This book was a captivating read from start to finish. The characters were well-developed, and their personal journeys felt authentic. The author did an excellent job of balancing emotional depth with a compelling storyline.

Set in 1930s Somerset, a female doctor, Frances Brakespeare, who faces adversity and challenges in a small town with secrets and sins beneath the surface. The themes of resilience, independence, and mystery are told in this great new book, really looking forward to more in the series.

What a charming book.
The way it was written I could see the characters and scenery unfold before my eyes.
We met stuffy old doctors who resented female doctors,
Romance, frustration, and a few bits that will make you giggle.
It is a lovely book and easy to read. xx

I really enjoyed this book. Great to see how times have changed and that women are able and capable of doing what used to be considered men’s work.

A New Doctor at Orchard Cottage Hospital is a heart-wrenching, dramatic and captivating saga from Lizzie Lane that kicks off her terrific 1930s Somerset-set saga.

Frances Brakespeare might have been born in the workhouse, but she has never allowed the unfortunate circumstances of her birth to dim her spirit. Adopted by a former suffragette, Frances had always been encouraged to be strong and follow her heart. Having pursued her passion for medicine and become a doctor, Frances has the world at her feet – until the death of her benefactress leaves her homeless and penniless and she is dismissed from her post in London after protesting about the unfair treatment of female doctors.

With no money and no jobs going in London, Frances doesn’t know what she is going to do – until she is offered a residency at the Orchard Cottage Hospital in Norton Dene, Somerset, a quarrying and mining town. Far from the hustle and bustle of the big city, Frances encounters prejudice, resentment and small-minded gossip, but she is determined to push through. Will Frances manage to win the Norton Dene community around? Or will secrets and scandals come to light that will leave her with no other choice but to head back to London?

Lizzie Lane’s A New Doctor at Orchard Cottage Hospital is a powerful tale of prejudice, renewal and belonging full of grit, emotion and heart. Frances is a terrific heroine who, in spite of the myriad challenges thrown her way, manages to triumph over adversity with intelligence, humanity and sensitivity.

A wonderfully written saga from a very talented storyteller, Lizzie Lane’s A New Doctor at Orchard Cottage Hospital is a superb yarn readers will thoroughly enjoy.

Another great read from Lizzie Lane. Frances was adopted by a single wealthy lady and studied hard to become a doctor and went on to help service men the first world war where she also met the love of her life but tragedy struck and she has to leave the only life she has ever known. She has to face many challenges and overcome many prejudices before she finds some happiness and also revelations from the past reveal many secrets.

This was my first book by Lizzie Lane and it certainly wont be the last, really enjoyed the story well written lots of detail. The characters are realistic, mainly a lady doctor just after first world war, lots of prejudice, but they face the ups and downs of life with determination to be the best they can be. It also lays to rest my issues that have been troubling both of the main characters.

A wonderful start to a brand new series from Lizzie Lane. This book had romance, mystery, history, scandal and it's fair share of villains.
It follows a strong female protagonist in the form of Frances who is a female doctor in the time when females had to fight for every single day in their profession, often treated extremely badly, overlooked and degraded.
Frances meets another strong female who rules the roost in her village and together they make changes for the better.
I really enjoy the characters in this book, the spirited and hard working, the slimy and underhanded, the scorners who get their opinions changed and the downright nasty who deserve to be locked away.
This book does not have an ending that satisfies every storyline that comes up, leaving me feeling like there will be a few more books to follow this one.
As usual, the writing is superb and I can't wait to get my hands on the next one.
4.5 stars from me!
Thanks to Netgalley and the author and publisher for a temporary copy in exchange for an honest review.

Frances is working in a mans world as a doctor. She seeks a position at Orchard Cottage Hospital and still finds it hard to overcome everyone's opinions and to make them trust her skills. I loved getting to know the characters and seeing her prove herself and I really look forward to reading more in this series.

