Edith cavell biography book

A Cup of Cold Water

The Compassion of Nurse Edith Cavell

In God&#;s timing, Edith is made director of a nursing school in Belgium for training younger nurses &#; and World War I breaks out. Caught suddenly in the turmoil of this huge international conflict, Edith finds herself surrounded by enemy spies. Still, Edith courageously continues to serve the Allied soldiers who desperately need her help.

With Belgium under German occupation, Edith and her nursing students cared for many soldiers in their hospital. They ministered to those on both sides of the war. After a soldier was released from the hospital, he was supposed to report to the German police. Instead, Edith and her nurses helped smuggle many of the Allied troops out of the countryf so they could avoid capture by the Germans.

Edith was eventually caught by the Germans and admitted to harboring these fugitives. Her punishment was death by firing squad.

Edith was a very popular nurse. Soldiers sometimes called her &#;Edith Nightingale&#;, after the well-known American nurse, Florence Nightingale. The Germans hoped the harsh punishment for the beloved nurse would send a warning to the Allies that the Germans meant business. Instead, Edith&#;s death only increased the resolve and morale of the Allied troops. Edith was recognized as a heroine and the memory of her devotion inspired the troops.

Other Volumes in The Chosen Daughters Series:

• Weight of a Flame: The Passion of Olympia Morata
• Against the Tide: The Valor of Margaret Wilson
• Dr. Oma: The Healing wisdom of Countess Juliana von Stolberg
• Wings Like a Dove: The Courage of Queen Jeanne d&#;Albret
• Johanna and Henriette Kuyper: Daring to Change Their World

About the Author

Christine Farenhorst, author and poet, has written Amazing Stories from Times Past, The Great Escape,Wings like a Dove, and Before My Mother’s Womb. Christine an

Beautifully written and based on the life of the real, inspiring heroine, The Story of Edith Cavell sweeps readers through Edith’s character-building childhood and into World War I, as she creates and operates Belgium’s first school of nursing despite the country being ruthlessly occupied. Edith becomes a key figure in the dangerous Belgian Underground and is subsequently caught and tried for high treason.

“At The Good and the Beautiful, our goal is not to help children love reading; our goal is to help children love reading the very best of literature–books like The Story of Edith Cavell. We are here to help you steer children away from books that promote low-character and are only about fast-paced, self-centered fun, and steer children toward high-quality books that are filled with light, strength, and beauty.” —Jenny Phillips

This book is a suggested read-aloud for The Good and the Beautiful History Year 2 Course.

This book is retired from The Good and the Beautiful Library.

(Reviewed by Jenny Phillips)

Birth

Edith Cavell was born in the village of Swardeston on a rainy Monday three weeks before Christmas in The village – sward and town – was four miles from the city of Norwich and had a population of Most of its acres were owned by the lords of Swardeston Manor and Gowthorpe Hall, the Gurneys and the Stewards, who traced their fortunes, their favours from the Crown, back to the sixteenth century. Villagers owned very little – a cottage perhaps and a garden. There were six farmers, three gardeners, two blacksmiths, a cooper, a mole catcher, a butcher, a wheelwright, a carpenter, a bricklayer, a schoolmistress, and the keeper of The Dog Inn. Their surnames were Skinner, Miller, Till and Piggin, they handed down their trades and skills father to son, married into each other’s families and on marriage certificates often ‘left their mark’ in lieu of signature, for not many had been taught to write. They looked out for each other, knew the vagaries of the weather, how to stack the hay, shoe the horses, make cider.

It was a way of life that seemed immutable, quintessentially English, governed by the seasons, the long nights of winter, the festivals of harvest and Christmas. War was a distant belligerence: the conflicts of empires – French, Russian, Prussian and British ambitions for hegemony – were irrelevant and remote. The preoccupations of Swardeston were with planting and ploughing and the rhythms of village life.

For Edith’s father, the Reverend Frederick Cavell – a stern bewhiskered man – Christmas was his busiest time. He had been the village’s curate for less than two years. As well as all his pastoral duties he was supervising – and financing – the building of a new vicarage which was to be his family home. He had married the previous year, at the age of forty, and this was only his second Christmas as a family man.

His young bride, Louisa Cavell, was twenty-six. She gave birth in the front bedroom of the eighteenth-century farmhouse her husband was renti

In the tiny village of Swardeston, England—population —a baby was born in Her father was the vicar of the quiet little parish, and it would have been reasonable to suppose that her life, too, would be quiet and uneventful. But Fate had other plans for her. Fifty years later, as she stood before a German firing squad, the whole world knew the name of Edith Cavell.

After Edith graduated from school, she obtained a position in Brussels as governess to the children of a wealthy Belgian. When the children no longer needed her, Edith decided to become a nurse. The work was hard, the pay practically nothing. But Edith proved to be a born nurse, and her ability was soon recognized.

When World War I broke out, Edith Cavell was the head of a nurses' training school and clinic Brussels. Rue de la Culture was the address, and it soon became a significant one. For it was a lifeline for escaping English soldiers, who would be shot if caught by the invading German army. The quiet English nurse played cat-and-mouse with the German secret police for one solid year, spiriting her countrymen over the border to Holland and safety.

When the inevitable finally happened, Edith faced the arresting officers calmly. High officials of the Allied nations tried desperately to save her from the sentence of death, but Edith's courage never faltered.

Iris Vinton has written a moving and thrilling story of the woman whose life and death have made the name of Edith Cavell stand for courage, patriotism, and honesty.