FICTION

Dirty Work

Little, Brown. Aug. 2014. 192p. ISBN 9780316235624. $25; ebk. ISBN 9780316235600. F
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Nancy Mullion, a young and talented obstetrician-gynecologist, is in crisis. She has been suspended from her London hospital following the near death of a patient and awaits the outcome of a formal inquiry by a medical panel. The surgery in question was a abortion, and the charge is clinical negligence. Overcome by worry for her patient's survival and concern for her own career, Nancy searches for insight and reasons. She reflects on her life, the path that led her to medical school, and the personal and professional choices she made that brought her to this point. Over four weeks of intense scrutiny, she struggles to assess her own state of mind and to answer honestly the questions put to her by the board-appointed psychiatrist and other panelists. Through this intense introspection, Nancy comes to understand more deeply that there are no comfortable and uncomplicated answers.
VERDICT Weston, a British physician and author of the award-winning medical memoir Direct Red, has written a courageous, incisive debut novel that offers a reflective and compassionate view of the medical work and human dimensions surrounding the surgery to end pregnancies. The author traces neutral ground between this subject's hard inflammatory factions and offers a sensitive view of abortion providers who may be themselves conflicted.
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