse, ambulance driver or doctor during a war where men and woen go above and beyond to.provide aid and comfort . I had wanted to be a nurse but find I do not have the stomach for gore and pain and suffering. Admitting that makes me try to find other ways of helping others.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I borrowed this from the library believing it to be non fiction. Having discovered it to be fiction and being new to 'large print' I continued to read. I am so glad I did. A wonderful story - I particularly enjoyed the character Heather and the appearance of her cat, Monty. Regrettably my library has no further copies of this author's work. I will keep looking.

[Amie Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lighthearted romance with a predictable outcome. The heroine is positive to the point of annoying at times. It's a light quick read, but nothing mind-blowing or intriguing. I did finish it, but I'm glad I hired the book and did not purchase it. It's also very light in detail and maybe some WW1 research was one, but it's super lacking in details.

[Marina Osipova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Page-turner.
What a lovely, heart-warming story! I couldn’t stop turning the pages—so deeply I was engrossed in the characters who were easy to relate to. Their growth through the unfolding events is amazing. Although it is a historical fiction piece, for this reader, the romantic part of it was especially engrossing. And the ending of the story delighted me greatly. Highly recommend.

[Maria Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful, Emotional

The reader has been taken into several different lives, while learning much about the years of World War l.
The characters have disparate beginnings and marvelous interactions.
I fully enjoyed the book and so give the 5* rating.

[Sandy Aragon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved from the time Angelina was brought to the orphanage.

What a wonderful tale of a girl thriving in an orphanage, nursing soldiers during a horrendous war and finally marrying someone she'd loved for a lifetime.

[Sandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nurse’s Promise

This book was so predictable. Although entertaining, there were no surprises. I love historical fiction. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel that much WW1 research was done

[Jeannien · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the history of world war 1

History in this book was very interesting, from orphans to nursing and in World War I. I would’ve liked to of seen a little bit more about the war written.

[Donna Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A historical novel with different insight orphanages

A historical novel with different insight orphanages, and their effects on the orphans—as apposed to the pathetic orphan there are those who have talents and skills plus the resilience and fortitude to succeed.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book! Loved the characters and the story line.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

An endearing love story and the promise of an orphan's dedication to her profession as a nurse. loved it.

[Susan Hublein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kept me wondering.

Excellent book that combined WWl with a changing love story. Couldn't put the book down. Good thing it is only about 200 pages.

[Betsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I give this book 3.5 star because spelling mistakes . I would give it a 4 I did enjoy it I also expected the ending the way it did .

[Ltcls · Rating 3 out of 5]

Novel about orphan who becomes a nurse in WWI. Mostly a romance novel, but interesting look at class and women’s changing roles in early 20th century.

[sabrina briggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good

This was a interesting love story. People can be in love and make it it doesn't matter rich or poor.

[sandra dutzel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect light reading!

Small portion of the book was about the war. It was enjoyable light reading with a happy ending. A little break from historical novels based on true events.

[Mum · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this novel was historical fiction about nursing during WWI, but it was a pie in the sky romance. Everything was glossed over. I learned nothing. A disappointment for me.

[Pat Cripps · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book.

I loved reading the history of the era and the main character. Will recommend it to my daughters. Would love to read more.

[Ellie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Women's work during wartime is a particular interest of mine, which is why I read this book. But, given it's title, I was disappointed in how little of the book was actually about front line nursing. Reading on my kindle, it was 42% into the book before our heroine Angelina, reached the military hospital in France. The war was over by 65% in, so less than a quarter of the book was about wartime nursing. And what there was of it was very generic, no descriptions, no procedures explained.
It's basically the story of the life of Angelina Green... brought up in an orphanage, trained as a nurse, went to war, came back and trained as doctor. Everyone else was just a caricature, with not much personality fleshed out to make them into interesting characters.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first book by this author but it will not be my last. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the life of Angelina the young baby found and given into the local orphanage by business man Randolph Garfield. Angelina made a big difference to people’s lives starting with the orphanage being kept open by Randolph. Angelina never realised the effect she had on everyone’s lives that she touched. During the Great War she definitely didn’t take the easy option and she was soon helping to keep the poor young men alive on the frontline. I highly recommend this book