In Lizzie Lane’s newest series, readers meet Dr. Frances Brakespeare, an orphan adopted from the workhouse by a former suffragette who encouraged her adopted daughter to challenge society and take on the world. With the death of her fiancé during World War I, Frances has thrown herself into her work as a doctor despite the poor treatment of female doctors in 1930. Taking up a new position in Norton Dene, a small town in Somerset, after she loses her job and her adoptive mother dies (and her mother’s relatives evicting her), Frances sees this as a new start where she can shape this country hospital and her own medical practice -- but there are some in Norton Dene with secrets and a dislike of female doctors that will make this difficult. With excellent characters and a clever, strong protagonist, readers will enjoy following Frances to Norton Dene and exploring the development of the local medical practice in the area under her supervision. An isolated yet charming town, the minor characters in the story are well-developed and complex, and their relationships with other characters and Frances are enjoyable to read. A strong start to the Orchard Cottage Hospital series, fans of historical fiction are sure to enjoy this book.

Loved the book and it was amazing, the characters were excellent and was a typical Lizzie Lane book. However I felt it a bit fast paced and either the mysteries were left hanging or got resolved unexplainingly

A New Doctor at Orchard Cottage Hospital is the first book in the Orchard Cottage Hospital series.

The main character is Frances, a female doctor who wants to improve the hospital she works at and has to overcome the chauvinistic men who don't believe women should be doctors.

Frances is an amazing character. She has suffered more than her fair share of bad things in life, not least, losing her greatest love in the war. She wants to focus on her work and looks forward to making some much-needed changes at Orchard Cottage Hospital. It isn't plain sailing for her, but that definitely helps to make this book a fabulous read.

I very much enjoyed this story because it had so much going on. You have your evil characters, your sweet ones, and there is even a possible romance budding. There is drama from the very start of the story and the book carries on being exciting right to the very end.

I loved the book and am looking forward to reading the next in the series.

I enjoyed this book, I assume it is a start of a series as we have been introduced to a few characters with their story lines just starting to happen. We are in a small town cottage hospital in Somerset just after the First World War, where women are starting to become more common in professional jobs and have authority - and listened to (not pandered to).
We have Frances who is a doctor, Lucy and her sister Nancy who are nurses and the formidable Lady Compton with the wonderful name of Araminta! Minty too her friends, but she is not always sweet! We learn a little about their lives and how they are all brought together by the hospital and the patients. A nice easy read.

I liked the synopsis of this.

I liked Frances and thought that Deborah was a good friend. I'm glad that they had each other and that she helped her out. The writing style was very quick, perhaps too quick. It also got overly wordy. The attention to detail was good, but I felt the pacing of the book did not let me appreciate it, or the plot/story, enough at my own pace

I felt like I didn't really get to know the characters as well as I would have wanted because of this.

I did get a sense of the daily life struggles and I was grateful to Izzy for how she brought Frances up. I really liked Izzy's journal, and I thought that was a nice personal touch in the book.

There were good insights into what it was like to be a country doctor in the 1900s. The hospital was atmospheric, and the nurses were realistically portrayed. I really did not like Dr. Walker. He was well portrayed as a doctor who had worked at the hospital for years and had his own unique way of thinking. I was looking forward to see who was going to replace him.

I felt that there were too many characters in the book overall and they were introduced too close together. I felt confused and pulled out of the story because of this.

The suffragette movement is one of my favourite periods in UK history, and I was glad it was included in this book in Izzy's backstory.

I really wanted to enjoy this, but it was unfortuunately a DNF for me.

Thanks to Lizzie Lane and Boldwood Books for my eARC in exchange for an honest and voluntary review.

3 stars.

The author certainly knows how to transport the reader to a time between the Wars when life moved at a very different pace, following different values. Frances Brakespeare was adopted from the workhouse to a well-to-do suffragette and encouraged to follow her dreams. Her fiance was killed in the first World War, so she continues her studies to become a doctor, but is faced with prejudice at every turn.

She eventually applies for a job at a cottage hospital in Somerset, where her life will follow a new path as she establishes herself and improves life for the local people. However, the shadow of her fiance always hangs over her.

