Bethnal Green is a delightful story about a student nurse from Malaysia working in a London hospital in the 1970s. As someone who has lived and worked in the area, the author has researched the setting well—it brought back a few memories of Bethnal Green and the East End, particularly the deprivation. I enjoyed the storyline and how Suyin's character developed throughout the novel.
I look forward to reading more work from Amélie Skoda.

This is a lovely book. A real love story to the NHS and the immigrants who were recruited to work in it.

I loved the characters and the snap shot of 70s London. The clothing and living through the winter of discontent were well described. How isolating it must have been to be so far from Malaysia and family comes across.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC to review.

I really wanted to love this book. The cover drew me in, the storyline had so much potential but I am afraid it fell flat for me.

I DNF’d about 38% in. I hoped something would happen to keep me engaged but the storyline didn’t develop fast enough for me.

It may be because I can’t relate to the characters and to the timeline this book is set in. I am sure others will relate and love it.

#netgalley #bethnalgreen #bookreview.

Centring on a Malaysian girl who comes to London to work as a nurse in the 70s, Bethnal Green is definitely a light and at times quite simplistic book in terms of both prose and character development. But I found it really engaging and readable, especially in its evocation of 70s London.

Bethnal Green is the tale of a Malaysian immigrant, Suyin, who moves to London to train as a nurse in the 1970s, and has to find her way to reconcile her 'previous' identity and relationships, including those with her family back in Malaysia, with the identity she comes to build in her time there.
I always enjoy a good story rooted in the reality where I live and, as an East Londoner who hangs out in Bethnal Green quite often, its setting was a big part of the reason why I was drawn to this book. And I'm glad I chose it because it was so much more than I had expected!
Sure, East London is present and depicted really well through the eyes of a newcomer; but the book had so many more merits.
At its core, it was a story about immigration and how the immigrant's identity develops through the process of adapting to live somewhere new and unfamiliar. The dilemma between Suyin's two 'identities' is explored really well and, as an immigrant myself (albeit in different circumstances) I could relate to it, it made me reflect. This ability to create a relationship with the reader is quite hard to come by, and it made the book really stand out to me.
I also enjoyed how the choice was explored through her two love interests, and how her final choice reflected the resolution of her inner journey.
My only critique is that there's a number of Malaysian words that are not explained, so I found myself zoning out at times
Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Bethnal Green’s title intrigued me as I remembered long train lines on the Central line going out to the east end of London to visit my grandparents when I was a child, and when I read the synopsis, I thought I would enjoy this tale of Suyin, a young Malayasian woman who comes to London in the early 1970s to train as a nurse.
Given that this is Skoda’s first novel, I was impressed by the way she crafted the narrative and wove the secrets of Suyin’s family alongside the day to day ins and outs of being a trainee nurse in the 1970s. My mother-in-law trained at a very similar time and I know that the detail is accurate and heart-warming.
I felt a bit frustrated at Suyin’s lack of agency in following through with the decisions she had made but I wont’ give away the ending .

Overall I felt that this was a well-researched and crafted novel, with a likeable heroine and a cast of supporting characters that are interesting and historically accurate. 4 stars from me. Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Novel set in 1970s EAST LONDON & PENANG

1970s: Suyin is offered the chance to leave Penang, where she is working as a seamstress, and widen her horizons by training as a nurse at the Bethnal Green Hospital. She is following in the footsteps of her sister, who departed a year ago, only to return unexpectedly shortly before Suyin’s departure, a shadow of her former self. She was based at Dulwich Hospital, which really took me back in time because that was my local hospital when I was a child.

The author beautifully configures the London of the 1970s, with Charrington’s Pubs and graffiti relevant to the era. An inevitable greyness in the weather assaults her (she has to deal with ‘cold and dread‘, observing the ‘gloom, these slum streets‘), all such a contrast to her country of origin. The author captures that real sense of being dropped in a new country, where everything feels so different and alien, and she paints a really cold and wet East London, which is of course a huge contrast to Malaysia. There are new people to meet, hierarchies and dynamics to fathom, friendships to be made, learning to be had, exams to sit, essentially she has to create a new life for herself.

She finds a slip of paper in her sister’s London A to Z (remember those?), which she has brought along and she understands that something must have happened during her sister’s time in the capital, something so significant that it drove her to return to the safety of her home in Malaysia – and a much diminished person.

She manages to leave behind the family dynamics for the duration of her stay but several years later returns home to face considerable change. The self confidence that she has built whilst in London serves her well as she forges a new life.

This is an easy to read novel that is poignant and nicely thought through. It perhaps lacks a little character depth, which would have raised the storyline to the next level but is good on era and setting and at times really quite poignant and heart-rending. “It is also a powerful love letter to dedicated NHS workers from around the world, whose work touches countless lives every day”.

