Gillian Gill cheerfully describes herself as "an academic reject."
A native of England, where she received a doctorate in French literature, Gill then came to the United States to teach at Wellesley, Yale and Harvard. But she was denied tenure because she hadn't published any books.
"I put family first, and my husband was ill for a long time," Gill said by phone from her home in Boston. Mike Gill died at the age of 49.
She tried her hand unsuccessfully at real estate, did some academic translations and then published her first book, a biography of Agatha Christie, in 1990. That was followed by "Mary Baker Eddy" (1998). Both books were critically acclaimed.
Her latest is "Nightingales: The Extraordinary Upbringing and Curious Life of Miss Florence Nightingale."
Gill would probably have no trouble securing a permanent position at any number of universities — in Great Britain or the United States. But now she is deeply involved in research and writing. "Research is the fun part. I'm not a natural writer. I have to work at it. It's a craft I am working at — I sort of slave away.
"I didn't learn to type as a young girl because I was taught that if you learn to type you might become a typist! Now I wish I had learned to do it young, because writing is a slog for me. But I'm a good editor."
Gill also believes that she would not have pursued her interests in high-achieving women had she stayed in teaching. "As an independent scholar, I can follow my interests and take on projects that are a little bit crazy. Now, as a 62-year-old grandmother looking back, I think I would have spent the time working in academic committees and student projects."
She would rather "feed the mind and the spirit," and "if you can get books out, you are reaching other minds. In teaching you have to retire, but as a writer I don't have to retire — as long as I have publishers and readers, that is."
Gill's style of writing biography is imbued with a novelistic sense. Besides using documentation, she said, "I think myself into that person, i.e., Florence Nightingale. I've tried to get out of the scholarly element and get into felt reality, the way the American historian David McCullough does with his books on Harry Truman and John Adams. I emulate McCullough."
She is interested in Nightingale's assertion that she was "called by God" to serve others. "She was 16 at the time, and she recorded it in her private notes. But it's not clear that she told anybody about it. It's not the sort of thing that would have been easily accepted. She held it in her heart. It was the source of her strength and endurance. It took her from the time she was 16 until she was in her early 30s before she could establish her higher destiny and get her family to accept it."
It's Gill's conclusion that Nightingale's real life began when she went to help wounded and dying soldiers during the Crimean War, fought between England and Russia. Gill compares Nightingale with such brilliant and self-sacrificing women as American Clara Barton and British activist Elizabeth Fry. "But because of the work Nightingale did in Crimea, she achieved influence and power that was unique. She came as close to becoming a government minister as any woman did."
Ironically, Nightingale was "a shy little girl," said Gill. "She always found it hard to interact with people. She had charisma, but she was not jovial. She could make an impression, but she expected more of people than most people could give.
"She liked men more than women. She wanted unconditional love from women — what we hope to find in our mothers. She demanded intellectual allegiance and personal service."
After the Crimean War, Nightingale, who was guilty of massive overwork, confined herself to her room in England and became an invalid. Yet she constantly wrote letters and papers, corresponding with numerous people.
Gill concentrated on Nightingale's family support and the role of religion in her life, "her feminist tradition and legacy, part of a powerful chain of women seeking to redevelop the role of work, gender and religion."
"Being likable isn't everything. She was adored as much or more than other women in history, but she had flaws. Who does not? She was unsatisfied with the results of her life. She put on paper all her frustrations and despairs. She wanted us to know her, that she was not perfect, that she was striving."
E-mail: dennis@desnews.com