A Plumfield Kids Book Review by Greta Masarik, age 14

“Yet never, in all this confusion of war, did she lose her feeling of dedication. What else could have given her the strength to stay on her feet, to comfort the men who cried out in agony, to close the eyes of those who had found release in death? Whenever she entered one of the shelters, whenever she passed along one of the corridors jammed with stretchers where there was scarcely foot-room to pass, all eyes turned toward her, as if they saw in her the eternal promise of womanly compassion.”

I have always wanted to be a nurse. I don’t know if the Little Golden Book Nurse Nancy is to blame for this, or just that most of my family are doctors. Either way, I intend to become one. At the time of writing this, I am a freshman in high school. This year I am reading a lot of nurse biographies, to make sure I really want to do this. 

Nurses Who Led the Way by Adele and Cateau de Leeuw is the first in that line-up. It tells the stories of nine different nurses at different times in totally different situations: Mary Ann Bickerdyke, Anne Prochazka, Edith Cavell, Dorothy Davis, Francesca Cabrini, Genevieve De Galard-Terraube, Mary Breckenridge, Lillian Wald, and Lora Wood Hughs. These heroic women saved so many lives, sometimes at the cost of their own. I have a weakness for brave nurses, as you might have guessed if you’ve read my review of Combat Nurses of World War II. 

Adele and Cateau de Leeuw made me care about women I had never heard of before, like Dorothy Davis, a Heroic WWII nurse who tried so hard to be sent to the Philippines but was detained over and over again. Or Mary Ann Bickerdyke, a Civil War nurse, who even told the general what to do. 

“A young surgeon came in one morning, yawning, after spending the night in town instead of attending to his wounded. [Mary Ann Bickerdyke] stood up and commanded, ‘Off with your shoulder straps and get out of this hospital!’ The surgeon complained to General Sherman himself, and Sherman asked, ‘Who is your accuser?’ When he heard it was Mother Bickerdyke, he said with a smile, ‘I’m Afraid I can’t help you. She ranks me. There nothing left for you to do except to carry your case before President Lincoln.’” 

Tragically, this book is out of print and hard to find, which I think is partly because the printing is terrible quality, and practically falls apart in your hands. I love Nurses Who Led the Way and would highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in nursing, though really, I think everyone should read it.