No Place for a Lady, by Gill Paul

[Lincolnshirelass]

(originally published by Harper Collins, 2015)

My first review, so hope it goes okay .... feedback, including negative, welcome!

This books concerns the lives of two sisters, Dorothea and Lucy Gray, and their experiences and relationships during the Crimean War.

It opens in London, where the girls are living in comfortable circumstances with their amiable but rather ineffectual father. Dorothea, the much older sister, has seen herself as being a substitute mother to flighty Lucy since the death of their Mother from cancer. In part influenced by their Mother's traumatic death, Dorothea is working as a nurse at a charity hospital.

Lucy falls head over heels in love with the handsome military man Charles Harvington (who is estranged from his family) and to Dorothea's horror, their father gives permission for them to marry. When troops are deployed to the war zone, Lucy travels with her husband, and proves herself quite hardy - she is one of the few not to get seasickness on the long and graphically described journey!

At first she and Charlie are blissfully happy, though she is troubled by him once calling out the name 'Susanna' in his sleep - it turns out this is a misunderstanding, and she was his younger sister - he still holds himself responsible for her death in an accident many years ago, and the family have not forgiven him.

Meanwhile, Dorothea is determined to join Miss Nightingale's nurses in the Crimea, and despite some initial rebuffs, she, too, sets sail, and alongside her nursing she is determined to be reunited and reconciled with her younger sister. She also meets the surgeon Mr Crawford, and their relationship is initially one of mutual professional respect.

Tragedy strikes when Charlie is killed - and the situation is made infinitely worse for Lucy when she discovers more about the circumstances of his death (won't include a spoiler). She becomes separated from the main body of British people and in a kind of confused trance state is rescued by a Turkish officer called Marud, who takes her to a rather handy Russian dacha. Despite their differences in religion and background, love blossoms between them, too.

Whilst Marud and Lucy are in their lyrically described love-nest, Dorothea continues her quest to find her sister, and also encounters Mary Seacole, whose methods of nursing are rather different from Miss Nightingale's but win her respect.

Marud, too, is wounded in action and falls into a deep coma. Lucy forms a deep bond of friendship with his family, especially his mother Hafza, but despite all their efforts, he remains unconscious and unresponsive. Lucy has also realised she is pregnant and wonders how this will be received.

Eventually the sisters are reunited and it turns out that Charlie was instrumental in preventing their reunion. This is hard for Lucy to come to terms with, though she still mourns him deeply.

Love has also blossomed for Dorothea, as she and Gordon Crawford finally admit to their feelings for each other.

Finally, after the birth of Marud junior, known as Mumu, the sisters go home together with him and Mr Crawford but know that a large part of their hearts will always be in the Crimea.

This was a well-told and moving story, and the descriptions both of the scenery and the surgical procedure (not necessarily for the squeamish!) were excellent without being over-loaded. The relationship between the two sisters, especially considering most of it is conducted whilst they are physically apart, is well-developed and touching, and allows both of them to develop. There was also an appendix with some pictures of the area at the relevant time that was interesting to look at. As would be expected from a major publishing house, the quality of editing was excellent and I found no mistakes, though perhaps the author is a shade over-fond of semi-colons.

I just have a few reservations. Elements of the books were a shade derivative - the relationship between the sisters obviously draws on 'Sense and Sensibility' (though I daresay Jane Austen was not the first to present two radically different sisters!) and Marud reminded me rather of Ash in 'The Far Pavillions'. I also thought that perhaps the spell in the dacha was rather over-idealised.

But for all that it was an enjoyable and informative read, and in the absence of 3 and a half stars, I would give it 3.

[Whitney Marchelle]

Good review. I may actually check this story out. I always enjoy sisters who have that contrast.

[pinklover]

hmmmm, The book is good but it is not appealing to me. I can't relate with the story. Thanks for reviewing this book.

[RebeccasReading]

Congrats on your first review! Great job!!