I really enjoyed going back to the hospital and finding out what was happening to familiar characters and being introduced to new ones. Those who do good, have good intentions and those who are just out for themselves. All mix together in an eclectic mix and makes for a good story. May be better read after reading the others, but still would work as a standalone.

Another great read in this saga. I have enjoyed all of them and this one didn’t disappoint in fact it was one of my favourites. Would recommend reading it

"Bleak Times at Orchard Cottage Hospital" by Lizzie Lane, is a brand-new tragic saga set in 1932 Somerset. This novel is an ideal read for those who appreciate historical sagas with a strong emotional focus, especially fans of the works of Rosie Clarke and Fenella J. Miller.

The tale follows Doctor Frances Brakespeare as she battles with the tragic death of a young woman left at Orchard Cottage Hospital. This central enigma drives the story, pulling Frances into an identity and justice quest. In addition to the compelling plot, the novel delves into Frances's inner crises: her mother's ailing health, an ardor-possessed admirer, and a tantalizing job proposal from a premier London hospital. This tension compels her to balance her professional aspirations against an increasing sense of belonging in the small town and to its people.
Balancing Frances's narrative are the entwined lives of other characters, such as Nurse Lucy Daniels and Devlin Compton-Dixon, each dealing with their own secrets and fears as a prominent society wedding looms near.

The writer skillfully interweaves these separate stories, holding out a promise of a rich fabric of unencumbered truths, age-old secrets, and optimistic resolutions as the story unravels itself from Christmas to Spring. The title, in this regard, refers more to the early dismal situations that ultimately yield to scenes of hope and resolution. It's an engaging novel that will prove to be heart-wrenching yet ultimately uplifting.

An English historical saga set in Somerset in 1932. Sadly I did not realise that it is the third book of an established series, so I was unfamiliar with the characters. It is probably best to read the series from the beginning. There’s a lot going on to this book. It’s something of a medical drama as well as a romance (more than one). This story centres around the local hospital’s female director doctor and her personal dilemma, and the mystery of the murder on ‘her’ doorstep.

This is the third book in the Orchard Cottage Hospital series and yet again it’s another wonderful read. It was lovely to be back in the market town of Norton Dene in Somerset and find out what the characters we met in the previous books are getting up to. The first chapter was an emotional one and I found myself with a tear in my eye. Lizzie Lane does an amazing job of developing the characters and I just loved reading about them all. Doctor Frances Brakespearse has a lot going on but she still performs her duties in the most caring manner. There’s also a wedding to look forward to between Lucy Daniels, a nurse at the hospital and upper class Devlin Compton Dixon. However not everything always runs smoothly and we wonder if the wedding will go ahead or not. As always with a book by this author I was captivated from the very beginning and this feeling never went away until I read the final chapter. A great ending which paves the way for book number four.

Bleak Times at the Orchard Cottage Hospital is the third book in the series, written by the immensely talented author, Lizzie Lane.

In a heartbreaking turn of events, a young woman is found lying in the snow and ice outside the hospital during the early morning hours. A shadowy figure was seen fleeing in the distance, but the identities of both remain unknown to the hospital staff. Tragically, the young woman passes away shortly after being discovered. Dr. Brakespeare is determined to investigate and identify those responsible for her life-threatening injuries. Can the team at the Orchard Cottage Hospital resolve the mystery?

Lizzie Lane never ceases to amaze me with her writing skills! I'm always captivated by her stories and this one is no exception. I love how she developed a female doctor character during an era when women in medicine still faced significant opposition. The series shows that Dr Brakespeare has triumphed over those who initially disapproved of her appointment. I’ve learned so much about how women in the 1930's, were often unable to seek help for birth control because their husbands wouldn't allow it! Go and get your copy ASAP!!

Set between the Wars, this is a fairly saccharine version of life in a small village set around the hospital. Back to the days when health professionals knew and cared about their patients!

Frances Brakespeare is a pioneer, being the first woman doctor to lead the team, and the story opens with a woman left in the snow on the hospital doorstep, dying from a botched abortion. We discover who she is and that other women in the village have a new champion to help them get rid of unwanted babies. Meanwhile the staff themselves are going through their own difficulties - Frances is torn between accepting a job offer in London or staying in the village, a decision that has to take into account her ailing mother and long-suffering fiance. Nurse Lucy has made a discovery that will affect her planned wedding to the local gentry.

Overall its a pleasant read, with no great surprises. Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sweet and thoughtful

Another warm-hearted installment in this series, this book combines historical details about a rural hospital in the early 1930's with romance and mystery. I have read the first books in the series but don't think it is necessary in order to make sense of the characters and backstory. I find Ms Lane is not afraid of the controversy of female professionals, divorce and woman's issues, which makes the book quite interesting.

Thank you to the publisher who lent me a time limited e-arc via netgalley with no obligation. This review is optional and my own opinion.

