Yes Sister, No Sister

Oct 4, 2024 10:18 PM

Author:Jennifer Craig,Jennifer Craig

'What is your name?' she asks, staring at me.

'Jennifer Ross.'

'Jennifer Ross, Sister. Well, Nurse Ross, you are dressed in the uniform of a nurse from the Leeds General Infirmary. Such a uniform is not worn with a cardigan. Take it off at once.'

'Yes Sister.' I can feel my face turn red.

A trainee nurse in the 1950s had a lot to bear. In Jennifer Craig's enchanting memoir, we meet these warm-hearted yet naïve young girls as they get to grips with strict discipline, long hours and bodily fluids. But we also see the camaraderie that develops in evening study sessions, sneaked trips to the cinema and mischievous escapades with the young trainee doctors.

The harsh conditions prove too much for some girls, but the opportunity to help her patients in their time of need is too much of a pull for Jenny. As she commits to her vocation and knuckles down to her exams, she is determined that when she reaches the heights of Ward Sister herself she will not become the frightening matron that struck fear into her student heart ...

Rich in period detail, and told with a good dose of Yorkshire humour, Yes Sister, No Sister is a life-affirming true story of a life long past.

Reviews

Enchanting

—— Sunday Times

Affectionate and humorous ... a tribute to the resilience and loyalty of the nursing profession

—— Lancaster Evening Post

An evocative, often amusing account of an era long-lost

—— Yorkshire Post

A terrific book...it's an engaging compendium of plant chat and history.

—— Catherine Shoard , The Evening Standard

The author structures his book with a journey through the biotopia of the Eden Project in Cornwall, from where he darts off in history and geography to offer sparkling mini-essays on specific herbs and plants and more general matters botanical and ecological.

—— Steven Poole , Guardian

Even if you're not especially interested in the Eden Project, there is plenty here to fascinate. Mabey's writing is richly evocative, his breadth of reference enormous.

—— Neville Hawcock , FT Magazine

Fencing Paradise is nothing like a guide to the place, but to read it while visiting the Eden Project is the equivalent of adding clotted cream to strawberries.

—— Jane Owen , Friends magazine

I was totally captivated by Self Comes to Mind.In this work Antonio Damasio presents his seminal discoveries in the field of neuroscience in the broader contexts of evolutionary biology and cultural development.This trailblazing book gives us a new way of thinking about ourselves, our history, and the importance of culture in shaping our common future

—— Yo-Yo Ma, Musician

Damasio makes a grand transition from higher-brain views of emotions to deeply evolutionary, lower-brain contributions to emotional, sensory and homeostatic experiences. He affirms that the roots of consciousness are affective and shared by our fellow animals. Damasio's creative vision leads relentlessly toward a natural understanding of the very font of being

—— Jaak Panksepp, author of Affective Neuroscience

Lucid, elegantly written, and punctuated by humour... This is an exciting book by a wonderful thinker

—— Siri Hustvedt

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