A great read, and I can't wait for the next instalment. Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Really enjoyed this historical from English author Lizzie Lane. It takes place in the UK 1930, not long after the suffragette movement had won the vote for women. At first I wasn't really "in tune" with our main character, female doctor, Frances Breakspeare. I felt like her dialogue with her perspective employers was very unrealistic, bold, and a bit too "feminist". I carried on with this book and I'm glad I did. It turned into an interesting story about a small town and all the people that inhabit it. I love books like this - you get to know everyone and begin to care about them all. If you are hoping that there is a lot of medical content, well, it's not really there. But there is a lot of fun, small town goings on, some mystery, and even a bit of romance. This book definitely did draw me in, and I'll be looking forward to future tales from Orchard Cottage Hospital and beyond!
Thanks so much to Net Galley for the the opportunity to read this book!

I am a huge fan of Lizzie Lane and her work. She has written a lot of books over the years and I am slowly making my way through them. I must admit that I love the series featuring 'The Tobacco Girls'. When I heard that Lizzie was due to release a book in a new series, I knew that I had to grab a copy at the earliest opportunity and hibernate until after I had read the last word on the last page. Well ladies and gents, the wait is over because the first book in a new series is called 'A New Doctor At Orchard Cottage Hospital' and it was released on 23rd May 2024. I thoroughly enjoyed reading 'A New Doctor At Orchard Cottage Hospital' but more about that in a bit.

I absolutely loved the main character of Frances Brakespeare and I warmed to her from the very start. In fact she felt more like a friend than a character in a book. Frances hasn't had the easiest of starts in life as she is born in a workhouse. Frances is adopted by a former suffragette and brought up in a single parent household. As you might imagine, Frances is brought up to believe that women can achieve anything if they want to. Frances is something of a trailblazer as she becomes a doctor at a time when being a doctor was more of a male occupation and women in such a role were frowned upon and treated badly. Frances is a lovely young lass, who works hard and does the best that she can for the people that she treats. I kept everything crossed that Frances was going to be successful at Orchard Cottage Hospital and that she would get the 'happy ever after' ending that she so deserves. What happens? Well for the answer to that question and so much more you are just going to have to read the book for yourselves to find out as I am not going to tell you.

It's no word of a lie when I say that I was drawn into this book from the very first word on the very first page. I picked this book up and didn't put it back down again until after I had read the very last word on the very last page. It was as if the book had developed a hold over me and it was a hold that I wasn't going to break. My Kindle wasn't exactly glued to my hand but it might as well have been because it travelled everywhere with me. I couldn't bear to miss a single second of the story. Part of the reason why I enjoyed the book so much has to do with the characters - some of whom ended up feeling more like friends rather than characters in a book. I had my own suspicions as to how the story was going to pan out so I had to keep reading to see if I was on the right track or if I had wandered off in the opposite direction. The more of the book that I read, the more I wanted to read and the quicker the pages seemed to turn. I was so wrapped up in the story and in the lives of the characters that I didn't realise just how quickly the time was passing and just how quickly I was getting through the book. All too quickly I reached the end of 'A New Doctor At Orchard Cottage Hospital' and I had to say goodbye to Frances and the rest of the characters. I found 'A New Doctor At Orchard Cottage Hospital' to be a gripping, dramatic and emotional story, which certainly kept me guessing and kept on the edge of my seat.

'A New Doctor At Orchard Cottage Hospital' is superbly written but then I have come to expect nothing less from Lizzie Lane. Lizzie has an easy going writing style that is easy to get used to and easy to get along with. Lizzie has the knack of drawing the reader in from the start and making them feel as though they are part of the story and at the heart of the story. That's how I felt anyway. Lizzie clearly cares about her characters and this shines through in the very vivid and realistic way in which she describes them. She makes her characters seem just as real as you and I. I always find that the sign of a good book is when I become far too involved in the story to the extent that I 'interact' with the characters as if they can hear me. That's certainly what happened with 'A New Doctor At Orchard Cottage Hospital'. Certain characters really got under my skin and made me see red and a few rude words may have been uttered. Reading 'A New Doctor At Orchard Cottage Hospital' certainly took me on an emotional rollercoaster ride with all the highs and lows, ups and downs, twists and turns and well you get the picture.

In short, I thoroughly enjoyed reading 'A New Doctor At Orchard Cottage Hospital' and I wholeheartedly recommend this book to other readers. I will certainly be reading more of Lizzie's work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.

