Reviewed by Emma Crowley
Nurse Grace Whelan’s Irish accent isn’t out of place on the hospital wards in the East End. But she hides it, and so much more, when her work takes her to the other side of the city. Her roommates at the lodging house and her potential beau, RAF pilot Owen, can never know the secrets she’s keeping about her family…
The three girls may share a room in the cosy lodgings, but they are very different. Jess is a country girl not used to the city, and Betony is adjusting to life without her aristocratic father’s money. But as they go through terrifying air raids and family heartbreak together, a sisterhood starts to form.
Until Grace’s criminal brother tracks her down, looking for money. And when it’s revealed she’s not the only one involved with Owen, the scandal threatens to tear the three apart for good.
Devastated, Grace is torn. Will she lose her new friends as quickly as she found them? Or can confessing all her secrets bring them closer together, as the war comes to their doorstep?
Many thanks to Bookouture via NetGalley for my copy of The Irish Nurse at the Lodging House to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
The Irish Nurse at the Lodging House is the first book in a planned trilogy called The Wartime Lodging House from Natalie Meg Evans. Set in London in 1940 during the Blitz it follows Irish born Grace as she navigates an uncertain world during the war whilst trying to remain loyal to her family despite the many obstacles strewn in the path she wishes to follow. Grace and her family came across as the stereotypical Irish family living away from the Emerald Isle. Their father died and their mother spends her days drinking herself into oblivion whenever she can lay her hands on the funds to feed her addiction. Grace’s sister Immie, whose husband is away fighting in the war, has left with her children for the countryside where it was presumed safer. Her twin brothers Ricky and Cormac couldn’t be more different. Ricky suffered trauma at birth and therefore leads a simple life. One in which Grace does her utmost best to protect and keep him safe at all times. Cormac is a completely different kettle of fish, a bad apple involved in numerous shady dealings and is not immune from giving Grace a fist even though it’s all unnecessary.
Grace is the glue that holds the family together as they struggle to pay rent due to their circumstances. Her hopes for fully qualifying as a nurse were cruelly dashed due to Cormac’s actions and now she can only do private nursing not work in a hospital which she longs to do especially as the number of casualties and injuries from the Blitz increase daily with hospitals being overrun and people in desperate need of care and attention. Grace is a strong and formidable young woman. I loved how she wasn’t afraid to stand up to Cormac and was always striving to earn enough to pay the rent and put food on the table. Everyone appeared to rely on her and paid little heed to the ambitions she had. She had to put those on the backburner for the sake of her family and in particular Ricky whom she would do anything to protect and keep him safe in the little bubble he inhabited. Grace desperately wants a gateway into a new life and as we follow her journey over the course of the book we see a woman who goes against what society expects of someone from her background and she starts to follow her heart.
The first quarter or so of the book focuses on Grace and we learn a lot about her background, the situation she is currently in and her character which is one of strength, tenacity and she certainly has a no-nonsense attitude. A new job sees her begin working for Lady Ventor who is bed bound but really if she got her act together, she could live a perfectly normal life. Lady Ventor was a tyrant and a cruel bully and Grace was pushed to the pin of her collar many times. Keeping her origins a secret wasn’t easy for Grace and I loved that she reached breaking point with Lady Ventor and the scenes where she truly let rip and said how she felt re the words and actions of Lady Ventor were fantastic.
A subtle romance starts to play out when Grace discovers Owen, a man who stood up for her on the train, is the nephew of Lady Ventor. He is in the R.A.F and from that point on he features quite heavily but their connection between the pair is subtly underplayed until towards the end of the book. To be honest, I would have liked a bit more depth to this aspect of the story as it all just seemed to happen so quickly and because there was quite a lot going on in the book this strand could have done with more exploration.
Betony and Jess were introduced just as I felt I was really getting to know Grace and this allowed the lodging house of the title to come into play which I had been wondering about as there was no mention of it for a good while. As this book is Grace’s story Betony and Jess don’t get that much attention rather I felt they were being brought into the story, little titbits were revealed and in future books we will get to know more about them. The three young women share a room in Gloria’s lodging house as Grace sought different accommodation when she needed to be nearer to Mayfair to get to Lady Ventor’s house. Also there is a truly heartbreaking scene at the mid-way point which means Grace has fresh new challenges to face. Fairplay to the author for doing this in the book because other authors may have shied away from it in order to keep readers happy but the event I am being very resolute in not revealing any spoilers on is a catalyst for change for Grace and it spurs her on even more to do what she feels is right in her heart.
Between Betony and Jess, although we don’t learn masses of amounts about them it’s definitely Jess that I want to read more of. She is a lost soul coming to London to try and find out the truth about the fate of her sister Charlotte. She has a job in the Ministry of Information but I felt she came across as troubled and weak and that in the future she will need the support of both Grace and Betony. The little bit I learned of her made her come across as intriguing and beguiling and there is a sense that her story will be dramatic, but I hope it will be fulfilling for her and we will see her garner strength.
Betony is the opposite of Grace and Jess. I hate saying this but I couldn’t warm to her at all. She comes from a wealthy background but has refused to go with her mother to their country estate for safety. She works on her Aunt Sybil’s magazine but she didn’t seem to be a very hard worker. She was more concerned with the pursuit of a man and given it was the war I thought she could have done so much more to help her country. Fancy gowns and going to nightclubs and trying to catch the attention of either two certain servicemen seemed to be her goal in life. There was Grace grappling with so much with her family, the details of which you’ll love to read for yourselves and then you have Betony who was flighty and intent on pursuing a man. Herself and Grace didn’t get off on the right foot when they first meet and the bonds of sisterhood and friendship I don’t think have fully emerged yet but that could all change in future books. I think Betony needs to come down nearer to the level of Grace and Jess and realise that everyone is in it together seeking a better future, freedom and love where possible.
The book ends on a major cliffhanger which will definitely leave readers coming back for more. I was deeply invested in things by that stage and didn’t want it to end where it did. How could we be left waiting to see what happens? But wait I will have to. The Irish Nurse at the Lodging House was a promising start to the trilogy and it felt like a different direction in the author’s writing. There is heartbreak, danger, friendship and moments of joy throughout as London battles the nightly raids from across the water. The sense of camaraderie and battling through is starting to comes across very well and the emotions are heightened the further the book progresses. Overall an engaging and interesting read and I will be back for more.
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