Author:Kate Eastham
Discover the first heartwarming novel in Kate Eastham's nursing series in this gripping and compelling story of strength
'Deftly written . . . a moving account of loss, as well as self-discovery and achievement' Woman's Own
'A vivid, entertaining read which brought history alive' 5***** Reader Review
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From the docks of Liverpool to a distant battlefield, can one girl find her brother and save herself?
Ada Houston's life is shattered when her brother Frank goes missing following an accident at the docks. But a short time later she hears a rumour that he survived and left Liverpool to fight a foreign war.
Determined not to lose him a second time she boards a ship to bring him home. But the battlefields of the Crimea are a hostile place for a penniless young woman.
Then one day a lifeline is thrown her way as she is offered the chance to train as a nurse under the famous Florence Nightingale. Working in the most terrible of conditions, Ada shows an aptitude beyond anyone's expectations as she cares for her injured countrymen, makes new friends and enjoys the first flutter of romance.
But Frank is still missing and she needs to find him before it's too late . . .
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'A wonderfully written book' 5***** Reader Review
'Gripped me right from the start' 5***** Reader Review
'You felt you were with them' 5***** Reader Review
Deftly written . . . a moving account of loss, as well as self-discovery and achievement
—— Woman's OwnVibrant and heart-warming, Jenny Holmes makes Chapel Street come alive.
—— Sunday Express on The Shop Girls of Chapel StreetGritty and uplifting, it's a tale of triumph over adversity
—— Choice on The Mill Girls of Albion LaneIntelligent and darkly funny...with a raw political edge.
—— Robert Douglas-Fairhurst , The TimesRushdie writes with a Dickensian exuberance, always full of humour as well as striking scornful, tragic notes. Often he plays the role of satirist. His caricatures and outsize figures are full of life, wickedness and human energy: again, as in Dickens, grounded in a precise social and political scene.
—— Jereme Boyd Maunsell , Evening StandardRushdie’s fable is a sprightly portrait of American life from Obama’s election to the rise of Trump.
—— Anthony Gardner , Mail on SundayWhere Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities sent up the go-go, me-me Reagan/Bush era, Rushdie’s latest novel captures the existential uncertainties of the anxious Obama years... A sort of Great Gatsby for our time: everyone is implicated, no one is innocent, and no one comes out unscathed.
—— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)A ravishingly well-told, deeply knowledgeable, magnificently insightful, and righteously outraged epic which poses timeless questions about the human condition... As Rushdie’s blazing tale surges toward its crescendo, life, as it always has, rises stubbornly from the ashes, as does love.
—— BooklistSalman Rushdie is a writer of illimitable imagination and verbal ingenuity. He grips us with wild storylines, takes us on flights of fancy, brings us back down again, enthralled and dazed… The terrorist attacks by Islamicists, the unplanned developments, the bribery and corruption and multiple tragedies are gritty, real and moving. Extreme scenes are written so beautifully I don’t think I will ever forget them… The Golden House is an extraordinary book, a brooding meditation on the personal and political, on ethics, egotism, freedom and interdependence.
—— Yasmin Alibhai-Brown , iThis is a compelling thriller with a pinch of fantasy, populated by larger-than-life characters… This powerfully cinematic novel, enriched by references to literature, popular culture and film, is dense, detailed and rewarding, displaying one of our leading novelists at the top of his game.
—— Vanessa Berridge , Sunday ExpressFor all of The Golden House’s folkloric architecture and twinkling prose, for all its impish cartoonery and exuberant storytelling, the novel is at its heart an unsettling portrait of the state of humanity in the United States of 2017. It celebrates our meager glories and exposes our flaws, particularly our inability to see outside of our own little cocoons, whether they be constructed of silk or some coarser material.
—— Nathaniel Rich , New York Review of BooksHis prose is just as often a pleasure, bursting with colour and texture… The result stands as Rushdie’s most vital book in years, and perhaps the first protest novel of the Trump era.
—— Stephen Phelan , HeraldA typically bold and all-encompassing saga.
—— Hilary A White , Irish IndependentRushdie is, as ever, excellent in conveying bitter, personal anger.
—— DJ Taylor , Literary ReviewTwo decades after Rushdie transplanted himself to the US, one of the major pleasures of this novel is the way in which he considers the mores of the one per cent of the one per cent. Rushdie writes about the Goldens’ glittering, private world with innumerable perfect details, down to the art hanging on the walls… It will be a long four years, but fictional protests are unlikely to be as electric as this.
—— Olivia Cole , GQHugely entertaining… Told against a backdrop of American politics and culture between Obama’s inauguration and the 2016 presidential election, it’s an extraordinarily powerful tale of our times.
—— Sue Price , Saga Magazine
[The Golden House] is a recognizably Rushdie novel in its playfulness, its verbal jousting, its audacious bravado, its unapologetic erudition, and its sheer, dazzling brilliance.
The Golden House is a searing examination of modern America and the world around it since 2008… Through the density of his intermingling literary references, puzzles and (deliberately) fanciful plot, comes Rushdie's true success: His great ability to capture the devilish mood of post-crash greed, political upheaval, and the rejection of the cosmopolitan, liberal west.
—— Peter Carey , Belfast Telegraph MorningRushdie’s prose is beyond much reprieve—there are few contemporary artists who come to mind that possess his ability to craft sentences. In this regard, The Golden House, his latest novel, is no exception... The Golden House is a joy to read… It’s hard to not have fun reading writing at Rushdie’s level of craftsmanship. It’s clever, intimidating, jocund, and electrifying.
—— Chicago Review of BooksThe Golden House is not Brideshead or Gatsby – it is too rich and too riotous. Rather it is a modern Bonfire of the Vanities, New York seen from the inside and the outside, as only a writer of multiple selves such as Rushdie – Indian, British, now a New Yorker – could do.
—— Aminatta Forna , GuardianRushdie’s story is a morality tale which unfolds with great verve and erudition, missing no opportunity to pillory Donald Trump with its withering contempt.
—— Richard Hopton , Country & Town HouseNo-one spins a yarn like Rushdie, and The Golden House’s tale of bastard sons, mysterious men and submerged pasts is hugely enjoyable… To say The Golden House is 'only' hugely enjoyable is a little like writing 'only' on a cheque for £1 million.
—— Ross McIndoe , SkinnySalman Rushdie has garaged the magic carpets and dived deep into 21st-century America, with its concerns about identity, guns, the 1 percent and even superheroes.
—— Jane Henderson , Miami Herald