If you would like to review ‘The Good Doctor’ by John Eliot, PM me or send a message directly to gjpopeuk(at)gmail.com and I will send you an ebook. The only requirement is that you write a review either on Goodreads, and/or a blog. See below for details about John. His novel The Good Doctor will be published as a paperback very soon by Durpey/Allen. See:
http://www.durpey-allen.co.uk/glyne-pope.html
Biography of author John Eliot.
John Eliot was born on a council estate in the North of Great Britain. He was the son of the local GP, Thomas Eliot. John had no interest in becoming a doctor like his Father, but trained to be a teacher. Whilst at University he became the editor of the Students newspaper and interviewed reggae legend Bob Marley. He had articles published in the fan magazines of Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen. He taught in the south West of England for a number of years before moving to France with his wife. He now writes full time and has founded and organised a literary festival in France. He has had poems published in anthologies, and won a short story competition. His novels are based on the stories his Father told him about life as a GP from the late 1940s onwards. The first, ‘The Good Doctor’ will be published by Durpey/Allen in the Spring of 2014. This will be followed by ‘The Doctor and The Dipsomaniac’.
The Good Doctor – A synopsis
Dr Thomas Eliot, fresh from Europe at the end of the Second World War, arrives for his first post at Leicester in the UK. An enthusiastic young man, he is full of fresh ideas. He sees the people around him coping with life, a lack of good food, rationing still in force. These people deserve better, The Good Doctor feels, after being the victors of a long hard conflict in Europe. Food poisoning strikes the council estate and this in turn leads to the cause; tins of poor quality food being sold by the local factory owner, Sir Roger Folville. Events unravel which virtually lead to the downfall of the government and Dr Eliot facing his own nightmare.
Reviews for The Good Doctor
‘‘Rich in atmosphere and the colour of the time, all the characters in john Eliot’s novel are alive. This is a true reflection of life on a council estate in Leicester, the English East Midlands, but the themes are universal. This could well be your neighbourhood facing the challenges of a changing world at the end of the 2nd World War. Enjoyable and challenging.”
Stephen Butt BBC Radio
The Good Doctor brilliantly encapsulates the mood of a post-war nation: a deprived populace, picking up the shattered pieces of humanity. The rigid class divides are ruthlessly exposed, not to mention the cruel dogmatic political scheming that is shamelessly smeared over the pages, yet the protagonist Dr Eliot is the only one who can seriously engage with the ordinary working people; transcending through the obstacles and their misery, ultimately touching the troubled community for better, and sometimes worse. All the characters and dialogue leaps into life in this great British novel.”
Chris Simpson, Small Talk Magazine.
John Eliot is a fine story teller and in his new novel, he has an excellent story to tell. The narrative moves between the day-to-day life of a family doctor in 1948, looking after his working class patients, and the underhand dealings of the local factory owner and his crooked government pals. Then one of the capitalists is murdered. But by whom?
John paints his characters - the funny, the sane and the sad - vividly. They leap off the page. He also captures the time and place: I can see the scenes as if I am watching a film. I can feel the chilliness of the rooms, and share the characters' hunger. Britain was close to famine in 1948 and it is on this historical fact that John hangs his tale. The time and place are made real by the historical vignettes - when life was different, the pace much slower, and the local doctor really did care. But beneath the gentle rhythms of daily life, faster, darker currents are rolling in towards a stormy climax.
I read this novel in one sitting, a story of corruption, is for a rainy afternoon, a long journey or simply because you like a well written, fast paced story.
Lynn Michell
Director of Linen Press.
‘I could see the women with their cardigans and pinafores draped over a large bosom, gossiping on the doorstep. Men with cigarettes hanging from the corner of their mouths, children with socks rumpled around their ankles, yet the author describes none of these things. He shares the characteristics and surroundings so well that everything falls into place and allows your imagination to do the rest. It is a great story with an historic background.”
Glynis Smy – author of Maggie’s Child