Blog Tour And Q&A: The Desert Nurse by Pamela Hart

The Desert Nurse

Author: Pamela Hart

Publisher: Hachette Australia

Release date: 10th July 2018

Pages: 407 pages

R.R.P: $29.99

The heart-wrenching story of four years that changed the world- and two people- forever.

It's 1911, and 21-year-old Evelyn Northey desperately wants to become a doctor. Her father forbids it, withholding the inheritance that would allow her to attend university. At the outbreak of World War 1, Evelyn disobeys her father, enlisting as an army nurse bound for Egypt and the disastrous Gallipoli campaign.

Under the blazing desert sun, Evelyn develops feelings for polio survivor Dr William Brent, who believes his disability makes him unfit to marry. For Evelyn, stick, pursuing her goal of studying medicine, a man has no place in her future. For two such self-reliant people, relying on someone else for happiness may be the hardest challenge of all.

My Review

Thoughts on the book: The Desert Nurse is the new novel from award winning author Pamela Hart and is told in alternative points of view of Evelyn Northey and Dr William Brent. Evelyn has always done what her father has expected of her since her mother died when she was young. Well that is until she turns 21 and approaches her father about her receiving her inheritance so she can finally follow her dream of become a doctor, which in that time and place is basically unheard of. Unfortunately her father withholds her inheretience saying that she won't receive it until she is 30, so Evelyn secretly signs up to study nursing behind her father's back. Upon completion she signs up and enlists as an army nurse, knowing it will properly be the last straw for her father, and is sent to Egypt where she is thrown in the deep end. Dr William Brent had polio as a child which has left him with a permenant limp which leaves him to believe that the army won't except him. Despite this he leaves Australia and heads to Egypt in the hope that he can help somewhere with his surgery skills. Immediately he is thrown into the thick it and strikes up a fantastic working relationship with Evelyn where they both seem to just know what each other needs sometimes even before the other knows. Despite their close relationship both William and Evelyn have strong views on relationships and marriage, both don't want them. Evelyn doesn't ever want another man to be in control of her life like her father was and William believes that no one should be subjected to marrying a cripple and putting up with his disability. But the more that they work together, spend time together and the experiences that they go through during the war could change their minds about marriage. But the thing is will they both make it through the ar in one piece to actually make a decision about marriage?

First off I would like to say a massive thank you to Alana from Hachette Australia for not only sending me a copy of The Desert Nurse for review but also allowing me to be apart of the blog tour for the release and allowing me to also send through some questions for Pamela Hart to answer. I feel very privallged to be apart of this blog tour as The Desert Nurse was amazing. I adored this historical romance which lead me on the journey that Evelyn took from Australia to Egypt where she worked on the injured soldiers that arrived from the fighting at Gallipoli. I loved learning more about what the nurses, doctors, soldiers, family and friends went through during World War 1. Pamela Hart seemed to include everything that everyone experienced during the war in one book and also showed how women were pushing the boundaries during this time in history. This is evident with Evelyn wanting to be a doctor and constantly bucking the system and taking in more and more throughout the war to try and make this happen and not letting anyone own her or control her which made Evelyn one of my favourite characters in The Desert Nurse.

The last thing I want to comment on about The Desert Nurse is the slow burning romance between William and Evelyn. From the moment they basically met we knew that they had a connection but they both were very stubborn because they both didn't want to marry ever. Of course they both had good reasons for this but you can't help who you fall in love with which is also evident with Hannah and Linus, who coincidently are my second favourite couple but only by a smidge. They both know from the moment they met that they have this real connection and despite some things that happened during the war they work together to make it through. They truly are an amazing duo and are the perfect pair to be best friends with William and Evelyn and I really hope that we get a novel about their relationship as well. I can't wait to read more from Pamela Hart and must say a massive thank you so much Alana for introducing me to her.

Rating: 5/5

GOODREADS LINK: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39319221-the-desert-nurse?from_search=true

MAIN LINK: https://www.hachette.com.au/pamela-hart/the-desert-nurse-a-grand-love-story-set-in-a-theatre-of-war

Q&A with Pamel Hart

Congratulations on your release of The Desert Nurse. For those readers who haven’t read it how would you describe it?

