‘Call the Midwife compellingly transposed from the East End of London to the Borneo rainforest’
Lynne Tembey, Mothers’ Union Worldwide President
1959. Newcastle nurse Wendy Grey leaves her comfortable life and answers a call from people in Borneo to run a clinic in a place so remote, many there have never before seen a white woman. Until her arrival, medical witchcraft has been the norm. Nevertheless, Wendy quickly gains the trust of the locals, and they begin to flock to her for treatment. And – terrifyingly – when some require emergency surgery, she must also become anaesthetist and surgeon… or watch her patients die.
From treacherous journeys on land and water to tea parties with the governor; from tussles with snakes and scorpions to Scrabble with nuns; from struggling with illness to suddenly falling in love – this unique glimpse into contrasting sides of a lost colonial world is possible thanks to Wendy’s detailed diaries, written by the light of an oil lamp in her bamboo and palm-leaf house.
Meanwhile, back home, churches throughout the UK are praying for the young woman in Borneo.
‘A heart-warming adventure… a spellbinding narrative… a step into another world.’ Mark Beaumont, adventurer, author and broadcaster
قائمة المحتويات
List of photographs vii
Historical background x
Main characters xii
Wendy in North Borneo xviii
List of abbreviations xx
1 The longhouse: October to November 1959 1
2 ‘Who will go for us?’ November to December 1959 14
3 A hut and a jamban: December 1959 to
April 1960 24
4 The operating theatre: May 1960 43
5 Travels with Arnold: May to June 1960 52
6 Rags and riches: June to July 1960 63
7 A hard chair and a bucket: July to August 1960 81
8 The mission cat: September to December 1960 93
9 A schoolboy surgeon: December 1960 to
May 1961 108
10 The first ice: May to June 1961 126
11 Travels with my mother: June to
September 1961 140
12 An intruder: September to October 1961 160
13 A view of the hills: October to December 1961 179
14 A maze of rivers: December 1961 to
February 1962 196
15 Signals: February to March 1962 207
16 Perfect days: March to May 1962 219
17 Wild horses: May to June 1962 229
18 Endings and beginnings: June to
October 1962 238
Afterword 255
Glossary of Malay and Dusun words 261
Boats used by Wendy 263
Acknowledgements 264
عن المؤلف
Wendy Grey Rogerson was born in Newcastle and brought up in Northumberland. She trained as a nurse at Charing Cross Hospital in London, then returned to Newcastle where she worked as a midwife, district nurse and health visitor before going to Borneo. Wendy is a Lady Freeman of Newcastle upon Tyne, and she and her husband, an Anglican priest, live in Durham.Barbara Fox grew up in Newcastle then moved to London where she worked as a journalist for the Radio Times and the Telegraph newspapers. She is the author of Is the Vicar in, Pet? (Sphere, 2014), When the War Is Over (Sphere, 2016), co-author of Bedpans and Bobby Socks (Sphere, 2011 – featured on Woman’s Hour), and editor of Eve’s War by Evelyn Shillington (Sphere, 2017).
المزيد من الكتب الإلكترونية من نفس المؤلف (المؤلفين) / محرر
49٬419 كتب إلكترونية في هذه الفئة
