Thank you Netgalley High Bridge Audio and Kensington Books for the gifted book!
by: Amanda Skenandore
narrated by: Vanessa Johansson
rating: really liked
Una Kelly has had to make her own way in life, and has ended up as a con-woman on the streets of 1880s New York. But when a supposed friend of hers pins a murder on her that she didn't commit, Una is forced to find a new trajectory for her life. Hiding in plain sight, she lies her way into the nursing school at Bellevue Hospital. She doesn't fit in with the other students who all come from "good breeding" and are dedicated to learning and becoming the best nurses they can be. But she soon finds that her rough past has prepared her for the trials found on the ward... or at least most of the trials.
I love how Skenandore's writing always completely immerses me in the setting of the book. Whether it's with an undertaker's assistant in New Orleans, a film star's wife in a leper's home, or here with a con-woman in a New York nursing school you feel like you are there amongst the sights and smells of those places.
I loved in this book how the character stayed true to herself while also growing as a person. She regularly falls back on her habits or lying, cheating, and stealing, but as time goes on she grows in her convictions of right and wrong and learns more about the goodness of people and who she can trust after years of only being able to trust in herself. Overall a well written historical fiction with interesting medical elements, along with some romance and mystery for good measure.
Comments