about the book
A Fair Isle Nurse by Mona McAlpine
Often surrounded by sea mist or racked by relentless gales, the island of Fair Isle runs to its own rhythms.
In the mid 1960s a young nurse arrived to begin working here, one of the most remote inhabited islands in Britain. She would be the sole provider of medical care for the local population.
Her coming of age was dependent on the acceptance, support and kindness of the Fair Isle people. Would she succeed?
A Fair Isle Nurse is a memoir based on Mona’s diary and her memories of my experiences as a nurse in Fair Isle.
There’s some debate about which island – Foula or Fair Isle – is more remote from the rest of the country. Thanks to the knitwear, Fair Isle is certainly better known, and maybe because you fly over it or pass it on the ferry on the way to Shetland it feels more accessible. Mona McAlpine’s memoir of her year nursing on Fair Isle in the mid 1960s is a treat. Fresh from her training, this was a big job for a young woman: there’s no doctor on the island and it’s several hours by sea to get her patients off the island when she feels they need more specialised medical help.
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ABOUT Mona
Mona is a formidable lady and over her long career has been a great inspiration to many. She comes from a lineage of Shetland midwives and grew up inspired by many interesting stories told around the peat fire with the Tilley lamp hissing in the background.
After leaving the Pre-Nursing College in Elgin and completing her General Nurse training at Stirling Royal Infirmary Mona was finally able to follow her heart and embark on a midwifery career. This took her to Queen Charlotte's Maternity Hospital in London and then onto Glasgow where she practised mainly home deliveries, often in the city's slums. Afterwards she returned to Shetland where she was employed as ‘A Triple Duty Nurse’ (nurse, midwife and health visitor) and her first appointment was Fair Isle where she spent one year. This was just the start of her lifetime adventure which eventually took her to South Africa where she spent 30 years.
“A Fair Isle Nurse is the first book from 60 North Publishing, and it’s impressive. Both beautiful to look at and handle, the book gives space to Mona’s voice, which is the sort that’s so often overlooked, and she gives an honest account of island life, warts and all. It’s maybe her accounts of sea-sickness that I found most endearing – the stretch of water between Fair Isle and Sumburgh is notorious – but it’s the responsibility of her position that sticks with me. I’m looking forward to the next volume, which will detail her career as a midwife in Africa.”
— Hayley Anderton, Desperate Reader
“A sweet, charming little memoir of a young nurse’s year spent caring for the people of Fair Isle in the early 1960s. The depictions of the islanders, their traditions, their joys, and woes came to life. Definitely a fascinating and cozy read! This is a book I will pick up again and again.”
— Amanda, Goodreads