{"product_id":"nightingales-the-extraordinary-upbringing-and-curious-life-of-miss-florence-nightingale-paperback","title":"Nightingales: The Extraordinary Upbringing and Curious Life of Miss Florence Nightingale - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eGillian Gill\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFlorence Nightingale was for a time the most famous woman in Britain-if not the world. We know her today primarily as a saintly character, perhaps as a heroic reformer of Britain's health-care system. The reality is more involved and far more fascinating. In an utterly beguiling narrative that reads like the best Victorian fiction, acclaimed author Gillian Gill tells the story of this richly complex woman and her extraordinary family.\u003cbr\u003eBorn to an adoring wealthy, cultivated father and a mother whose conventional facade concealed a surprisingly unfettered intelligence, Florence was connected by kinship or friendship to the cream of Victorian England's intellectual aristocracy. Though moving in a world of ease and privilege, the Nightingales came from solidly middle-class stock with deep traditions of hard work, natural curiosity, and moral clarity. So it should have come as no surprise to William Edward and Fanny Nightingale when their younger daughter, Florence, showed an early passion for helping others combined with a precocious bent for power. \u003cbr\u003eFar more problematic was Florence's inexplicable refusal to marry the well-connected Richard Monckton Milnes. As Gill so brilliantly shows, this matrimonial refusal was at once an act of religious dedication and a cry for her freedom-as a woman and as a leader. Florence's later insistence on traveling to the Crimea at the height of war to tend to wounded soldiers was all but incendiary-especially for her older sister, Parthenope, whose frustration at being in the shade of her more charismatic sibling often led to illness. \u003cbr\u003eFlorence succeeded beyond her wildest dreams. But at the height of her celebrity, at the age of thirty-seven, she retired to her bedroom and remained there for most of the rest of her life, allowing visitors only by appointment.\u003cbr\u003eCombining biography, politics, social history, and consummate storytelling, \u003ci\u003eNightingales\u003c\/i\u003e is a dazzling portrait of an amazing woman, her difficult but loving family, and the high Victorian era they so perfectly epitomized. Beautifully written, witty, and irresistible, \u003ci\u003eNightingales\u003c\/i\u003e is truly a tour de force.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eFront Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eFlorence Nightingale was for a time the most famous woman in Britain-if not the world. We know her today primarily as a saintly character, perhaps as a heroic reformer of Britain's health-care system. The reality is more involved and far more fascinating. In an utterly beguiling narrative that reads like the best Victorian fiction, acclaimed author Gillian Gill tells the story of this richly complex woman and her extraordinary family.\u003cbr\u003eBorn to an adoring wealthy, cultivated father and a mother whose conventional facade concealed a surprisingly unfettered intelligence, Florence was connected by kinship or friendship to the cream of Victorian England's intellectual aristocracy. Though moving in a world of ease and privilege, the Nightingales came from solidly middle-class stock with deep traditions of hard work, natural curiosity, and moral clarity. So it should have come as no surprise to William Edward and Fanny Nightingale when their younger daughter, Florence, showed an early passion for helping others combined with a precocious bent for power. \u003cbr\u003eFar more problematic was Florence's inexplicable refusal to marry the well-connected Richard Monckton Milnes. As Gill so brilliantly shows, this matrimonial refusal was at once an act of religious dedication and a cry for her freedom-as a woman and as a leader. Florence's later insistence on traveling to the Crimea at the height of war to tend to wounded soldiers was all but incendiary-especially for her older sister, Parthenope, whose frustration at being in the shade of her more charismatic sibling often led to illness. \u003cbr\u003eFlorence succeeded beyond her wildest dreams. But at the height of her celebrity, at the age of thirty-seven, sheretired to her bedroom and remained there for most of the rest of her life, allowing visitors only by appointment.\u003cbr\u003eCombining biography, politics, social history, and consummate storytelling, \"Nightingales is a dazzling portrait of an amazing woman, her difficult but loving family, and the high Victorian era they so perfectly epitomized. Beautifully written, witty, and irresistible, \"Nightingales is truly a tour de force. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"From the Hardcover edition.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eGillian Gill\u003c\/b\u003e, who holds a Ph.D. in modern French literature from Cambridge, has taught at Northeastern, Wellesley, Yale, and Harvard. She is the author of \u003ci\u003eAgatha Christie: The Woman and Her Mysteries\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eMary Baker Eddy\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cbr\u003eShe lives in a suburb of Boston.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 592\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.29 x 7.98 x 5.3 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e September 13, 2005\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52241505255698,"sku":"9780345451880","price":26.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0941\/2211\/5346\/files\/ySgkbh0HoD9780345451880.webp?v=1777899734","url":"https:\/\/ckbookstore.net\/products\/nightingales-the-extraordinary-upbringing-and-curious-life-of-miss-florence-nightingale-paperback","provider":"CK BOOKSTORE","version":"1.0","type":"link"}