Free (Kindle) Secret Child & 60 Years A Nurse [1950s Dublin & London Society Memoirs]

[ATDrake]

Two true life story social history autobiographical memoirs, both coincidentally beginning in Ireland and moving to London during the 1950s onward and exploring the culture and society of the times through the eyes of the authors who remember living in it, are free to pre-order, courtesy of publisher HarperCollins' Harper Element imprint for true life story memoirs.

Actually, this is probably a glitch freebie, since they're being offered as all 3 parts of a 3-part serialization, which they usually charge for after offering just the 1st part free, and the non-serial full-length single-volume versions are non-free pre-orders. But if you happen to be interested, you might as well give the pre-orders a try and hope they don't cancel (will require having a credit card on file, as Amazon requires for even free pre-orders).

Secret Child by Gordon Lewis & Andrew Crofts, tells the former's own story of being born to an unmarried mother in one of Ireland's notorious homes for such, which have once again made international headlines this year, and hidden away.

Currently free to pre-order @ Amazon as parts #1, #2, #3 of 3 (available to Canadians & in the UK as #1, #2, #3 of 3) slated for release on April 23rd, 2015.

Description (cribbed from the full-length single-volume version)
The shocking true story of a young boy hidden away from his family and the world in a Catholic home for unmarried mothers in 1950s Dublin. Born an 'unfortunate' onto the rough streets of 1950s Dublin, this is the incredible true story of a young boy, a secret child born into a home for unmarried mothers in 1950s Dublin and a mother determined to keep her child, even if it meant hiding him from her own family and the rest of the world.

Despite the poverty, hardship and isolation, the pride and hope of a community of women who banded together to raise their children would give this boy his chance to find his real family. A wonderfully heartwarming and evocative tale of working class life in 1950s Dublin and 1960s London.

60 Years A Nurse by Mary Hazard is her account of being Exactly What It Says In The Title, moving from Ireland to England as part of her training.

Currently free to pre-order @ Amazon as parts #1, #2, #3 of 3 (available to Canadians & in the UK as #1, #2, #3 of 3), slated for release on April 9, 2015.

Description
When 18-year-old Mary Hazard touched down in post-war Putney to begin her nurse’s training, she could never have known that it was the beginning of a colourful career that would still be going 60 years later – one of the longest ever serving NHS nurses.

For Mary, raised in a strict convent in rural south Ireland, working in her first London hospital was a shocking and life-changing experience. Against a backdrop of ongoing rationing and poverty, she saw for the first time the horrors of disease, the heart-breaking outcomes of failed abortions – and faced the genuine shock of seeing a man naked for the first time!

60 Years a Nurse follows the dramas and emotions as Mary found her feet during those early years. From the firm friends she made under the ever-watchful gaze of Matron and the sisters, to the eclectic mix of Londoners she strove to care for; the Teddy Boys she danced with and the freedom of living away from home; and her own burgeoning love story, as extraordinary as it was romantic – these are the funny and heartwarming moments that helped Mary to follow her dream.