CHILD OF DESTINY

A thoroughly worthwhile biography of United States first woman doctor, Elizabeth Blackwell. While it never underestimates the integrity of its subject, it does manage to soften what might have been a wholly austere picture of a dedicated life. The story of her talented family, their migration from England to New York City, Cincinnati, her early days of school teaching and her long battle to achieve her ambition to become a doctor are given all possible personal touches. Getting a medical education here, in Paris, in England, near-blindness and its results, the founding of the New York Infirmary with its female staff, her work in the Civil War, for reforms, with her sister Emily, who followed in her footsteps, all this is a part of Dr. Blackwell's inspiring story. A fine chapter of woman's part in modern life, this should have an audience among girls thinking of a nursing or medical career.