The Irish Nurse at the Lodging House

Represented by:
Sophie Gorell Barnes

Category:
historical fiction

Publisher:
Bookouture

Publication date:
October 21st 2025

Foreign rights controlled by:
Bookouture

London, 1940. Walking up the steps of the lodging house at No. 34 Hill Street in Mayfair, Grace Whelan is full of hope, despite the bombs raining down on London every night. But is this the fresh start she craves, or will the family she’s desperately running from catch up with her?

Nurse Grace Whelan’s Irish accent isn’t out of place on the hospital wards in the East End. But she hides it, and so much more, when her work takes her to the other side of the city. Her roommates at the lodging house and her potential beau, RAF pilot Owen, can never know the secrets she’s keeping about her family…

The three girls may share a room in the cosy lodgings, but they are very different. Jess is a country girl not used to the city, and Betony is adjusting to life without her aristocratic father’s money. But as they go through terrifying air raids and family heartbreak together, a sisterhood starts to form.

Until Grace’s criminal brother tracks her down, looking for money. And when it’s revealed she’s not the only one involved with Owen, the scandal threatens to tear the three apart for good.

Devastated, Grace is torn. Will she lose her new friends as quickly as she found them? Or can confessing all her secrets bring them closer together, as the war comes to their doorstep?