Review: One of The Best Books I Have Read in a Long Time
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 10, 2014
The story begins in Belgium, June 1815 when an Earl's granddaughter, following in her famous fathers footsteps,  becomes a surgeon to tend soldiers wounded in the war against Napoleon Bonaparte. Since women medics were looked down upon as no better than prostitutes, she uses a fictitious name to avoid bringing shame upon the family name.While traveling alone from one field hospital to another she is set upon by two ragtag French soldiers and rescued by a wounded Englishman, Lord Edward (Ned) Kellington, the brother of a Duke.  Hiding in a cave she extracts a bullet from the handsome Englishman saving his life, and succumbs to his charms.After their return to the Brussels hospital camp, Lord Kellington calls upon Iris Johnston (Lady Jane Wetherby) the following day to propose marriage, only to find her gone. Her Grandfather had sent his servants to bring her back to England. For 3 years he tries to find her, only to be told Iris Johnston does not exist.They don't see each other again until Ned is on his way to visit the Lady he is expected to marry in Marston Vale, Bedfordshire, April 1822, 7 years later. At the outskirts of Marston Vale he stops to assist a wounded farmer who has fallen on his scythe and is bleeding profusely. The local surgeon who has been summoned is none other than  the fictitious Miss Johnston. One look and he knows he still has feelings for her."Never a Mistress, No Longer a Maid" has a delightful cast of characters, I fell in love with the precocious 6 years old Vi. I will look for more books written by Maureen Driscoll. She is a wonderfully talented author with the exceptional ability to draw the reader into the story, feel a connection with her characters: hurt when they hurt, laugh when they laugh. She does not use what I call "filler words" or redundancy to fill pages of her book, as some authors do. She kept me riveted to the story from beginning to end.I HIGHLY recommend this well written book.