This story takes place in 1932 and the reader learns how the lives of Dr Frances Brakespeare and the nurses are progressing. There is also the ongoing romance of Frances with the Rev. Gregory Sampson. This story concerns illegal abortions and women’s rights concerning their own bodies and contraception. Some of the men still considered it their decision to make. I have read the other books in the series and this story does give brief descriptions of what has happened before but you will get so much more from reading all the books. They are written in a very easy to read way and it almost feels like catching up with family members. There is a mystery in this book and a new character makes an appearance towards the end. I’m assuming more will be written about him in the next book. I received a copy and have voluntarily reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I was looking forward to the third book in the series having read the previous two. Although this could be read as a stand-alone one would have far more context regarding the back stories of the characters if one read them all - and I do recommend that.

This book centred around Frances Brakespeare and her dilemma - should she take an offered job in London or stay in Norton Dene with Gregory, the Vicar, whom she loves but wants to keep her career and some independence? There is also the upcoming wedding between Lucy and Devlin - will that go to plan or not?
There is also a side story regarding the death of a woman after an illegal abortion - who is she? And who helped her?

This is resolved in what is an obvious way - but also tackles divorce and infidelity which seemed to be the ‘norm’ especially within the upper classes. It’s 1932 - and we think of these things as modern phenomenon. There is also the death of Frances’ mother - who she has only recently become to know. There is also a twist in this tale.

The book is entertaining and well written - and my synopsis must make it sound very confusing but it really isn’t. All the threads intertwine but are also resolved in such a way to leave a hint there may be more to come.

Thanks to the Publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

The story is set in 1932 in the Orchard Cottage Hospital.

It’s late when a young woman is found left on the steps, but she found a little too late as she’s died due to what she suffered. Even then .Dr Frances wants to find out more about her, who she was and the reasons why she was left there, as well as how those injuries happened on her body.

She is also managing to come to terms with her mother’s health declining. The upcoming wedding of Nurse Lucy is not that far off now, she’s marrying Delvin, the person she looked after when he lost his sight.

I enjoyed reading this book.

I recommend this book.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for an advance copy to read and review.

Lizzie Lane has several historical sagas to her credit. This is the third in her Orchard Cottage Hospital series featuring Dr Frances Brakespeare, an unconventional young woman performing capably in what was, during the 1930s, a very unconventional role. She is not only medically trained at a time when few women were practising physicians, she is also the hospital’s director. And the mining village of Norton Dene in Somerset, where the story is set, is not one that holds unmarried women in high regard. Especially those such as Frances, who openly supports contraception. Frances and her female hospital staff have been attempting to educate local mothers on how to avoid the back-to-back pregnancies and large families that break them physically and financially. That contentious project dominated the second book. It’s never far from the surface here, especially since the dramatic opening scene concerns a young woman left bleeding and barely alive on the hospital steps, the victim of a botched abortion.

There are many other stories woven through the central mystery about the woman’s identity and that of the man who left her at the hospital. Was he the baby’s father? Did he procure the abortion? Or was he a Good Samaritan who wanted to stay out of the public eye?

Preoccupied as Frances is about this murder, she has much else to deal with. Destitution and unhygienic food and housing, along with the locals’ distrust of doctors, lead to outbreaks of such dangerous children’s diseases as measles. Her friend, sweet Nurse Lucy Daniels, now engaged to marry the aristocratic blind veteran Devlin Compton-Dixon, is feeling fragile and insecure because of the class distance, just as his mother, the well-meaning Lady Araminta, is organizing a high society wedding neither of them want. Frances’ own biological mother, who had been unknown to her most of her life, is dying slowly, when they have had so little time together. The Reverend Gregory Thompson, the most endearing and patient of all suitors, must remain patient while Frances decides whether to take up a prestigious job offer in London. And then there is the wonderful, no nonsense, salt of the earth Ma Skittings, who has a knack for speaking her mind but also for turning up at the right moment to take care of anyone who needs it.

The abortion story is solved in a strangely offhand way that is somewhat anticlimactic, and there are a few last minute surprises, sort of ‘windows opening when doors are closed,’ that seem out of the blue. There’s even a new and initially unimpressive male doctor hired practically in the last chapter. But this all points to Book 4, with some intriguing suggestions as to where that story will go.

The 3rd in the series and another great read, loved this series and can’t wait for the next installment.

It was the dead of night in a freezing cold winter in 1932 when a man struggled through the snow with the young woman he was attempting to get to the hospital. She was in a very bad way, but he lowered her in front of the door, rang the bell, then fled. When the young woman died of her horrific injuries, Dr Frances Brakespeare was determined to find the culprit of her injuries, the man who ran off, as well as the poor woman's identity.

With Frances' mother's health in a bad way, and Nurse Lucy Daniels' wedding to Devlin Compton-Dixon coming up in June, Christmas passed quickly. But trouble was on the doorstep and Frances had a big decision to make...

