by Gillian Gill
First published 2005
Florence Nightingale grows up in wealthy Victorian society, adored by her cultivated father and raised alongside her frustrated sister Parthenope. Despite moving in circles of intellectual aristocracy, Florence develops an early drive to help others and wield power. Her parents expect her to marry the well-connected Richard Monckton Milnes, but Florence shocks everyone by refusing him. This rejection becomes both a religious calling and a demand for freedom. When war erupts in Crimea, Florence insists on traveling there to care for wounded soldiers, scandalizing society and deepening her sister's resentment. Florence achieves fame beyond imagination, becoming Britain's most celebrated woman. Yet at thirty-seven, she retreats to her bedroom and spends most of her remaining years there, seeing visitors only by appointment. Gillian Gill weaves together the story of this complex woman and her loving but difficult family against the backdrop of high Victorian England.
Genres: biography, family, literary-fiction, historical-fiction, 19th-century
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: family-drama, female-protagonist, historical-figure
Setting: Crimea, England, United Kingdom, Victorian Society
Period: 19th Century, Crimean War, Victorian Era
544 pages · Paperback · Random House Publishing Group