Alana Bolton-Cooke recommends The Silence of Snow by Eileen Merriman - Black Swan, 2020
Eileen Merriman works full-time as a consultant haematologist at
North Shore Hospital, Auckland.
She is an award-winning novelist,
short story and flash fiction writer. Three of her young adult novels were finalists in the NZ Children’s and Young Adult Book Awards.
The Silence of Snow is her second
adult novel.
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If you like medical stories, you will like this one.
Rory McBride and Jodi Waterstone are two doctors working in a busy hospital. Rory is an anaesthetist and Jodi, a junior doctor. The pressure of work for them is unsettling and intense, and they form a relationship and fall in love. Rory, however, is hiding a secret and doesn't confide in Jodi. He is affected psychologically and emotionally as the secret gradually erodes his personality, relationship and work. Jodi, in the process of tackling her demanding workload, tries to come to terms with Rory's erratic behaviour and the consequences of Rory's secret. The author's profession creates an authentic narrative in setting and circumstance. The characterisation and pace are triggered by rapid, witty, clever dialogue which results in a page-turner you can't put down. A good read.
The Silence of Snow is available in paperback from your local bookshop and as an e-book from Amazon.