Copyright 1957.
This book, like Elaine Forrest, seems to be very well researched, and even carries the stamp of approval from the American Physical Therapy Association. Laurie loved science in school, and decided to use those skills to be become a physical therapist. She couldn't afford medical school to become a doctor, and really did not care to go into nursing. Her parents died in a car accident when she was a young child, and then her aunt raised in Wisconsin. With her first full-time physical therapy position, she moves to Philadelphia, and is terribly homesick at first. She loves her new job, though. She works with patients who have experienced various accidents and illnesses, including several recovering case of polio - and in fact, there is a minor epidemic of polio in the course of the book, because the vaccine has not yet erradicated it as yet. A new orthopedic doctor has come to the hospital, and they work together to photograph the progress of the patients. This doctor is very gruff and guarded at first, so Laurie doesn't know what to think. Will Laurie find out his secrets? Will Laurie quit her job after she marries this doctor? I seem to be left to think that this might happen .
This is a blog to focus on books I am currently reading - both new/fresh reads and to re-visit the books I loved as a child and young adult. (FYI: "Ketab" means book in Persian/Farsi)
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Elaine Forrest: Visiting Nurse by Lois Hobart (A Career Romance for Young Moderns)
Published 1957.
At first, this "Romance for Young Moderns" did not grab me as fast as the others I have read very recently. Elaine is not quite as interesting a heroine - she is rather self-centered and rather snobbish. So, of course, you know she will have to change in the course of the story. Also, she is attempting a long-distance relationship with her fiance. You know that this is not going to go well, either, especially after she meets the very interesting doctoral student Dirk. One thing that held me to this story was the mystery connections that Elaine had to discover over the course of time of her deceased mother to this small town she has moved to. This book is well-researched and seems to be well-written. However, it is too short. . . I actually want to know what happens to Elaine and Dirk get married? I think Elaine keeps working, but there is no hint one way or the other.
At first, this "Romance for Young Moderns" did not grab me as fast as the others I have read very recently. Elaine is not quite as interesting a heroine - she is rather self-centered and rather snobbish. So, of course, you know she will have to change in the course of the story. Also, she is attempting a long-distance relationship with her fiance. You know that this is not going to go well, either, especially after she meets the very interesting doctoral student Dirk. One thing that held me to this story was the mystery connections that Elaine had to discover over the course of time of her deceased mother to this small town she has moved to. This book is well-researched and seems to be well-written. However, it is too short. . . I actually want to know what happens to Elaine and Dirk get married? I think Elaine keeps working, but there is no hint one way or the other.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Miss Library Lady , a "romance for young moderns"
Miss Library Lady , a "romance for young moderns", by Ann McLelland Pfaender (copyright 1954)
I just discovered this book in the Juvenile Collection at the U of A. I had never read it before, and so of course, I was curious as to what a career-oriented romance from 55 years ago had to share about libraries.
It was really a fun and quick read. It also showed that libraries and their patrons are still much the same. Here is an interesting example:
"Scheduled arrangements were made with the school for the next Monday morning, and after careful preparation Jean started on the long walk to Greenfern School. In a Mexican basket, gay with color, she carried application cards for new membership, a few new books, and some bookmarks. As a horrible example she added a tattered book that plainly showed wear and tear, plus the greasy imprint of a limp strip of bacon she had discovered tucked into its pages, used by some child as a bookmark" (53). (This still happens.)
Jean, who was born in Scotland, moved to the US with her mother as a young child. Now as a successful new graduate from Library School, she automatically gets placed in a library position in the local library system! Wow, how fortunate for the graduates! She wanted the Children's Librarian position open in the main library, but one of the branch managers has specifically requested Jean. She grows to love her new position among a diverse population. Then on a ski trip with friends, she meets a man from Hawaii, who eventually convinces her to move to Hawaii - to a Branch Manager position there that he gets for her. How lucky! Of course, they fall in love with each other, and plan to get married. (It is a very "clean" romance.) She will continue to work after they are married - after all, this is a romance for " young moderns", and women can now work and be married at the same time!
I just discovered this book in the Juvenile Collection at the U of A. I had never read it before, and so of course, I was curious as to what a career-oriented romance from 55 years ago had to share about libraries.
It was really a fun and quick read. It also showed that libraries and their patrons are still much the same. Here is an interesting example:
"Scheduled arrangements were made with the school for the next Monday morning, and after careful preparation Jean started on the long walk to Greenfern School. In a Mexican basket, gay with color, she carried application cards for new membership, a few new books, and some bookmarks. As a horrible example she added a tattered book that plainly showed wear and tear, plus the greasy imprint of a limp strip of bacon she had discovered tucked into its pages, used by some child as a bookmark" (53). (This still happens.)
Jean, who was born in Scotland, moved to the US with her mother as a young child. Now as a successful new graduate from Library School, she automatically gets placed in a library position in the local library system! Wow, how fortunate for the graduates! She wanted the Children's Librarian position open in the main library, but one of the branch managers has specifically requested Jean. She grows to love her new position among a diverse population. Then on a ski trip with friends, she meets a man from Hawaii, who eventually convinces her to move to Hawaii - to a Branch Manager position there that he gets for her. How lucky! Of course, they fall in love with each other, and plan to get married. (It is a very "clean" romance.) She will continue to work after they are married - after all, this is a romance for " young moderns", and women can now work and be married at the same time!
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