Vigil in the Night by AJ Cronin
I am a big fan of AJ Cronin, and this was a powerful medical story of self-sacrifice, redemption and love written in his inimitable style. Some nurses have actually praised it in their Amazon reviews because it is so realistic, even today! I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as my all-time favourite Cronin book, however, my beloved The Keys of the Kingdom. (This is one of the books which made me think about Catholicism).
The story concerns Anne, an excellent young nurse in a small town, who covers for her irresponsible little sister and consequently loses her job. She decides to leave and travel to Manchester where she finds herself working in a grim and dirty working-class hospital where the only interesting work is in Dr Presscott's operating theatre...She also has to cope with her unfriendly and sour colleagues and her sister's problems.
Although Anne is rather too saintly to be real, and the story is extremely harrowing, I found it riveting, probably because it was so well-written. One wonders whether this kind of tale could be published today, however. Probably, no one would believe that anyone would make such an act of self-sacrifice...
The movie based on the book is supposed to be just as good, so I hope to watch it soon!
I hope to read most of AJ Cronin's wonderful novels again, so watch out for more reviews here.
The story concerns Anne, an excellent young nurse in a small town, who covers for her irresponsible little sister and consequently loses her job. She decides to leave and travel to Manchester where she finds herself working in a grim and dirty working-class hospital where the only interesting work is in Dr Presscott's operating theatre...She also has to cope with her unfriendly and sour colleagues and her sister's problems.
Although Anne is rather too saintly to be real, and the story is extremely harrowing, I found it riveting, probably because it was so well-written. One wonders whether this kind of tale could be published today, however. Probably, no one would believe that anyone would make such an act of self-sacrifice...
The movie based on the book is supposed to be just as good, so I hope to watch it soon!
I hope to read most of AJ Cronin's wonderful novels again, so watch out for more reviews here.
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