The Country Nurse
After a short prologue set in North Africa in 1941, The Country Nurse begins in 1937 and follows the fortunes of an aunt and nephew born only a few weeks apart: Tilly Truscott and Ronnie Locock. Based on the Isle of Wight, they are both eighteen and excited to embark on their chosen careers. Tilly is training to become a nurse, and Ronnie starts work at an engineering company. The plot follows Tilly and Ronnie in their jobs and love lives in the years up to and including the Second World War.
The Country Nurse is the third in Tarpey’s The Truscott Family Saga, but it can be read as a standalone novel. Tarpey’s style of writing is informative, which deadens any tension inherent in the potentially dramatic events of the plot. The main characters, Tilly and Ronnie, feel two-dimensional. Although they both face several life-changing situations, the characters’ mild reactions and lack of interiority mean that the reader is never fully immersed in their story. Although the plot moves along quite well, Ronnie disappears from the last third of the book as the narrative focuses on Tilly, and we never find out what happens to him during the latter part of the war. There are also some historical inaccuracies; for example, Tarpey mistakenly locates the Battle of the Somme (in France) to the Ypres area of Belgium.
Overall, this is an unremarkable Second World War saga. The plot and characters of The Country Nurse have potential, but unfortunately have not been well executed. It is probably best read by those who have a penchant for WW2 sagas or who have enjoyed the previous two books in The Truscott Family Saga series.
