The Blurb:
Decades of spiralling drug resistance
have unleashed a global antibiotic crisis. Ordinary infections are untreatable,
and a scratch from a pet can kill. A sacrifice is required to keep the majority
safe: no one over seventy is allowed new antibiotics. The elderly are sent to
hospitals nicknamed ‘The Waiting Rooms’ … hospitals where no one ever gets
well.
Twenty years after the crisis takes
hold, Kate begins a search for her birth mother, armed only with her name and
her age. As Kate unearths disturbing facts about her mother’s past, she puts
her family in danger and risks losing everything. Because Kate is not the only
secret that her mother is hiding. Someone else is looking for her, too.
Sweeping from an all-too-real modern
Britain to a pre-crisis South Africa, The Waiting Rooms is epic in scope,
richly populated with unforgettable characters, and a tense, haunting vision of
a future that is only a few mutations away.
The Waiting Rooms was published by Orenda Books as an eBook on 9th April 2020 and it will be released in paperback this Thursday. It is available to buy/pre order from the publisher, Hive, Waterstones, Amazon and all good booksellers.
My
Review:
As I write this the world is beginning to recover from the worst of the coronavirus pandemic and lockdowns are easing, bit by bit. But hand washing remains of paramount importance and we still can't touch anyone from outside our own household. I mention this because there are eerie similarities in The Waiting Rooms which meant for some slightly uncomfortable reading at points.
The book is set in an alternative future, twenty years after a worldwide antibiotic crisis (but with flashbacks to a pre crisis South Africa). People have developed resistance to commonly used drugs meaning viable antibiotics are in short supply. As a result, elderly people who fall ill aren't given antibiotics but are looked after in special hospitals until their death.
The story is told mainly through Kate and Lily post crisis, written in the first person, alternating between the two women. Kate is a nurse in one of these hospitals for the elderly - a 'Waiting Room' - and Lily is in a care home, counting down the days until her 70th birthday, when her access to treatment ceases. In pre crisis South Africa we meet botanist Mary. The links between the three women become clear as the story progresses and it would be wrong to say more about that here.
I loved Kate. She has an awful job, but gives it her all. She's frequently exhausted, working after her shift has finished, and often abused because of her role. As I read about her working day, the precautions, stringent cleaning, strict rules, the inevitable deaths, I couldn't help but think of our frontline workers during the worst of the Covid-19 crisis. And Kate takes similar hygiene measures at home, and is almost permanently anxious - the threat of infection and illness constantly hanging over her and her family. Her relationship with her husband is lovely but what really shines through is her love for her daughter.
Lily is a tough old bird. Despite her physical limitations she remains as sharp as a pin. She is acutely aware of the approaching deadline and has affairs she needs to put in order. Whilst Lily is an easy character to like it's clear that she has some secrets, and big ones at that. Mary is much more of an enigma but I felt for her the most, I think.
The hyper clean, super sterile environment is cleverly described by Smith. I could smell both the hospital and the care home - and I don't even have a sense of smell! And the exhausting vigilance required at all times! There are lots of clever, heartbreaking little details reminding us how serious the situation is, such as the funeral where none of the mourners are over 70. So I loved the contrast with pre crisis South Africa - the exoticism, the vibrancy of the scenery and the carefree atmosphere.
This book would have been an interesting read at any time. I know drug resistance is already an issue and one that presumably will only get worse. But to read it now, in the midst of a pandemic with no known cure, which has affected hundreds of thousands of people and meant patients have had to die alone without their families, added an extra dimension, extra poignancy. It made me think. Big time. The future Smith portrays might not be that far off, and that's a little bit terrifying to be honest.
There is a lot of interesting science woven into the book but it's a very human story, focussing on the two women - the part the third plays becomes clear reading the book - who discover more about themselves and each other. There are two or three key male characters but this is all about the women. The key players are easy to care about - I was invested in what happened to them.
The Waiting Rooms is a tale of health, fear, love, loss, scandal, betrayal, hatred, mystery and murder. And a future that could all too easily become our reality if we're not careful.
