For Ebony Swann life is stifling; her mother reads her diary, her father is cold. Her only sanctuary is her room. Following successful exam results she seems set for a career in banking, but that soon comes to an end through the stifling atmosphere of the bank and incompetence. So which way forward? The purchase of a dog helps; 'Prince' fills the loving void kept at arms' length by her parents. Through Prince she can engage with the world. And it is through this door of connection that Ebony experiences a chance encounter in a local wood, an encounter that will change her life and set her on a road of her own choosing. In Nursing a Reputation Patricia Rose delivers a gentle novel of change in which a young woman moves from introspection to a career where the wellbeing of others comes first.