*A STYLIST TOP 10 DEBUT FICTION BY WOMEN FOR 2025*
*A COSMOPOLITAN TOP 25 BEST HISTORICAL FICTION NOVEL*
'Captures with grace and profundity the experience of immigrants and health workers' TASH AW
'A beautifully immersive coming-of-age tale set amongst the brilliance and bleakness of 1970s London' LOUISE HARE
Penang, 1971. When Suyin Lim is offered the opportunity of a lifetime - a place as a trainee nurse in London's Bethnal Green Hospital - she jumps at the chance to leave her job as a seamstress and unite with her sister, who left for the same path a year before.
However, without warning her sister returns to Penang, a shadow of her former self and Suyin is forced to leave without any answers. Suyin soon finds herself starting a new life in London, falling in love with the vibrant city and its people and as she immerses herself in the gruelling but rewarding work of caring for her patients, she begins to understand what she really wants out of life . . .
BETHNAL GREEN explores the themes of sacrifice and heartbreak, the power of using your voice and the will to build a life of one's own against the odds. It is also a powerful love letter to dedicated NHS workers from around the world, whose work touches countless lives every day.
'Heartstring-pulling and hopeful' SARAH TURNER
'I was hooked from the first page' LAUREN HO Amélie Skoda (Author)
Amélie Skoda was born in London to French and Malaysian parents and grew up in Kent. She studied English at University College London and has an MA in Creative Writing from Royal Holloway, University of London. Her writing was shortlisted for the 2021 Mo Siewcharran Prize. Bethnal Green is her first novel.
Bethnal Green vividly brings to life the experiences of women who came from across the world to join the NHS and build their lives in Britain in the 1970s. In 2021, Bethnal Green was shortlisted for the Mo Siewcharran Prize. The novel is set in a London hospital and about the history of nursing and the NHS.
