Being in an orphanage at that time was almost always synonymous with being in a work house. The taxes at the time were extremely regressive, regressive meaning the less money you paid, the higher percentage of your income you paid in tax. So the government had no way to pay for the care of poor people, especially poor people who were not dependent on a working white male protestant. So the orphanages had to make the children work–there was no other way to pay for their food and lodging. Also, children in orphanages rarely had a balanced diet and many were sick. I can’t think of many places worse than an orphanage of that time–so I wasn’t surprised that Laura was able to adjust to a matron’s job.

Does anybody know who the cover models are? I really like this picture. The man reminds me of a younger Raymond Burr. I’m a sucker for handsome Irishmen (which Burr was). Brittle is a derivation of a Norman name.

I was a bit exhausted after finishing this book-all the endless descriptions of life at the hospital and the bloody aprons and gore and sleepless nights just wore me out. I do love Carla Kelly's knack for including grittier elements in some of her books, though. (Maybe the relentlessly kind protagonists balance it out.)

I remember, years ago, hearing that Carla Kelly has had experience working with patients before – either in a nursing home or hospital setting. So the medical aspects of her scenes involving patients have always read realistically to me. She has another great doctor character in one of the stories in the “Here’s to the Ladies” anthology – which I also noted she used as a line in this book.

I was a bit exhausted after finishing this book–all the endless descriptions of life at the hospital and the bloody aprons and gore and sleepless nights just wore me out. I do love Carla Kelly’s knack for including grittier elements in some of her books, though. (Maybe the relentlessly kind protagonists balance it out.)

I did crave more motivation for Laura’s decision to work at the hospital, since ultimately it seemed more like a grim obligation/patriotic duty than a discovery of her calling (and I had the feeling it was the opposite for Philemon).

But over all I liked it quite a bit and am looking forward to the next book.

SPOILERS – the father? That part just pissed me off. He deserved nothing. The man sold or attempted to sell his daughters. Tried to put Nana in a Spanish prison camp. I think I would have smothered him with a pillow. LOL. END SPOILERS

I agree, but I never saw this as Lord Rat-whatever deserving something as much as I saw it as Laura and Nana getting a chance for closure. They will never have to second guess their actions, have regrets, waste thier time hating him, or even have a memory of their father as a totally unredeemed person. By giving him a chance to express his regret, they were free to move on without carrying the burden of hating him. I thought Carla Kelly did this part very, very well. And, I also thought that this was very sound from a psychological perspective.

But…..

SPOILERS – the father? That part just pissed me off. He deserved nothing. The man sold or attempted to sell his daughters. Tried to put Nana in a Spanish prison camp. I think I would have smothered him with a pillow. LOL. END SPOILERS

(For all I know the profiteroles are historically accurate: I imagine Kelly researches carefully. But I still can’t imagine it.)

and probably not too clean) strangers.

Ah yes, the real reason for Philemon’s buzz cut!

Aoife, the only way her work on the ward made sense to me is that she had done – what was it? – three years of nursing for her invalid husband. But even then, she was caring for only one man and had a house full of servants to help her. And she was caring for her husband, no matter what she thought of him. For a Regency era woman to take so easily to such intimate care of men who were strangers to her – that was a stop and think, “hmmmmm?” moment for me. And to suddenly be faced with the fresh wounded from the ships – nothing in her past could have prepared her for that aspect of the job.

Exactly. I helped my mother in a very small way with some of her physical needs when she was dying, and there is no way that I would be prepared to do the kind of nursing Laura seemed to do effortlessly with a large group of total (and probably not too clean) strangers. It was just one of the things that caused a hitch in the reading experience for me, but it didn’t prevent me from enjoying other aspects of the story very much.

But I too am looking forward to sister number three. Though it would seem that a great deal of time will have to elapse after the events of book two before she’s ready to marry. I can’t recall her exact age but mid teens seems to ring a bell.

I’m looking forward to the third sister’s book, and am hoping that after that Carla Kelly has a contract for either another series or several stand alones.