Why a Booktrail?
1970s: Suyin Lim is offered the opportunity of a lifetime
Bethnal Green
What you need to know before your trail
When Suyin Lim is offered the opportunity of a lifetime – a place as a trainee nurse in London’s Bethnal Green Hospital – she jumps at the chance to leave her job as a seamstress and unite with her sister, who left for the same path a year before.
However, without warning her sister returns to Penang, a shadow of her former self and Suyin is forced to leave without any answers. Suyin soon finds herself starting a new life in London, falling in love with the vibrant city and its people and as she immerses herself in the gruelling but rewarding work of caring for her patients, she begins to understand what she really wants out of life . . .
Locations
Reset- England - London
- A: Bethnal Green hospital
- B: Bethnal Green tube
- C: Mile End Park
- D: Foyles bookshop
- Malaysia - Penang
- E: George Town
Travel Guide
1970s London
This book shows London in all its diversity. The period and time is very clear by the many images the novel conjures such as the uniforms the nurses wear in the book and the shortages suffered during the Winter of Discontent.
A very relevant read given the praise we give to the NHS and the number of foreign workers it depends upon. It shows how people work so hard in hospitals and what they go through to become nurses etc.
Penang is mentioned of course as the sisters come from here but London is the focus of the novel.
BookTrail Boarding Pass: Bethnal Green
Destination/location: London, Penang Author/guide: Amélie Skoda Departure Time: 1970s
Back to ResultsWhere Next?
