Roosting Box

By (author): Kristen den Hartog

Shortlisted, Toronto Book Awards

“A hospital … is like a roosting box: a communal space that provides ideal but temporary shelter for [the] vulnerable.”
In the aftermath of the First World War, a cash register factory in the west end of Toronto was renovated to treat wounded soldiers returning from war. From 1919 to the 1940s, thousands of soldiers passed through its doors. Some spent the remainder of their lives there.

The Roosting Box is an exquisitely written history of the early years of the Christie Street Hospital and how war reshaped Canadian society. What sets it apart from other volumes is the detail about the ordinary people at the heart of the book: veterans learning to live with their injuries and a world irrevocably changed; nurses caring for patients while coming to terms with their own wartime trauma; and doctors pioneering research in prosthetics and plastic surgery or, in the case of Frederick Banting, in a treatment for diabetes.

Naming chapters after parts of the body, den Hartog chronicles injuries and treatments, and through the voices of men and women, the struggles and accomplishments of the patients and staff. The cast of characters is diverse — Black, female, Indigenous, and people with all sorts of physical and mental challenges — and their experiences, gleaned from diaries, letters, service records, genealogical research, and interviews with descendants, are surprising and illuminating.

An unusual mix of history and story, The Roosting Box offers deeply personal perspectives on healing in the aftermath of war.

AUTHOR

Kristen den Hartog

Kristen den Hartog is the author of the novels Water Wings, The Perpetual Ending, and Origin of Haloes. Her most recent book, The Occupied Garden: A Family Memoir of War-torn Holland was written with her sister, Tracy Kasaboski, and explores the life of their father’s family during the Second World War. Kristen lives in Toronto with her husband and daughter.


Reviews

Based on her research into medical care hospital culture rehabilitation and other lifesaving developments den Hartog writes with a novelists eye and tremendous sympathy for her subjects
Canadas History

Truly this is a lyrical work of literary nonfiction it is obvious why den Hartog is an awardwinning novelist She has also presented here a work of methodical and detailed research her notes and list of sources is as extensive as it is impressive an authoritative work about a littleknown piece of Canadian history
Miramichi Reader

A warning once you pick up this book you will likely annoy everyone around you by spouting fascinating facts out of context like a bothersome robot but pick it up anyway In The Roosting Box Kristen den Hartog has brought a piece of Torontos history to life and the effect is pretty dazzling
Kerry Clare Pickle Me This

A wonderful book Kristen den Hartog has uncovered a littleknown chapter of medical history that makes a major statement about the ills of war and the war against illness

Kristen den Hartogs carefully researched beautifully written altogether fascinating account of Torontos Christie Street Hospital in the years during and following the First World War is an unblinking time machine Her latest book compels us to look directly at the result of military action wounds burns amputations sickness madness shattered lives death This stunning book is the real history of a war All war

Kristen den Hartog has written a deeply moving story of what war can do to the body and what the spirit can do along the road to recovery Written with empathy and intimacy The Roosting Box is a book full of tragedy that ultimately carries a profound message of hope

A combination of indepth research and beautiful writing The Roosting Box makes a deeply moving and important contribution to our knowledge of the immediate aftermath of Canadas role in the First World War With unflinching intimacy and tenderness Kristen den Hartog documents the lives of some of the thousands of permanently disabled young Canadians who returned after the conflict Gripped by the pathos and courage of these lives and by the empathy of the doctors and nurses who attended to them my knowledge of my country and my self was changed

Awards

  • Toronto Book Awards 2024, Short-listed
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    Details

    Dimensions:

    280 Pages

    438gr0.6875in9in * 6in

    Published:

    February 20, 2024

    Publisher:

    Goose Lane Editions

    ISBN:

    9781773103266

    Book Subjects:

    HISTORY / Military / Veterans

    Language:

    01

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