This is a story of a confused, chaotic and repressive childhood lived in the West Country before, during and after WWII. As WWII began and rumbled along in the background of her young life, MacLeod offers a children's perspective of life in wartime Britain. Evacuees came (and went). Her father built an air-raid shelter. A plane crashed into her village. The local school children collected scrap metal for the war effort. Following the death of her mother at a young age, a tenuous relationship with her father and stepmother, and financial difficulties that prevented her achieving her dream of becoming a GP, MacLeod settled for second best. From childhood to nursing education, and ultimately State Registration, this is the tale of how The Island Nurse became an adult and began her long and fruitful career.

这是一个关于二战前、二战中和二战后生活在西区的困惑、混乱和压抑的童年的故事。随着二战的开始，在她年轻生活的背景下隆隆作响，MacLeod提供了一个儿童视角的战时英国生活。疏散人员来了（又走了）。她的父亲建造了一个防空洞。一架飞机坠落在她的村庄。当地学校的孩子们为战争收集废旧金属。她的母亲在她很小的时候就去世了，与她的父亲和继母的关系也很脆弱，经济上的困难使她无法实现成为全科医生的梦想，MacLeod只好退而求其次。从童年到护理教育，以及最终的国家注册，这是一个关于 "岛屿护士 "如何成为一个成年人并开始她漫长而富有成效的职业生涯的故事。