Not Your Average Nurse

From 1970s London to Outback Australia, the True Story of an Unlikely Girl and an Extraordinary Career

Maggie Groff

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‘Over time, I nursed victims of war, the posh, the poor, the famous and the infamous . . . Oh, the stories I tell!'

To a young girl the life of a student nurse sounds exciting, but with long hours and short shrift it’s never easy. So when Maggie Groff defies her parents’ wishes and embarks as a student nurse at London’s King’s College Hospital, she must quickly get to grips with the demands of her chosen career. It’s sink or swim.

In this delightful romp through time, played out against the march of feminism and the fashion, music and movies of almost half a century ago, we follow Maggie’s highs and lows as she struggles with stern ward sisters and wilful patients, and eventually qualifies as a registered nurse and sets sail for Australia.

From nursing at a poor London housing estate and working as an in-house nurse at glamorous Selfridges to treating injuries on the Great Barrier Reef and becoming an industrial nurse at the iconic Sydney Opera House, Maggie shares her stories of mistakes and mayhem, tea and sympathy, and the life-affirming moments that made it all worthwhile.

Published: 1 May 2017
ISBN: 9780143785347
Imprint: William Heinemann Australia
Format: Trade Paperback
Pages: 400
RRP: $34.99

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About the author

Maggie Groff

Maggie Groff is a multi-award-winning Australian novelist, columnist and non-fiction writer whose work has been translated and published internationally. She is the author of three non-fiction books: the best-selling Mothers Behaving Badly (1999), Hoax Cuisine (2001) and Not Your Average Nurse (2017). Maggie is also the author of the two highly-acclaimed crime novels featuring investigative reporter Scout Davis: Mad Men, Bad Girls (2012) and Good News, Bad News (2013).