Bethnal Green
£16.99
1971 Penang. Suyin’s sister returns to the family home, a stricken figure, bearing an opportunity of a lifetime, for Suyin to take her place as a trainee nurse in London’s East End. With excitement and trepidation, Suyin embarks on new adventure, but her sister’s secrets are a constant reminder that she is living a borrowed life, in a strange, tough city. She finds solace in her job and through the gruelling but rewarding work of caring for the sick, Suyin stitches together a new identity.
‘Captures with grace and profundity the experience of immigrants and health workers’ TASH AW
‘A beautifully immersive coming-of-age tale set amongst the brilliance and bleakness of 1970s London’ LOUISE HARE
Penang, 1971. When Suyin Lim is offered the opportunity of a lifetime – a place as a trainee nurse in London’s Bethnal Green Hospital – she jumps at the chance to leave her job as a seamstress and unite with her sister, who left for the same path a year before.
However, without warning her sister returns to Penang, a shadow of her former self and Suyin is forced to leave without any answers. Suyin soon finds herself starting a new life in London, falling in love with the vibrant city and its people and as she immerses herself in the gruelling but rewarding work of caring for her patients, she begins to understand what she really wants out of life . . .
BETHNAL GREEN explores the themes of sacrifice and heartbreak, the power of using your voice and the will to build a life of one’s own against the odds. It is also a powerful love letter to dedicated NHS workers from around the world, whose work touches countless lives every day.
‘Heartstring-pulling and hopeful’ SARAH TURNER
‘I was hooked from the first page’ LAUREN HO
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