I have a long-standing fascination with characters who work in medical fields
and feature them regularly in my books. So when it came time to develop the idea
for my new mystery series set in 1860s San Francisco, I gravitated toward my
sleuth being a nurse, a woman who would regularly encounter death.
According to the 1867 Directory for San Francisco, there were approximately
seventy-five women working in various medical occupations--midwives, nurses,
female physicians (a euphemism for abortionists), and a handful of self-styled
physicians utilizing spiritual or water cures. Even for those women offering
traditional care, the training would have been sparse, the medical professions
still ruled by men who resisted the attempts of females to invade their
territory. The only information most women gained came from books, or from their
mothers or other female relatives who knew how to prepare herbal treatments or
homeopathic remedies.
Beginning in the 1840s, religious societies in Europe were the main source of
trained nurses. Their training also was rudimentary, with nearly as much or more
time spent on receiving religious instruction as on any clinical exposure to
patient care. In America, it wasn’t until 1849 that the first woman, Elizabeth
Blackwell, received a degree in medicine, and her path to achieve that degree
had been difficult and nearly accidental. Even with her success, avenues for
women to pursue legitimate training remained elusive.
Furthermore, nursing as an occupation was considered unsuitable for
gently-raised women. However, the need for nurses came to the forefront during
the Crimean War, when understaffed British field hospitals suffered high
mortality rates among the soldiers. However, nursing duties consisted primarily
of women providing ‘female companionship.’ Viewed as fragile and possessing an
inferior intellect, female nurses were generally restricted to simple
chores--preparing and serving meals, bathing feverish foreheads, reading to the
patients or writing letters for them. Any tasks resembling what we consider
today to be the jobs of nurses were left to male orderlies and doctors.
Nonetheless, some women gained a taste of their possible roles in the medical
field and hungered for more opportunities.
In 1850, the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania opened. This was the first
college in the world with a primary purpose of conferring medical degrees upon
women. In 1861, the school’s role expanded to include the training of nurses. It
is at this school that my fictional sleuth, Celia Davies, receives her education.
Celia will put that education to use when she opens a clinic in San Francisco
treating women of limited means. The world she serves is often struck by
violence, and Celia is too committed to her patients to leave all the detective
work to the police. Her training will prove a valuable asset to her newfound
role of sleuth.
Nancy Herriman abandoned a career in Engineering to chase around two small
children and take up the pen. She hasn't looked back. A multi-published author,
she is also a former winner of the Romance Writers of America's Daphne du
Maurier award for Best Unpublished Mystery/ Romantic Suspense.
When not
writing, she enjoys singing with various choral groups, gabbing about writing
with friends, and eating dark chocolate. After two decades in Arizona, she now
lives in her home state of Ohio with her family
Mystery of Old
San Francisco #2
The author of NO COMFORT FOR THE LOST returns with a new mystery of Old
San Francisco...
British-born nurse Celia Davies runs a free medical clinic to assist the poor
women of San Francisco. Aided in her endeavors by her half-Chinese cousin
Barbara and feisty housekeeper Addie, Celia has earned the trust and friendship
of many of the city’s downtrodden, including a young orphan named Owen—who’s
just confided to her that he’s stumbled upon a corpse.
Owen recently started working for the ruthless real estate and development
group, Martin and Company, and discovered a dead body in the office’s basement.
Celia turns to Detective Nick Greaves for help, only to learn that one of the
main suspects—the husband of Celia’s dearest friend—is an old enemy of Nick’s.
Now, Celia and Nick must put aside their personal feelings about the case—and
each other—if they’re going to bring a killer to justice...
Mystery Historical
[NAL, On Sale: August 2, 2016, Paperback / e-Book,
ISBN: 9780451474902 / eISBN: 9780698192270]
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