Call the Nurse: True Stories of a Country Nurse on a Scottish Isle

Call the Nurse is Mary J. MacLeod's delightful memoir of working as a district nurse on one of the Inner Hebrides islands in the 1970s. That latter part is actually shocking, as many of the homes have only just gotten electricity, and some are still without indoor plumbing. Although she is practicing decades later than James Herriot, the conditions she encounters are so similar that I had to actively and repeatedly remind myself that they were not, in fact, contemporaries.

Part of what makes Call the Nurse so delightful is the style in which it's written. I often felt as though MacLeod were next to me, reminiscing for my benefit alone. Her folksy, yet unmistakably British, language and approach is also very much in keeping with Herriot's style - as well as that of Jenny Lee, whose memoirs were adapted for the excellent Call the Midwife television series.

As with both Lee and Herriot, MacLeod's caseload offers a mixture of grace, humor, and tragedy, with a good measure of resilience and hope. The people of the Inner Hebrides are unquestionably self-sufficient, used to doing for themselves. In bad weather, the only off the island is by helicopter; in terrible weather, one must manage on one's own. Her work as a nurse offers MacLeod a glimpse into her patients' inner lives, as well as myriad social issues from the land clearances (still only one or two generations removed for the very oldest residents) to lingering wartime trauma, incest, alcoholism, and murder. All of these MacLeod treats beautifully.

Since finishing Call the Nurse, I've learned of a sequel, Nurse, Come You Here, which I am now patiently waiting to read as soon as my turn is "up" at the local library.