Firstly, some appreciation for the cover - beautiful

A story about home and nursing in 1970s London. Then and now the NHS recruits nurses from around the world

The novel begins with Suyin, who recently arrived from Penang to train as a nurse at Bethnal Green Hospital. As the story unfolds, we meet her student colleagues and understand why and how Suyin came to the UK. Suyin and her friends navigate nurse training and life in London, and we appreciate what has happened in the past for Suyin and her family. Over time, life’s twists and turns cause Suyin to re-evaluate her choices and make tough decisions, in the end, the wrap-up was a tad commercial.

I enjoyed this novel – a walk down memory lane around being a student nurse, life in the nursing home, strict tutors and caring for vulnerable people. There was a poignant scene when Suyin performed last offices and took me back to my own experiences. The author’s research was on point.

A quote from the book resonates with me - ‘We’re here to give our patients comfort and dignity, no matter what, for as long as they’re in our care’.

This story also explores the meaning of home to the characters, to mean family and a physical building or the people chosen to be in their life who love, support and care for them. The author provides a voice for those who sacrifice so much to build a better life for themselves and their families and work in the NHS. It also highlights women’s roles in two diverse cultures, submissive and strong, finding a voice to do things differently.

This work of fiction has such heart and love and is equally pertinent now as it was in the 1970s.

Thank you, Netgalley and Bonnier Books UK, for the opportunity to read this advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Bethnal Green is an earnest and surprisingly charming immigrant story. We follow Suyin Lim, a young woman from Georgetown, Penang, in her quest to become a nurse in 1970s London. This book follows the familiar beats of immigration narratives without offering anything particularly fresh or innovative. On the other hand, it is executed rather well, and it was a pleasure to read.

I often have quite specific issues with immigration narratives, especially by debut authors. Often inspired by family histories, the weaker representatives of this genre, such as Dominicana by Angie Cruz, tend to suffer from poor character development, unconvincing sense of the setting and negative portrayal of non-white men, often stemming from an attempt to emphasise the plight of non-white women. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Bethnal Green did not fall foul of any of these issues. It is firmly rooted in the particular places Suyin's story takes her, from Georgetown and Bethnal Green to London's Chinatown and Portsmouth. You can see, smell, touch and hear Skoda's version of 1970s London in all its diversity. If you are looking for a London-focused novel, this is a great pick. It is also recognisably the 1970s, although the sense of the period, from nurse's uniforms to the experience of living through the shortages of the Winter of Discontent feel researched rather than authentically represented (compare this to something like Fire Rush by Jacqueline Crooks for a more authentic representation of the time it is set in).

Skoda did a great job of walking the reader through some of the tensions and dilemmas of being an immigrant. She put a lot of effort into researching and representing immigration laws in practice on page, something I commend, as many authors reduce this part to 'papers', without explaining exactly what is/was expected of their characters at the time the story is set in. Although the conclusion of the novel betrays a commercial, not literary, approach to storytelling, simplifying and streamlining Suyin's situation, the narrative still gives a sense of the difficulty of leaving a family, especially ageing parents, in a different country. I also commend Suyin's clear but compelling character arc from a timid girl into a confident woman, brought about not only through her experiences as an immigrant, but her job as a nurse, close to death all the time.

I enjoyed the love triangle and the eventual fates of all involved. Close to the end, I had a sinking feeling that Wei's story would end in a particular way, which would have knocked off a star from the rating for me immediately, but thankfully Skoda did not go there. I liked that there were no villain's in the love story, Suyin was comforted, understood and supported by her two love interests in uniquely different ways. Wei in particular provided a chance for Skoda to portray a Chinese Malaysian man with some nuance and complexity. The portrayal of Suyin's dad was bordering on hagiography, whereas her Uncle played the role of an operetta villain. Overall, it is an improvement on the all too often demonisation of non-white men as exclusively tyrants, patriarchs and domestic abusers, popular in these types of 'strong immigrant woman' narratives.

Although there is a lot to appreciate in this novel, there is also room for growth. Amelie Skoda is not Andrea Levy - even though both fall within commercial fiction, even in her early work Levy had a much more unique voice and more interesting prose. Skoda's prose is, well, there - nothing about it if offensively bad but nothing makes it memorable in any way, either. The structure of the novel makes me think of a creative writing manual - there is character development, there is a past secret used to create tension (actually, there are two of these), there is a three-act narrative arc etc. All of these features are executed very diligently, as discussed above, but it still feels like something produced by a student for an assignment. Produced well, mind you, but produced nevertheless.

At the end of the day, the novel won me over by its earnestness. It might not be the most interesting or innovative thing there is, but thought, labour, research and love have clearly been put into it. I would recommend it for a casual book club. 3.5.

