At first glance, a piece of sentimental Victorian melodrama with added social commentary and criticism of the Victorian class system. Not surprising, considerin

Dublin, 1962. Within the gated grounds of the convent of The Sisters of the Holy Redemption lies one of the city’s Magdalen Laundries. Once places of refuge,

"Smart and earthy . . . richly imaginative . . . the epitome of the storyteller's art."—St. Louis Post-Dispatch, named one of "The Year's Best Books" "This am

Mercy, a nurse in the Franco-Prussian War, has her post taken over by the Germans. Mercy meets the emergency with great skill and aplomb, comforting the wounded