A Mill End woman has written a novel based on the letters of her older sister when she was working as a nurse in Uganda during the 1950s.
Published at the end of June, Catharsis is the new, mostly true book written by Yvonne Stirling, based on the weekly letters home written by her sister Elizabeth, who left to go work in the African country in 1956, a time when British rule was still in place.
The letters were only found by Yvonne sixty years later, long after Elizabeth’s young and tragic death at the age of thirty-two.
Put together, the writings paint a picture of life in a nation slowly edging its way towards independence, and how the political and social upheaval deeply affected not just her sister’s life, but for all of the people of Uganda.
A former chief laboratory scientist for the Medical Research Council, Yvonne is more used to writing medical papers, though she has also written a children’s book, a number of articles and some poetry. This is her first full-length novel.
Speaking about the reason why she wrote Catharsis, Yvonne said: “I just thought that this was a story that should be told.”
The book can be bought on the publisher’s website, or through WHSmith.
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