Flight of the Wild Swan – Special Author Event

An Afternoon with Melissa Pritchard

Join the Florence Nightingale Museum and Award Winning Author, Melissa Pritchard at this special afternoon book event!

During a visit to our museum Ms. Pritchard was inspired to create her most recent work, Flight of the Wild Swan.

This work of historical fiction “tells the story of Florence Nightingale, a brilliant, trailblazing woman whose humanity has been obscured beneath the iconic weight of legend. From adolescence, Nightingale was determined to fulfill her life’s calling to serve the sick and suffering. Overcoming Victorian hierarchies, familial expectations, patriarchal resistance, and her own illness, she used her hard-won acclaim as a battlefield nurse to bring the profession out of its shadowy, disreputable status and elevate nursing to a skilled practice and compassionate art. In lush, lyrical detail, Melissa Pritchard reveals Nightingale as a rebel who wouldn’t relent—one whose extraordinary life offers a grand lesson in inspired will.”

The event itself will include a reading from her critically acclaimed book and a backstory on its writing, followed by a Q&A session with the author.

Copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing at the event.

Admission to this event is included in all general admission tickets. Tickets can be purchased online or in person.

Key facts

Date/Time: 

Thursday 19th September at 2:30pm

Ticket price:

Admission to event is included in all general admission tickets

Venue:

Florence Nightingale Museum

2 Lambeth Palace Rd

London SE1 7EP

More Information about the Melissa Pritchard

Born in California, Ms. Pritchard is the author of eight award winning books of fiction, a biography, and collection of essays. Additional titles include, A Solemn Pleasure: To Imagine, Witness, and Write, PalmerinoThe Odditorium, and Selene of the Spirits. Her works have appeared in places like the The Paris Review,  LitMag, and The Oprah Magazine. Her newest work, Flight of the Wild Swan, was published earlier this year in March 2024.

Invitation from Melissa herself!

Praise for Flight of the Wild Swan