Bleak Times at Orchard Cottage Hospital is the 3rd in the Orchard Cottage Hospital series by Lizzie Lane and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Catching up with all in Norton Dene, Somerset, was a welcome experience. I love Ma Skittings who is kind, caring and infinitely clever; Reverend Gregory Sampson and his patience as he courts Frances, and of course, Devlin's mother, Araminta Compton-Dixon who is a breath of fresh air. All in all, a fabulous read which complements the first two in the series; I'm looking forward to #4. Highly recommended.

With thanks to NetGalley & Boldwood Books for my digital ARC to read and review.

This is the the third book in the Orchard Cottage Hospital.It is now 1932 and a young woman is left on the steps of the hospital but it is too late for her as she dies from her injuries.Dr Frances wants to find out who it was that left her there and who it is that has caused the injuries too her.Dr Frances is also coping with the failing health of her mother.Nurse Lucy Daniels wedding is fast approaching to Delvin Compton-Dixon who she nursed when he was blinded..This is a great read.Thank you to Netgalley and Boldwood.

Incredibly sad beginning that shows a very different time for women when access to proper family planning and contraception wasn't as free or acceptable as it is now. It seems a murder mystery but there's a lot more to this as we learn of the community around the hospital.

Lucy and Frances are the main focus although I did quite like most of the other characters too. Both are dedicated to what they do and exploring their stories shows the difficulties women had when they'd worked up to a career only to get married and then be expected to step away although I liked how this shows the changing attitudes and how some men were happy for their wives to continue to work. It's a sad story in some ways and offers up the reminder that we've come along way in terms of women's right. We might not be all the way there yet but there has been some big changes. There's also a lot of positives in this and Devlin and Minty's acceptance of Lucy shows that not all people see class as an issue. The community also reminds us of what it's like to look out for others around you and come together when need be.

A nicely paced story that held my interest in the lives of its characters. Not only were there the potential romances/marriages for Doctor Frances Brakespeare and Reverend Gregory, Nurse Lucy and Devlin, an injured war veteran, but there was a murder to be solved, a divorce sought after and medical dramas. Not only did those dramas occur at the hospital, but also at Frances' home, where her birth mother is very ill, dying. These characters were all introduced in the books before this one, but you can follow the story easily enough without having to read those books before this one.

There was much focus on contraception of the time and how people felt about it, both the women and the men. Being very much a man's world, for the most part, women were interested in taking control of whether they got pregnant or not, but their husbands were set against it.

One of the main plots in the book looked into the way women were having to turn to backstreet abortions, and how, in many instances, having one done would end in tragedy. It is one woman's particular tragedy that is looked at in this book. I loved the way that she was connected to people in ways we couldn't have imagined.

An interesting story with enough going on to captivate the reader without overwhelming them with too many characters and back stories.

In this third installment of the Orchard Cottage Hospital series, author Lizzie Lane gives you a mix of emotions throughout the book. The book opens with a man carrying a dying woman to the hospital to try to save her, but it is too late. This unlocks a mystery about who she was and what killed her.(Trigger Warning). Meanwhile, love is in the air, but can nervous jitters derail it when an old flame comes to town? Dr. Frances Brakespeare is finally united with her mother, but only for a short time. This book was amazing, and if you're a fan of the series and author, you won't be disappointed. The characters continue to be fleshed out, and the dialogue and storyline keep your attention. I look forward to another installment in this series and other titles from this author.

This is the third book in the Orchard Cottage Hospital Series and I have become very invested with the lives of the inhabitants of Norton Dene, Somerset. It’s now 1932 and on a dark cold night a woman is left outside the hospital and she dies shortly afterwards. Doctor Frances Brakespeare is keen to identify the young woman and those responsible for her death. This could be read as a stand-alone but I really would recommend reading them all in order to understand the background to the characters.

Briefly, Frances has a lot on her mind. Her relationship with Reverend Gregory Sampson is progressing nicely but she has received an amazing job offer in London, does she go with her head or her heart. Her birth mother is living with her and Frances knows she is not long for this world. And the wedding of Devlin Compton-Dixon and Nurse Lucy Daniels is in planning and Lucy has some news for her fiancé but before that happens Devlin’s former girlfriend invites herself to stay at the Compton-Dixon’s home.

Lots of threads running through the book but all neatly intertwined making this a good easy read. As always this author doesn’t avoid unpleasant storylines and many issues women faced at this time are still high on the agenda, with unwelcome pregnancy the main concern. Such a good cast of characters but Ma Skittins is a favourite, she has a wise head on her shoulders and is such a caring soul. An emotional and entertaining read, my favourite so far, leading nicely into book 4.

nother in the series of Or hard Cottage Hospital and it was as every good as the previous ones and I do hope there will be more as I have unanswered questions. Dr Francis is still heading up the medical team but this book focuses on her relationships with her Mother and the Vicar. This time period was dreadful for women and particularly around maternity care and abortion issues addressed in this storyline. Please bring us more. Thanks to Lizzie and her publisher. Thanks also to NetGalley