As I write this the world is beginning to recover from the worst of the coronavirus pandemic and lockdowns are easing, bit by bit. But hand washing remains of paramount importance and we still can't touch anyone from outside our own household. I mention this because there are eerie similarities in The Waiting Rooms which meant for some slightly uncomfortable reading at points.
The book is set in an alternative future, twenty years after a worldwide antibiotic crisis (but with flashbacks to a pre crisis South Africa). People have developed resistance to commonly used drugs meaning viable antibiotics are in short supply. As a result, elderly people who fall ill aren't given antibiotics but are looked after in special hospitals until their death.
The story is told mainly through Kate and Lily post crisis, written in the first person, alternating between the two women. Kate is a nurse in one of these hospitals for the elderly - a 'Waiting Room' - and Lily is in a care home, counting down the days until her 70th birthday, when her access to treatment ceases. In pre crisis South Africa we meet botanist Mary. The links between the three women become clear as the story progresses and it would be wrong to say more about that here.
I loved Kate. She has an awful job, but gives it her all. She's frequently exhausted, working after her shift has finished, and often abused because of her role. As I read about her working day, the precautions, stringent cleaning, strict rules, the inevitable deaths, I couldn't help but think of our frontline workers during the worst of the Covid-19 crisis. And Kate takes similar hygiene measures at home, and is almost permanently anxious - the threat of infection and illness constantly hanging over her and her family. Her relationship with her husband is lovely but what really shines through is her love for her daughter.
Lily is a tough old bird. Despite her physical limitations she remains as sharp as a pin. She is acutely aware of the approaching deadline and has affairs she needs to put in order. Whilst Lily is an easy character to like it's clear that she has some secrets, and big ones at that. Mary is much more of an enigma but I felt for her the most, I think.
The hyper clean, super sterile environment is cleverly described by Smith. I could smell both the hospital and the care home - and I don't even have a sense of smell! And the exhausting vigilance required at all times! There are lots of clever, heartbreaking little details reminding us how serious the situation is, such as the funeral where none of the mourners are over 70. So I loved the contrast with pre crisis South Africa - the exoticism, the vibrancy of the scenery and the carefree atmosphere.
This book would have been an interesting read at any time. I know drug resistance is already an issue and one that presumably will only get worse. But to read it now, in the midst of a pandemic with no known cure, which has affected hundreds of thousands of people and meant patients have had to die alone without their families, added an extra dimension, extra poignancy. It made me think. Big time. The future Smith portrays might not be that far off, and that's a little bit terrifying to be honest.
There is a lot of interesting science woven into the book but it's a very human story, focussing on the two women - the part the third plays becomes clear reading the book - who discover more about themselves and each other. There are two or three key male characters but this is all about the women. The key players are easy to care about - I was invested in what happened to them.
The Waiting Rooms is a tale of health, fear, love, loss, scandal, betrayal, hatred, mystery and murder. And a future that could all too easily become our reality if we're not careful.
The
Author:
Eve Smith's debut novel The Waiting
Rooms was shortlisted for the Bridport Prize First Novel Award. Eve writes
speculative fiction, mainly about the things that scare her. She attributes her
love of all things dark and dystopian to a childhood watching Tales of the
Unexpected and black-and-white Edgar Allen Poe double bills. Eve's flash
fiction has been shortlisted for the Bath Flash Fiction Award and highly commended
for The Brighton Prize.
In this world of questionable facts,
stats and news, she believes storytelling is more important than ever to engage
people in real life issues.
Eve recently contributed a piece of
flash fiction, Belting Up, to an anthology of crime shorts called Noir From the
Bar. The collection of stories has been launched to raise money for the NHS.
Eve's previous job as COO of an
environmental charity took her to research projects across Asia, Africa and the
Americas, and she has an ongoing passion for wild creatures, wild science and
far-flung places. A Modern Languages graduate from Oxford, she returned to
Oxfordshire fifteen years ago to set up home with her husband.
When she's not writing, she's chasing
across fields after her dog, attempting to organise herself and her family or
off exploring somewhere new.
Author
Social Media Links:
Website - www.evesmithauthor.com
Twitter - @evecsmith
Facebook - EveSmithAuthor
Instagram - evesmithauthor
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