A Nurse’s War

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What to expect

The remarkable wartime diary of nurse Kathleen Johnstone

‘Warm, chatty and endlessly absorbing, this delightful diary brims with intelligence and humour.’ Wendy Moore, author of Endell Street: The Women Who Ran Britain’s Trailblazing Military Hospital

The second world war could not have been won without the bravery and selflessness of women on the Home Front. Women like Kathleen Johnstone.

This first-hand story of one extraordinary but unheralded member of Britain’s ‘Greatest Generation’ brings home with extraordinary lucidity and compassion the realities of wartime Lancashire.

In 1943, Kathleen, then thirty, was a nurse-in-training at the Blackburn Royal Infirmary. For the next three years she kept a meticulous diary of her day-to-day existence, leaving behind a vivid record of the real-time concerns of a busy, thoughtful woman on the frontline of the war at home.

Kathleen’s days were never the same. She writes in clear and lively prose about life in the hospital: of her fellow nurses, her patients, about death and dying, and the progress of the war as wounded soldiers returned from Normandy in the summer of 1944. She muses on being working class, wartime austerity, and her anxiety about examinations. Here too are dances, Americans and a POW boyfriend in Germany. Kathleen’s observations are witty, wry and astute – but above all relatable, even today.

Poignant and engrossing, Kathleen Johnstone’s tale of trauma, romance and friendship will leave a lasting impression.

Critics Review

  • ‘A born diarist – sensitive, observant, sometimes opinionated, never taking herself too seriously – Kathleen Johnstone gives us a wonderfully intimate and humane picture of a northern life towards the end of the war. In fact, a positive gem.’ David Kynaston, author of Austerity Britain

    ‘Warm, chatty and endlessly absorbing, the diary of student nurse Kathleen Johnson opens a fascinating window into the small joys and terrible tragedies of World War Two. From her delight at a “real egg” to her amazement at the new “wonder drug” penicillin, this delightful diary brims with intelligence and humour.’ Wendy Moore, author of Endell Street: The Women Who Ran Britain’s Trailblazing Military Hospital

    ‘An inspiring and uplifting record of wartime life in a hospital. Kathleen Johnstone’s warmth and wit render her diaries a gripping read.’ Lucy Fisher, author of Women in the War: The Last Heroines of Britain’s Greatest Generation

    Praise for Nella Last’s Peace, from the same editors:

    ‘Extraordinary – tender, intimate, striking, heartbreaking and witty – it grants us the lovely and dignified privilege of knowing a stranger’s heart.’ A. L. Kennedy

    ‘A social document of extraordinary interest and value.’ D J Taylor

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