A Girl in Ten Thousand

Effie Staunton wants to turn her skill at caring for others into a profession. Her friend Dorothy Fraser has shown her what hospital work might offer, and Effie hopes to train as a nurse in London. At home in Whittington, however, her tired mother relies on her help with the younger children. Her father's doubts about modern ideas for young women make the conversation harder, while the family's limited income gives Effie another reason to seek paid work.

L. T. Meade builds this novel for young readers around the strain between personal ambition and family duty. Household tasks, affectionate conversations and worries over money give Effie's choices their weight. A later passage finds Dorothy offering help with a hospital vacancy while Effie struggles with a financial obligation she wants to keep from her mother. Readers interested in girls' working lives can follow a story where practical care and the wish for independence meet at every turn.