Thank you NetGalley and Bonnier Books Ltd for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Penang, Malaya / Malaysia: 1971. Suyin has the change to follow her sister Hua, and train as a nurse in London.

But before Suyin leaves,. Hua returns, a shadow of her former self - and with no explanation.

However, Suyin thrives at the Bethnal Green training school, finding friends, a fulfilling job - and herself.

Wonderful

This is the story of a young girl from Penang Malaysia who moves to the UK to take up a nurse training position in a hospital in Bethnal Green London in the 1970s
As Doctor who trained in the uk in late 80s there was some elements of the story particularly sat in the hospital that I recognise from my own days training as a doctor . In some way the 1970s are a long time ago and another not much has changed. I was drawn to the Story primarily to read about her nurse training . I was a little disappointed to find that isn’t huge amount of detail in the book about this
There’s a mystery in the middle of the story what happened to our older sister?
I Was a bit disappointed that some of the side stories didn’t get fully followed up the story of her sisters unwanted baby for example seems left up in the air
Whereas the people feel real in the story and their relationship is equally real there’s something lacking in the background story it feels a little incomplete to me . As a memoir the story lacks the personal identification the reader gets when they know that they’re reading a story of the person who is writing it. As a novel, the story itself doesn’t seem detailed enough to make this a complete novel.. I would’ve liked more details of the difficulty of assimulation of a relatively unsophisticated girl from Malaysia to a busy British Hospital there are some touches in here but I think it must’ve been a much more difficult thing to do than the novel suggests
The author has a clear straightforward writing style that flows nicely making the book a relaxing read
I read an early copy of the novel on NetGalley UK. The book is published in the UK on the 30th of January 2025 by Bonnier books UK
This review will appear on NetGalley UK, Goodreads and my book blog bionicSarahSbooks.wordpress.com.

A smashing story set in the 1970s about a woman who gets the chance to leave Malaysia and train as a nurse in the UK. Lots of family background and the tale of changes in her life. A really good read.
Thank you to Net Galley for an advanced copy

Tried to get into it but unfortunately this isn't for me.
Great storyline and beautiful cover though.

This had all the hallmarks of a good historical fiction. Emotion, strong characters, an interesting plot and a touch of romance. Suyin was a well written character, a little bit two dimensional at times, but still an enjoyable character to centre the story on. I really enjoyed reading about her training and the historical context surrounding it all. Also, her connection to her family back home and struggle with her two identities was a heart wrenching yet realistic element to the story. I found myself thinking of this book even when I wasn’t reading it, and I’m grateful to have read it.

I am afraid I got bored with this story. I was waiting for something to happen but a third of the way through it hadn’t. I think this would appeal to older readers who maybe were part of the recruitment drive in the ‘70s for nurses. The story is centred on one such recruit from Malaysia and how she adapts to life in the east end of London. Not the right book for me but I am sure others will love it.

I always try and read novels about people and places that are different from me and Bethnal Green was an absolute joy to read!

As someone who is in awe of the women who came before me to fight for my rights and as the daughter of a nurse this was a heartfelt account of that history. As an Irish woman I was also reminded of how hard things were for generations before me in England to find a new life and face such hardships.

My favourite part of this novel was the juxtaposition between the progression of women’s rights in England compared to how Suyin and her family were treated in Penang. However, this is mostly a story about incredibly strong women who were able to keep going and following their dreams despite the amount of pain they had.

This was a joy to read and I can’t wait to see what Amélie does next

[NETGALLEY ARC] [3.5 STARS]

Sujin is at the foot of an exciting possibility - she is being transferred from her unwealthy yet familial neighborhood in Panang to shining, smoggy London as a nurse-in-training. Yet, she is faced with the troubles following her spaced-out, newly-sickened sister who mysteriously declined in health after prematurely returning from her own post as a training nurse - and the trouble of upholding societal standards her family impose on her.

——-

In my opinion, I enjoyed this book because it felt familiar even in settings that I am not acquainted with. While I don’t think it was five star material, Bethnal Green hospital, Sujin, and the rest of her enveloping world led a welcoming, compassionate tale that I am happy to have been a part of. Another point was that I am grateful towards Skoda for this, as was said in the description, love letter towards the NHS - it was massively eye-opening and made me so compassionate towards those whose labour ofter just sneaks by.

I do think some parts of the story could have been more developed - the parts mentioning the London A-Z felt quite skipped over at some point and I feel could have been more clear, it felt like there should have been more to it even after that section of the narrative was theoretically ’wrapped up’.

Anyway, I did really enjoy this and I am glad to have been able to read it before it was released, thank you Bonnier Books!