The remarkable wartime diary of nurse Kathleen Johnstone

'Warm, chatty and endlessly absorbing, this delightful diary brims with intelligence and humour.' Wendy Moore, author of Endell Street: The Women Who Ran Britain's Trailblazing Military Hospital

The second world war could not have been won without the bravery and selflessness of women on the Home Front. Women like Kathleen Johnstone.

This first-hand story of one extraordinary but unheralded member of Britain's 'Greatest Generation' brings home with extraordinary lucidity and compassion the realities of wartime Lancashire.

In 1943, Kathleen, then thirty, was a nurse-in-training at the Blackburn Royal Infirmary. For the next three years she kept a meticulous diary of her day-to-day existence, leaving behind a vivid record of the real-time concerns of a busy, thoughtful woman on the frontline of the war at home.

Kathleen's days were never the same. She writes in clear and lively prose about life in the hospital: of her fellow nurses, her patients, about death and dying, and the progress of the war as wounded soldiers returned from Normandy in the summer of 1944. She muses on being working class, wartime austerity, and her anxiety about examinations. Here too are dances, Americans and a POW boyfriend in Germany. Kathleen's observations are witty, wry and astute - but above all relatable, even today.

Poignant and engrossing, Kathleen Johnstone's tale of trauma, romance and friendship will leave a lasting impression.

About the Author

Patricia and Robert Malcolmson are social historians who have edited several diaries for publication. They have edited three different volumes of the diaries of Nella Last, the inspiration for the award-winning drama Housewife, 49: Nella Last's Peace, Nella Last in the 1950s and the collected edition The Diaries of Nella Last. Patricia and Robert's other books include The View from the Corner Shop: The Diary of a Yorkshire Shop Assistant in Wartime (the diary of Mass Observation writer Kathleen Hey) and Women at the Ready, a history of the Women's Voluntary Service on the Home Front during the Second World War. They live in Nelson, British Columbia, Canada

Reviews

'A born diarist - sensitive, observant, sometimes opinionated, never taking herself too seriously - Kathleen Johnstone gives us a wonderfully intimate and humane picture of a northern life towards the end of the war. In fact, a positive gem.' David Kynaston, author of Austerity Britain

'Warm, chatty and endlessly absorbing, the diary of student nurse Kathleen Johnson opens a fascinating window into the small joys and terrible tragedies of World War Two. From her delight at a "real egg" to her amazement at the new "wonder drug" penicillin, this delightful diary brims with intelligence and humour.' Wendy Moore, author of Endell Street: The Women Who Ran Britain's Trailblazing Military Hospital

'An inspiring and uplifting record of wartime life in a hospital. Kathleen Johnstone's warmth and wit render her diaries a gripping read.' Lucy Fisher, author of Women in the War: The Last Heroines of Britain's Greatest Generation

Praise for Nella Last's Peace, from the same editors:

'Extraordinary - tender, intimate, striking, heartbreaking and witty - it grants us the lovely and dignified privilege of knowing a stranger's heart.' A. L. Kennedy

'A social document of extraordinary interest and value.' D J Taylor

Book Information
ISBN 9780008519155
Author Patricia Malcolmson
Format Paperback
Page Count 352
Imprint HarperNorth
Publisher HarperCollins Publishers
Weight(grams) 240g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 20mm