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"Sweeping yet intimate, Flight of the Wild Swan tells the story of Florence Nightingale, a brilliant, trailblazing woman whose humanity has been obscured beneath the iconic weight of legend. From her adolescence, Nightingale was determined to fulfill her life's calling to serve the sick and suffering. Overcoming Victorian hierarchies, familial expectation, patriarchal resistance, and her own illness, she used her hard-won celebrity as a battlefield nurse to bring the profession out of its shadowy, disreputable status and elevate nursing to a skilled practice and compassionate art. In lush, lyrical detail, Melissa Pritchard reveals Nightingale as a rebel who wouldn't relent-one whose extraordinary life offers a grand lesson in inspired will"--
About the author
Melissa Pritchard is the author of twelve books, including the novels Flight of the Wild Swan and Palmerino, the short story collection The Odditorium, and the essay collection A Solemn Pleasure: To Imagine, Witness, and Write. Among other honors, she has received the Flannery O’Connor Award, Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize, and Carl Sandburg Literary Award as well as fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Carson McCullers Center. Emeritus Professor of English and Women’s Studies at Arizona State University, she is the fiction editor for Image journal and lives in Columbus, Georgia.
Summary
A majestic novel of Florence Nightingale, whose courage, self-confidence, and resilience transformed nursing and the role of women in medicine
Sweeping yet intimate, Flight of the Wild Swan tells the story of Florence Nightingale, a brilliant, trailblazing woman whose humanity has been obscured beneath the iconic weight of legend. From adolescence, Nightingale was determined to fulfill her life’s calling to serve the sick and suffering. Overcoming Victorian hierarchies, familial expectations, patriarchal resistance, and her own illness, she used her hard-won acclaim as a battlefield nurse to bring the profession out of its shadowy, disreputable status and elevate nursing to a skilled practice and compassionate art.
In lush, lyrical detail, Melissa Pritchard reveals Nightingale as a rebel who wouldn’t relent—one whose extraordinary life offers a grand lesson in inspired will.
Foreword
Co-op availableSignificant bound galley mailing to media, booksellers, and librarians. Additional digital review copy distribution to media, booksellers, and librarians through Edelweiss National print, public radio, and online media campaignsPublication coincides with Women’s History Month (March 2024) and ahead of International Nurses Day, which is celebrated on the anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth (May 12, 2024)Author statement available in press materialAuthor appearances in Columbus, GA and more cities TBDReading group guide in development and book club outreachSimultaneous eBook publication and promotionPostcards availableEarly outreach and giveaways through LibraryThing and Goodreads Promotion through BLP’s social media channels and website: www.blpress.orgPromotion through the author’s website: www.melissapritchard.comPromotion through the author’s social media channels, including Instagram (@melissabpritchard), Twitter (@PritchardMeliss), and Facebook (@melissa.pritchard.33)Editor: Erika GoldmanAgent: Joy Harris of Joy Harris Literary AgencyCover designer: Emily MahonMarketing and publicity efforts supported by Molly Mikolowski of A Literary Light
