The Light of Day

A young nurse volunteers to work in the Third World and finds herself living for two years in a desolate village in the Bolivian Andes, where water is carried from a mile away and peasants die from undernourishment.

Alternating chapters flash back to the girl's comfortable middle-class home and serve to remind the reader how much we have come to take for granted in a society where we are out of touch with what real poverty means. As well as telling a moving story, the author poses many questions, particularly of the church whose doctrine helps peasants to accept their own desperation.

The true message of the book is in Chapter 12, in the dialogue between the nurse and the old priest. Any discussion arising out of his thought-provoking story would start here. This would be a worthwhile 'set book' for third year plus, as well as an essential addition to the library. The last page is an undisguised attempt to recruit youngsters for VSO.