Book excerpt: Canadian nurse Kick Cavendish has always wanted to make a difference, and she's hoping her new post as Paisley • Corners’ new public health nurse will help her do just that. The rural Ontario hamlet instantly enamored Kick, who had also dreamed of living on an animal rescue farm. She soon discovers Paisley • Corners is as curious of a place as it is special. A community where the dot in its name is explicitly intentional, and its citizens are meddlesome and sometimes misunderstood but deeply caring despite their quirks and foibles. In The Chronicles of Paisley • Corners, the author draws from her expertise as a public health nurse, a role she compares to the wind: rarely seen, yet a presence that’s felt. With gentle nods to social issues and research around real historical events, an array of stories that focus on the wants, wounds, and secrets of the village residents will have readers rooting out loud for their favorite character. Much of the book is seen through Kick’s observant eyes, from witnessing the trauma associated with being an outcast to discovering the lengths people will go to shroud a secret. The links she sees between her rescue barn and her nursing practice – like beauty from ugliness or hope from neglect – gives us pause to contemplate the true meaning of belonging. The comings and goings of this friendly and compassionate public health nurse provide a window into endearing rural characters who just want to matter.