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The Nurse's Secret
The Nurse's Secret: A Thrilling Historical Novel of the Dark Side of Gilded Age New York City | Amanda Skenandore
9 posts | 8 read | 5 to read
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.
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S3V3N
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#WondrousWednesday @Eggs
1️⃣ Yinka

2️⃣ Kenan Ross

3️⃣ The Nurse‘s Secret

Eggs ❤️🍎🖤 1mo
23 likes1 comment
review
Beatlefan129
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Mehso-so

I picked up this book mainly for the setting. Una is a grifter and conwoman in NYC in the 1880s. When she gets into trouble, she takes a spot in the Bellevue training school for nurses to hide from the police. It was fascinating to see what it may have been like for these women when the field of nursing was in its infancy. The image I chose was featured in the book and is a very early blood transfusion. There was also a very obvious murder mystery

Beatlefan129 (cont) which I did not care for and an unnecessary romance storyline. 7mo
69 likes1 comment
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Littlewolf1
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This looks fun and I wanted to join in😊
1: this is a tossup between The Stranger in the Lifeboat by Mitch Albom and The Nurse‘s Secret by Amanda Skenandore
2: The Golden Dynasty by Kristen Ashley
3: Godkiller by Hannah Kaner
4: Sword Catcher by Cassandra Clare
5: The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan
6: Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe by Heather Webber (so good and helped me get out of my reading slump)
7: Mitch Albon
#MidYearBookFreakOut

Littlewolf1 8: Kazu Tokita from Before the Coffee Gets Cold
9: Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
10: Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe by Heather Webber
11: Between Wrath & Mercy by Jess Wisecup (it was Decembers bookish box pic, but I didn‘t get it till June this year)
12: House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J. Maas
9mo
10 likes1 comment
review
Bibliophile004
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Pickpick

I was expected to read a historical fiction piece on America‘s first nursing school. What I read is so much more! It‘s historical fiction/ forensics & crime. The character development of the main character is well written and leaves you rooting for the under dog Una.

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Roary47
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Mehso-so

3✨ I wish I could have given this more time than I did, but I really liked it. A young woman who is born on the wrong side of the tracks is at the wrong place at the wrong time. She hides by setting herself into a nursing school that she hates at first. She is out of her element, but sees things differently than her peers. Naturally, her past catches up to her and she gets in a sticky situation. Will likely re-read this one day.

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Littlewolf1
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Pickpick

5 ⭐️ A nursing student with a dark past, a serial killer on the loose, and multiple lives on the line. This book hooked me from page one and keep me hanging on to the last word. I love this authors ability to take some of the most unfortunate circumstances and turn them into such an endearing and captivating story. there were some points where I would‘ve enjoyed more information, but other than that, this book was excellently executed.

13 likes2 stack adds
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Cathyloves2read
Mehso-so

I read this book because its the OCT selection for a book club I belong to.We usually read historical fiction books that contain strong female protagonists.This book read more like a murder mystery The main female character was definitely strong,but not always very likable.Im usually able to pick out the real person that the historical novels that I read are based on.I wasnt able to do that with this book.Perhaps its just the setting thats real

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Read_By_Red
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Pickpick

I greatly enjoyed this novel. It contains an intriguing mystery, strong female characters, and many wonderful themes such as redemption, good vs. evil, friendship, courage, and perseverance. I really liked the protagonist Una. Plus, New York City in the 1880s makes for a great setting for this historical fiction novel.⁣ The audiobook is well done. I enjoyed Johansson‘s accents for the characters, as well as the tone and inflection throughout.

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McCombsonMain
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Pickpick

I didn‘t want to like Una. She is a thief, after all [...] And we find ourselves cheering for Una and hoping she becomes the woman we know she can be.

https://mccombsonmain.com/2022/07/14/review-nurses-secret-skenandore/

#historicalfiction