Little Short of a Miracle

Brigid Wells introduces extracts from the memoirs of her mother, Susan Richmond, who as a young English actress postponed a promising career on the stage to offer her services to the victims of the Great War. Richmond spent over a year at the Suffragette-founded Scottish Women’s Hospital in the Abbey of Royaumont, northern France, nursing mostly French soldiers. Her vivid descriptions of daily life during the devastating months of the Somme offensive offer both a heart-rending and uplifting account of the bravery of male patients and female staff alike.