"Victorian Medicine and Social Reform" traces Florence Nightingale's career as a reformer and Crimean war heroine. Her fame as a social activist and her writings including "Notes on Nursing" and "Notes on Matters Affecting the Health, ""Efficiency and Hospital Administration of the British Army"""influenced novelists such as Wilkie Collins, Elizabeth Gaskell, and George Eliot. Their novels of social realism, in turn, influenced Nightingale's later essays on poverty and Indian famine. This study draws original conclusions on the relationship between Nightingale's work and its historical context, gender politics, and such twenty-first-century analogues as celebrity activists Angelina Jolie, Al Gore, and Nicole Kidman.

Breaking through fear and tradition.... Dealing with corrupt officials.... Struggling to understand the truth.... They must reveal the truth in time, or all will be lost Imagine living in two worlds at the same time-the physical one around you and another one inside you that no one else can see. Once these valley dwellers go through their process of "Understanding," they begin an unseen life in their hearts, where anything can happen. Some hearts dwell in cozy, peaceful places, while others are assaulted by fearsome powers. Like their ancestors before them, these people remain locked away in their secret valley for 400 years, with none going in or out. The abundant rocks inside provide natural light and heat, as well as workable metals and building materials, while a spring waters their crops and herds. But the people know their hearts are susceptible to a dark power that seeks to destroy them. To keep their hearts safe, they rely on their leaders, who prohibit leaving the fortification or hearing unaccepted music, assuring the people they will remain safe if they follow the way their ancestors have taken. When Gwenla led the original group to safety, she also foresaw the future. Unable to safely pass on what she knew before she died, Gwenla wrote down her knowledge in riddles, so that only those who sought the truth would understand. Julyiah's adventurous heart wants to find Gwenla's secrets and understand them; but when pressing to know the truth, Julyiah sees wonderful places outside the walls and hears forbidden music, disrupting her world and relationships. In spite of several obstructions and evil forces trying to stop her, Julyiah discovers the truth and realizes she alone has the answer that will free the valley from deception. Yet her friends need urgent rescue as well. Can she accomplish both missions at the same time? In a whirlwind of twists and turns that involve a severe time crunch, Julyiah must make connections from one end of the valley to the other, or she and those she loves will die, and the Secrets of Gwenla will remain hidden for all time.