The burning lamp cover

The burning lamp

by Frances Murray

It is debatable whether Florence Nightingale had ever met a young woman quite like Phemie Witherspoon. Perhaps in the unremarkable but self-possessed scrap of a girl from Glascow she recognized something of her own redoubtable spirit. At all events, she accepted Phemie's reasons for leaving home and enrolled her to train as a nurse - one of the new breed who were to convert a degrading job of hospital nursing into a vocation.

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Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?