Love this author and looked forward to reading this latest book. Was a little disappointed as the book was just a nice level story. No intrigue or really tough or exciting characters.
A nice story which I felt fell flat, not this authors usual great story.
Many thanx to NetGalley, the author and the publishers for allowing me to read and review this book

BLOG TOUR REVIEW

Review for 'A New Doctor At Orchard Cottage Hospital' by Lizzie Lane

I really enjoyed this extremely beautifully written historical novel which is a fantastic introduction to what promises to be a great series. With a storyline filled with friendship, war, medicine, women, prejudice, romance, drama and everything you could ask in an intriguing page turner you will be hooked from the beginning to the end. I have yet to read an historical novel where the protagonist is a female doctor and I was fascinated as well as angered by the disgraceful attitudes many males had towards females of the time. It is absolutely rammed with emotions that will make you smile, cry and laugh on thi historical roller-coaster ride. Lizzie has done an immense amount of research and brings Frances's story to life along with Orchard Cottage Hospital, the surroundings and all of the other characters. I was absolutely fascinated with not just the storyline itself which I found to be unique but also all the historical facts and information included in the storyline. The fact that she made the main protagonist female living during the war and in a time where, although women were doing the same roles that men would have done they were still not seen as being able to do a males role to the same standard and the discrimination and prejudice that Frances receives, especially from certain horrid characters is absolutely disgraceful but true to those times. My heart broke but at the same time soared at the end of this beautiful story filled with romance, passion, war, love, prejudice determination and just absolutely everything you could ask for in an emotional rollercoaster page turning historical novel. This is one of those fascinating and intriguing page turners that I was just absolutely hooked to and could not put down!! Each time I even thought about putting it down something happened and I just had to know what happened next so I ended up picking it back up and devouring it in one sitting of several hours. I am pleased that this is just the start of what promises to be an absolutely fantastic and addictive series and I cannot wait to get stuck into the next book in this series! An absolutely fascinating read that can be read curled up under a blanket or while relaxing on the beach as regardless of where you read this book Lizzie's fantastic evocative writing skills ensures the readers are transported back to the 1900's and into beautiful Somerset.


Each of the characters in the book came completely to life thanks to Lizzie's amazing evocative writing skills and although I could not stand several of them, there were characters that were absolutely amazing and unforgettable!! Our main protagonist is the amazing Frances Brakespeare who I absolutely adored and became completely invested in her immediately. She is such an amazing and strong protagonist who is caring and determined!! My heart went out to her and I was rooting for her from the very moment I met her and I cannot wait to meet her again and again in this amazing series!! These amazing and eclectic characters made me angry, joyful, sad, blissful, hopeful and so, so much more in between!!! They most definitely wont be forgotten by me anytime soon!! Lizzie does an amazing job building up each of these truly amazing characters and her fantastic evocative writing skills brings each and every one of them to life. Regardless of whether you love or hate the characters one thing is certain and that is that Lizzie has the talent to bring them out of the pages so you feel you are surrounded by them as you walk along next to them all in this beautiful book.

Congratulations Lizzie Page on all your historical research and for writing this amazing story. I cannot wait to get stuck into more of your amazing books especially the next one in this series!!!

Overall an absolutely fantastic start to what promises to be an addictive series!

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A New Doctor at Orchard Cottage Hospital by Lizzie Lane takes us to Somerset, England in 1930. Women doctors were a rarity, and they were not treated as peers by their male counterparts. Unfortunately, women were seen as inferior to men. Frances Brakespeare is a strong, independent, and intelligent woman. When she becomes the new physician at the Orchard Cottage Hospital, it will take her time to overcome resistance. There were some good characters and I enjoyed getting to know them. Of course, there were some unpleasant ones as well (I want to see one get his just desserts). The story was easy to read. I thought the author captured the time period. There was one thing that I thought dragged on a little too long (when it was finally revealed, my thought was it’s about time). The ending was abrupt (I flipped back and forth going, “that’s it”). There were a couple of plot lines that were not resolved by the conclusion (which is frustrating). I am hoping that these dangling threads will be picked up in the next book. The author’s vivid descriptions of Somerset allowed me to picture the quaint town (I would love to visit). It will be interesting to see what happens next.