In 1917 Julia Stimson, a gifted nurse, teacher, and administrator from St. Louis is offered the opportunity to recruit and train 64 nurses to serve near the front lines in France during WWI. She is up to the challenge. On arrival, the nurses encountered primitive conditions and an ineffective system for dealing with life-threatening battle wounds. Julia worked hard to convince doctors that her nurses were capable of so much more that would greatly benefit the wounded soldiers. Slowly the doctors accepted the additional help leaving the severely wounded for them deal with.
The novel draws on the life of Julia Stimson (1881-1948). Julia wanted to become a doctor but was discouraged from entering the male-dominated world of medicine by her family. Among her various positions of leadership, Colonel Julia Catherine Stimson was head of Nursing Service of the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I.
The novel is a story of courage, sacrifice, friendship, bravery, compassion and a little romance.
~Emma
Read it or Weep 