'She had come to England to do a job and it was about to begin.’

In 1915, Cora Barker leaves her home in South Australia and travels with a group of other Australian nurses to establish a hospital for wounded Australian soldiers near London. The Great War is raging, and the number of Australian casualties continues to grow. At Harefield House, donated for use by the Australian Imperial Forces by its expatriate Australian owners, Cora and her colleagues Gertie, Leonora, and Fiona, transform the house into a hospital. The nurses are helped by local villagers, including Jessie Chester and her mother Win who are local seamstresses.

And as wounded soldiers continue to flood into the hospital from the battlefields of France and Belgium, Jessie volunteers at the hospital to support the patients and help the nurses. Jessie meets Private Bert Mott, a recovering soldier who will return to the front.

Everyone hopes for a short war, but the war drags on. Thousands of young soldiers are killed or maimed. The nurses are fighting both death and despair, struggling to maintain professional composure as they do the best they can for their patients. The soldiers, injured as they fight, are looked after by nurses who fight to save them.

There is romance in this story too, for some, and heartbreak. Not all stories have happy endings.

Ms Purman brings the period of the Great War to life: her nurses represent a range of different Australian backgrounds, as do the soldiers whom we mostly know through their injuries. The main characters are Cora and Jessie, showing us different aspects of life in a world at war. I became immersed in this novel, thinking of my grandfather and great-uncle, both of whom fought in the Great War and both of whom spent time in hospital in England before being repatriated to Australia in 1917.

Highly recommended.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Australia for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

It is the beginning of World War I, and Cora is leaving her home in South Australia with a group of other Australian Nurses, whereby they are travelling to England to work as a Nurse to help set up an Australian Hospital not too far from the city of London. The beautiful home which has been donated to the Australian Army, from a wealthy Australian family that had migrated to the UK, is like nothing Cora has ever seen.

At first it is an adventure for Cora, travelling overseas, assisting in the set up of a new hospital in a beautiful English Manor House, with luscious gardens and lakes.

Cora meets new friends, and forms life time friendships with the other Nurses and also the English volunteers.

Jessie is a local, and Jessie and her Mum have their own sewing business. Jessie and her Mum, Win help clean and set up the hospital also. Jessie ends up volunteering at the hospital, in whatever free time she can find inbetween sewing dresses and caring for her Mother and Brother.

Jessie and Cora's stories are both stories of romance, love heart ache and sadness.

I have read many WWI novels, but the Nurses War by Victoria Purman would have to the absolute best so far. Victoria puts a lot of research into her novels, and the history that you learn whilst reading such a beautiful novel like this is inspiring. I have learnt a lot about Australia and the sacrifices our Anzacs made for the future of Australia whilst reading this novel.

Don't try and rush this book, sit down read it slowly and truly relax, enjoy and let the story sink in. There will be tears, but you will experience joy and relief also.

I am so in love with this book, that I will be buying multiple copies when it is published, a copy for my personal library as long as a couple more for gifts.

Thankyou to Netgalley and Harlequin Australia for my advanced copy for my honest review. I rate this novel 5 stars.

Victoria Purman is wonderful story teller who interweaves fiction with history to capture the readers attention. Her books are always so well researched. I loved ‘The Three Miss Allen’s’, ‘The Land Girls’ ‘The Last of the Bonegilla Girls’ and ‘The Women’s Pages’ so couldn’t wait to read the authors latest title ‘The Nurses War’.
It is the beginning of WWI and Sister Cora Barker leaves Australia to travel to England to do her part for the war effort. She arrives in England with a group of other Australian nurses to help set up an Australian hospital at Harefield House, a lovely country manor 20 miles from London, that has been donated to the Australian Army by The Billyyard-Leake’s - the wife being an expatriate Australian.
Cora is a strong determined woman who speaks her mind and is soon attracted to and by one of the Dr’s, William Kent. Cora takes her nursing duties and her passion for caring very seriously but the terrible war time injuries of the hundreds upon hundreds of Australian service men that arrive at the Hospital takes it toll. The injuries and mental trauma of the men is unbearable but the comradeship of the volunteers, nurses, Drs and the men shine through as a saving light in the deepest and darkest hours. One hospital volunteer Jessie, a village seamstress who takes on more and more duties at the hospital develops a romance with one of the injured Australian men. Her life in the English village with her family is a lovely segue in the book to that of the life at the hospital.
The horrors of war and the injuries suffered are dealt with compassionately and with dignity and there is no shying away from the long lasting effects the war will have on so many lives.

This is not a book you can read overnight. At times I had to put it down reach for the tissues, get a cup of tea take a break and read on. The book certainly gives an insight into the the bravery, strength of character and moral courage of the nurses and Drs of war.

It was at times heartbreaking to read The Nurses War. To be taken on a journey of what life was like for our courageous and compassionate Australian nurses treating our brave wounded service men so far from home during WWI was worth the tears.
A must read for lovers of historical fiction.