SW19 Book Club

Another wonderful book club meeting, this is what Annie had to say:

Annie Graham

Author of Louisa's Lament

“It was a dark and stormy night when we met last Saturday to discuss the layers of story-telling in Louisa’s Lament. The toxic brew included mysogyny spiked with class and religious tensions.

Over a delicious supper, we speculated on who would play the key roles in the movie. How about Florence Pugh as the wronged Miss Ingle; Olivia Coleman as the long suffering Miss Burt; and Rachel Weisz as the haughty Miss Lonsdale?

And thank you to the SW19 Book Club for their generous contribution of £100 to the Birkbeck Student Support Fund Charity.”

Louisa's Lament

Annie Graham

How did Louisa Ingle go from being a hard-working nurse at London’s Guy’s Hospital to despised outcast, shunned and condemned for manslaughter?

Caught in a bitter dispute between the hospital’s modernisers and traditionalists, she was a scapegoat for the warring factions when the conflict tumbled out of control in the summer of 1880.

This is the story of that struggle and her downfall, and how she learned of the conspiracy that entangled her and drove her into deep despair at the rank injustice of her betrayal.

But it is also the inspiring true story of a group of pioneering women as they stepped out of Florence Nightingale’s shadow to establish the value of nursing as a profession for independent women.

llustrations by June Schneider, read more about their creation here.

Published: April 2023

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The book transports you to Victorian times in London through very detailed descriptions of the streets and interiors. It describes well how the religious and social conflicts of the time feed into the story. Also very interesting are the internal power struggles at the hospital. It gets into the heads of the protagonists. The author used to work in Guy's and has a strong background in Organisational Psychology and Victorian Studies - all of this feeds into providing an engrossing read.

A fascinating and important story told in a very engaging way. The author paints very vivid pictures of life in London during that period in history giving a fascinating context to the early struggle for nursing to be able to rise above social norms and power structures of that time to develop the skill and professionalism that we know today. She writes so well about each of the characters involved that you get drawn in to their individual stories and lives. A very good read.

I received this book as a family gift and read it for a book club meeting. it is a mixture of novel and medical history .. A sort of Hilary Mantel style approach. The research is well conducted and the author ( who writes under a pen name) is highly qualified to write about the subject. The minutae of domestic life in Victorian times is possibly as interesting as the account of the Guys Hospital events which are the main focus. The structure of the book is, i gather, to possibly enable a film adaption (again in the style of Mantel). It is to be hoped that this may happen.

This was a well told story based on real events highlighting how 'tribal' allegiances in healthcare can have terrible consequences. It also demonstrates the difficulty in affecting change especially as women in a male dominated environment and the influence of religion in people's perceptions and actions. I found it intriguing and would thoroughly recommend it.

Beautifully written account of the state of nursing and female “rights” in 19th Century London.

The illustrations are lovely and bring the story further to life.