THE NURSE’S SECRET
BY AMANDA SKENANDORE
Publication Date: June 28, 2022
Kensington Books
Genre: Historical Fiction
From acclaimed author and registered nurse Amanda Skenandore, The Alienist meets The Light of Luna Park in a fascinating historical novel based on the little-known story of America’s first nursing school, as a young female grifter in 1880s New York evades the police by conning her way into Bellevue Hospital’s training school for nurses…
In the slums of 1880s New York, Una Kelly has grown up to be a rough-and-tumble grifter, able to filch a pocketbook in five seconds flat. But when another con-woman pins her for a murder she didn’t commit, Una is forced to flee. Running from the police, Una lies her way into an unlikely refuge: the nursing school at Bellevue Hospital.
Based on Florence Nightingale’s nursing principles, Bellevue is the first school of its kind in the country. Where once nurses were assumed to be ignorant and unskilled, Bellevue prizes discipline, intellect, and moral character, and only young women of good breeding need apply. At first, Una balks at her prim classmates and the doctors’ endless commands. Yet life on the streets has prepared her for the horrors of injury and disease found on the wards, and she slowly gains friendship and self-respect.
Just as she finds her footing, Una’s suspicions about a patient’s death put her at risk of exposure, and will force her to choose between her instinct for self-preservation, and exposing her identity in order to save others.
Amanda Skenandore brings her medical expertise to a page-turning story that explores the evolution of modern nursing—including the grisly realities of nineteenth-century medicine—as seen through the eyes of an intriguing and dynamic heroine.
“A spellbinding story, a vividly drawn setting, and characters that leap off the pages. This is historical fiction at its finest!” – Sara Ackerman, USA Today bestselling author of The Codebreaker’s Secret
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Review:
After her mother died in a fire and her father became lost to drink and the opium dens, Una Kelly takes to the streets of the Five Points in New York. She is picked up by Marm Blei who teaches her to be an expert pickpocket. When a deal goes wrong, a murder is pinned on Una. She escapes the police but has lost Marm Blei's protection. When Una sees an advertisement for nurse trainees at Bellevue Training School, she takes the opportunity to lie low for a while. In her new position, Una not only makes friends, but finds she might actually be good at nursing once she puts some effort into it. A life on the streets around a variety of different people as well as sickness, blood and filth has prepared her well. However, the strange murders that happened in the Points seem to be following her to the school. Una may be able to catch the killer, but she will have to expose her true self.
The Nurse's Secret is a beautifully written historical fiction story set in 1880's New York City. The characters were all intriguing and I was engrossed with Una's story from the beginning where she was observing people to steal from and then helping a younger thief at the same time. The vivid descriptions brought the Five Points neighborhood to life as well as Bellevue Training School and the medical procedures there. I enjoyed seeing Una change as well as excel in Bellevue. With her roommate, Dru, Una was able to see what true friends are like and finally trust someone as well as have them trust her back. I found it interesting that Una was able to relate to all the patients there better than some of the other nurses due to her time on the streets. The incorporation of the mystery carried suspense throughout the story even though I had a good idea of who the culprit might be. The romance was well done and did not detract from the story. Overall, The Nurse's Secret is an immersive story of 1880's New York with strong characters and a great mystery.
Amanda is the author of Between Earth and Sky, winner of the American Library Association’s 2019 Reading List Award for Best Historical Fiction, and The Undertaker’s Assistant, released from Kensington in July 2019.
She grew up in the mountains of Colorado and sang and danced her way through 68 cities on both sides of the Atlantic with the service organization Up with People before starting college. Her love of historical fiction started early with the stories of Kenneth Thomasma, Mark Twain, and Laura Ingalls Wilder.
When she’s not writing, Amanda works as an infection prevention nurse. She lives in Las Vegas with her husband and their pet turtle Lenore.
Amanda Skenandore is a historical fiction writer and registered nurse. Between Earth and Sky was her first novel. She lives in Las Vegas, Nevada. Readers can visit her website at www.amandaskenandore.com. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, BookBub, and Goodreads.