Heart and Soul: The Story of Florence Nightingale

Patricia Morley is professor emerita of English and Canadian Studies at
Concordia University and an avid outdoor recreationist. She is the
author of several books, including The Mountain Is Moving: Japanese
Women’s Lives, Kurlek and Margaret Laurence: T

There are many biographies of Florence Nightingale, the pioneer British
nurse who served in the Crimea in wartime in the mid-19th century. Gena
Gorrell brings to older children her story of this heroic figure in this
first-rate book, which includes many black-and-white illustrations,
contemporary photographs, engravings, and prints.

Nightingale has been sentimentalized as an angel of mercy, but the real
woman was tough and demanding. Had she not been a tiger in petticoats,
she would not have survived and accomplished what she did in the Crimea.
At the time, women were not even allowed to vote. Florence’s own
parents were shocked by her choice of vocation and by her activities.
Tennyson expressed the mood of the times in one line: “Man to command,
and woman to obey.”

The book’s oversized dimensions and its well-planned formatting work
well. Illustrations often have substantial captions. Social, political,
and historical points are set off in sidebars. An engraved scene may be
wrapped in commentary on two sides. The format should hold the attention
of middle- and upper-school readers. The style is direct and
hard-hitting, well suited to preteens and older (although the occasional
colloquialism may grate on adults). The scholarship is sound. In sum,
Heart and Soul is highly recommended.