Life of a Russian Woman Doctor: A Siberian Memoir, 1869-1954 Book

Set in Ireland in the 1950's in a home for pregnant, unwed women, a whistle-blowing nurse reveals the treatment of innocent women who sought refuge. Trapped in a desperate situation, and having no other means to support themselves and their baby, they fall prey to the nuns who are sadistic/heartless in their piety. Instead of giving birth in a discreet location with care and kindness, they are denied their human rights as a person and parent. They are forced to give up their babies and not given information about where their babies went.

The institutionalisation of the constant suffering they endured is heart-wrenching.

The author tells the story as a memoir without naming the establishment or real names of the nuns and patients, except for a couple of the latter. While the author is brave for doing so, I struggled to understand how she could have limited her involvement to being the merciful one and not gone to greater lengths to fight for these defenseless women. This was especially disconcerting as she had medical connections and could have tried to expose what was going on as soon as she left the place. Of course there is a different social climate towards helping others now than at that time when authoritative figures yielded immense power.

I was personally vested in this story for two reasons: a close relative of mine was adopted out in 1949 at two years of age; and another close relative was physically abused by nuns in a Catholic school. This memoir helps the reader to gain greater insight into what they went through.

I would recommend this to anyone with an interest in human tragedies and true stories about religious perpetrators of suffering.