Review: "The Backwash of War" by Ellen N. LaMotte

This is a non-fiction, brutal series of 13 short compositions about soldiers who are patients in a field hospital during WWI. They are written by an American nurse named Ellen N. LaMotte. She was a highly trained nurse here in the United States. When the war broke out, she saw a need for nurses and went overseas to help out. She ended up in a French Army field hospital 10 kilometers from the front line.

These stories are very graphic, both emotionally and physically. Death and dying is not romanticized. There are instances of great callousness and also great compassion. I felt like a bucket of cold water was thrown in my face at the depictions that were portrayed because I was so unaware of this reality.

This book is not for the squeamish. If you want to get the impression of what it was like in the trenches of a field hospital, this is definitely the book for you. This is only a tiny glimpse of the trauma that both the soldiers and nurses experienced. They both have my deepest gratitude for the service that they provided and continue to provide.