BY JOYCE MYSERON
In mid-nineteenth century society, how did health practitioners deal with the psyche? Were there healers who intuitively did the work of today’s psychologists? In the beginning of In the Warrens of East London, a young doctor echoes the view of Florence Nightingale—that sometimes what the nurse gave the patient was more important than what the doctor had to give. He eventually teams up with a Nightingale nurse to create a charity hospital for children living in the poorest London neighbourhood. He saves her from economic destitution, but she saves him from the debilitating effects of depression.