Unconditional love in times of a pandemic

Emily Burdon is a nurse at St Marylebone Infirmary in London. It’s 1918. The war is coming to an end, but the casualties keep on coming. Not war wounds, but flu: a deadly flu. The Spanish flu is terrorising the whole world and especially young men and women are succumbing to it.
While trying to save as many lives as she can, Emily meets James Cantor, a doctor from Canada, who will be helping out at the hospital. The moment their eyes lock, there is a spark between them. But Emily is already engaged; her fiancé Lewis is fighting in the war. She’s torn between her feelings for the attractive James and the far-away Lewis. Who will she choose?

In When the World Stood Still a vivid picture is painted, full of despair and death. Who knew that even after the war was over soldiers would come home and die from a flu? What could be done about it? Without many medical instruments, the healthcare workers at that time tried to battle the Spanish flu with whatever came to mind—risking their own lives for those of their patients.
From time to time the events are quite graphically described. For instance, at one point a pregnant woman is ushered into the hospital. She has almost succumbed to the flu and is in labour. Emily and James have to try to save the baby. Quite a bloody mess, literally, but heart-warming to know the little boy survives!

Aside from disease and death, the book is also a story about unconditional love. Emily’s life is drastically changed by the war and by the Spanish flu. It takes her friend Lucy, but brings her the lovely child Jane. It’s a story about hope. Last year I read another of Kate Eastham’s novels: An Angel’s Work. I was impressed by its depiction of the strength of friendship in a world torn apart by war. When the World Stood Still is a little different, and in my opinion the storyline isn’t as strong as that in An Angel’s Work. However, it is a very interesting read—especially in these times, in which our healthcare workers are trying to fight COVID-19. In fact, Eastham dedicates her latest novel: “to all nurses and health care workers who staffed the front line during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Thanks to Bookouture, author Kate Eastham and NetGalley for providing me with a review copy.