‘No, no, no,’ screamed the voice in my head. ‘I like nail varnish too much!’
Sent to interview the nuns of the Order of St John, the midwifery and nursing order that was behind the Call the Midwife television series, Helen was inspired by the way the women had believed they had been forced to take their vows by a power beyond their control, in some cases very much against their wishes.
Helen decided to write a book based on the nun’s stories. She created Sister Catherine Mary, whose fictional life is taken from their real-life experiences.
Born into a working-class North London family, Katie Crisp wants to do something with her life. She volunteers to help the Sisters of St John the Divine in their nursing and midwifery work in the impoverished East End in the 1950’s, and finds herself called to join them, becoming Sister Catherine Mary. The sisters had been present at births, cared for the sick and laid out the dead for a hundred years. Sisters of the East End offers an insight into the unique world of these nursing sisters. As a novice Katie rallies against the vow of obedience, yet as a nurse and midwife she learns about the nature of dedication, love and loss.
Sisters of the East End is a personal journey about coming to terms with one’s fate and finding faith through doubt. It charts the changing lives of nuns in the twentieth century, and also tells a wider story of social change, especially in the health and lives of working-class women in Britain. Sisters of the East End reached no.2 in the Sunday Times bestseller list.