The Desert Nurse is an historical novel set in WWI, mainly in Egypt and the Sinai. Defying her father, Evelyn Northey temporarily gives up her dream of being a doctor in order to enlist as an Army nurse, who goes to help the wounded from Gallipoli. Dr William Brent, a polio survivor, isn’t ‘fit’ for the Army, but he also goes to Cairo to offer his help – which is urgently needed.

Both of them are determined never to marry, but the rigours and tragedies of war have a way of changing people in deep and lasting ways…

What inspired you to write The Desert Nurse and how much research did you do while writing it?

My grandfather was wounded during the retreat from Gallipoli, and his life was saved by good nursing. I took a look at part of his story in The Soldier’s Wife, and I knew as I wrote that novel that one day I would write a book about the nurses who saved his life. So The Desert Nurse is partly a thank you to those dedicated, brave women.

As for research… oh, my goodness, I did a lot! There was an enormous amount of research involved, from how to give anaesthesia with the equipment of the day to exactly what was in those little chatelaines which every nurse had at her waist!

It was a complex book to research because it stretched over more than four years, and so much changed during that time. I was lucky that the Australian War Memorial has digitised so many diaries from nurses, doctors and soldiers from that time, so I could read their thoughts and feelings and experiences.

I have to give a shout out to Dr Kristy Harris, for her book, More than Bombs and Bandages, which gave invaluable detail about the day to day work nurses did in WWI hospitals.

And there was a great amateur photographer, Sr Lil Mackenzie, who took many photos of the hospital, including the sitting rooms, the nurses off duty, and so on. It gave me a great insight into their lives. In fact, the photo on the cover of the book is one of Lil’s!

Evelyn is a real inspiration for women. Is she based on anyone?

She is more based on a number of women. Women who wanted to be doctors but couldn’t, and women who nursed throughout the war – people like Alice Ross-King and Connie Keys, for example, who are minor characters in the book. They were determined, compassionate, extraordinary women, and they inspired me a great deal.

I loved the slow burn romance that builds between Evelyn and William and the relationship that developed between their friends Hannah and Linus. Is there any chance we may get their story told?

You know, someone asked me that the other day, and I was honestly surprised. I guess I feel that Hannah and Linus’s story has been told, by implication. But, as you may know, I do like to bring characters in and out of each other’s stories, so I wouldn’t say that we’ve seen the last of them.

Thinking about it right now, I realised their story might make a nice novella… if your readers want it, they should let me know and I’ll see what I can do!

Finally who are some of your favourite go to authors?

I read very very widely, but I do love Australian authors. Kate Forsyth for intricate historical fiction, Natasha Lester for a bit of historical glamour, Anna Campbell for light-hearted historical romance, Bronwyn Parry for romantic suspense. Angela Slatter and Thoraiya Dyer for fantasy, Mariannes de Pierres and Tansy Rayner Roberts for mysteries, LA Larkin and Candice Fox for thrillers and crime. Cat Sparks and Isobelle Carmody for science fiction. So many great writers! It’s very hard to list them all.

But I have to give a special plug to one of my students, Margaret Morgan, whose speculative fiction novel, The Second Cure, is coming out in August. It’s a great book – and very timely. If you were interested in The Handmaid’s Tale, or similar near-future stories, you’ll love it.

AUTHOR BIO

Pamela is an award-winning author for adults and children. She has a Doctorate of Creative Arts from the University of Technology, Sydney. Under the name Pamela Freeman she wrote the historical novel THE BLACK DRESS, which won the NSW Premier's History Prize for 2006. Pamela is also well known for her fantasy novels for adults, published by Orbit worldwide, the Castings Trilogy, and her Aurealis Award-winning novel EMBER AND ASH. Pamela lives in Sydney with her husband and their son, and teaches at the Australian Writers' Centre. THE DESERT NURSE follows her bestselling novels THE SOLDIER'S WIFE, THE WAR BRIDE and A LETTER FROM ITALY.