Barbara Ker Wilson (1929–2020)

The title of the story for older girls is taken from one of the patchwork quilt patterns used by our great-great-grandmothers. It centers around one such quilt, and takes us back to the days, about 100 years ago, when each piece of material in it was fresh and unfaded. It is the story of a Victorian family living on the outskirts of London, and, in particular, of Sophie Fielding, the oldest daughter, who conceives the unheard of notion of wanting to make a career for herself – – as a lady doctor! Incredulity, ridicule, and blank opposition stand in her way, but she is determined to prove that a woman can make a place for herself in the medical profession.We live with Sophie and her family in the days of handsome cabs and muffinmen; when the railways were a daring innovation; when Queen Victoria was young. We share the excitement of the Great Exhibition, the sorrow of the Crimean War, and pride in Florence Nightingale. But primarily this is the story of Sophie's struggle to fulfill her ambition, set against the exciting, rapidly changing background of the 1850s.… (mere)