Martha Loane was a Queen's, or district nurse working at the turn of the twentieth century, visiting the homes of the poor, attending to their illnesses. The Queen's Poor was the first of six social commentaries she wrote, and was published in 1905.

The first half consists of her general observations about the poor, such as how families organised their spending, treated their children, the roles of men and women within a household, as well as some comparisons to middle class household, from whom the majority of her readers would have come. This makes for interesting reading as it gives an indication of what has changed in British society over the last century, and what remains very much the same. Additionally, she includes criticism of state provision of meals for the poor - which I presume was being discussed at the time - on the grounds that feeding children should be the responsibility of the family, who, according to her own, well informed view, only really fail in this through their own laxity (which makes for an interesting read across to modern day discussions).

The second half consists of anecdotes of people she met or saw to in her duties, as well as describing the life of a nurse. While some of these recollections were well readable, others were not at all. ( )