Call the Nurse

True Stories of a Country Nurse in Scotland's Western Isles

By: Mary J. MacLeod

Narrated by: Gwen Hughes

Recalling the classic works by James Herriot and the new British hit Call the Midwife, a nurse’s heartwarming adventures with her family while practicing in rural Scotland.

Tired of the pace and noise of life near London and longing for a better place to raise their young children, Mary J. MacLeod and her husband, George, encountered their dream while vacationing on a remote island in the Scottish Hebrides. Enthralled by its windswept beauty, they soon were the proud and startled owners of a near-derelict croft house - a farmer’s stone cottage - on “a small acre” of land. Mary assumed duties as the island’s district nurse. Call the Nurse is her account of the enchanted years she and her family spent there, coming to know its folk as both patients and friends.

In anecdotes that are by turns funny, sad, moving, and tragic, she recalls them all, the crofters and their laird, the boatmen and tradesmen, young lovers and forbidding churchmen. Against the old-fashioned island culture and the grandeur of mountain and sea unfold indelible stories: a young woman carried through snow for airlift to the hospital; a rescue by boat; the marriage of a gentle giant and the island beauty; a ghostly encounter; the shocking discovery of a woman in chains; the flames of a heather fire at night; an unexploded bomb from World War II; and the joyful, tipsy celebration of a ceilidh. Gaelic fortitude meets a nurse’s compassion in these wonderful true stories from rural Scotland.

©2012, 2013 Mary J. MacLeod. Foreword c. 2013 by Lady Claire Macdonald (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

A 1970's Visiting Nurse on Rural Scottish Island

This is a fun, engaging, and often poignant story of a family that moves to a remote Scottish island, renovates a croft and sets out to live a much simpler life. The stories center on quirky island folk and old traditions. This hardy nurse sees it all. Rising to every occasion with tremendous aplomb.

However, the narration was an issue for me. The accents were off and varied with a great deal of inconsistency. What was worse was the slow speaking mode the narrator used. I remedied the problem by, for the first time ever, increasing my play back speed. I found that 1.25 speed was perfect and made the reader sound almost normal. I did not want to give up on the story-- so this was a quick fix that made the book tolerable.

Narration aside it was a good story and worth the effort. If you enjoyed Call the Midwife, the Irish country Doctor series or even the James Herriot books you might enjoy this visit to the Outer Hebrides.

Good story terrible narration

Being a nurse I was looking forward to this story, being a Brit, I was so disappointed with the narration! The cadence was awful, words were incorrectly pronounced & accents fluctuated wildly. I almost gave up listening but a previous listener suggested speeding it up slightly which helped enough to finish it.

A must read!

I've only read two of Mary J's books, but I love them. They are among some of the best I've read. I do hope you carry more of her books.
I do prefer Jill Tanner as a narrator.

Call The Nurse

Excellent!!! I could "see" the Scottish Isles as told my Gwen Huges.
Was just wonderful! :)

wonderful tale

loved this book, the stories of the people and way of life makes me wish I could simply pack up and move. I wish that she had ended this story better though it just short of drops off. But overall well worth the time to read and enjoy