Walking Forward, Looking Back

The book tells the story of a retired district nurse and midwife reflecting on her life whilst walking with her close companion Harriet, the dog. It is a touchingly honest work written straight from the heart. The reader will both laugh and cry as the author recounts many moving stories of patients cared for in 1960s London. The writings so patently contrast care in the community then and now that it becomes impossible not to regret the passing of a time when nursing was seen as a vocation, when nurses were proud to serve. Divorce and single parenthood accompany her career journey, while living alone escorts her into retirement. It is then that fortune takes a hand, or rather a paw, and brings Harriet the dog into her life. This may just have been the coming together of chance and good timing but, destiny or happy accident, it was certainly a blessing. It was her need to be taken on daily walks that finds our author evoking memories, randomly flicking through a lifetime of...