Paula is a dedicated suburban GP, who is devastated by the murder of a friend and her children by their estranged husband and father. Stacey and the children had been staying with her after fleeing his control, and Paula is haunted by the thought that she couldn’t protect them when they most needed it. How had she missed the warning signs? How had she failed to keep them safe?
Not long after, a patient with suspicious injuries brings her anxious young son into Paula’s surgery. The woman admits that her husband hurts her, but she’s terrified to leave for fear of escalating the violence and defeated by the consistent failures of the law to help her.
Can Paula go against everything she believes to make sure one woman is saved, one child spared? She isn’t motivated by revenge. She’s desperately trying to prevent a tragedy…
A riveting, provocative novel about women’s fury, traumatic grief, new love, deep friendship, and the preciousness of life, The Family Doctor asks the questions: Should you cling to faith in a flawed system, or take control the only way you can? Can a good person justify taking a life to save a life?
Debra Oswald, creator of the hit TV show Offspring and author of the best-selling novel The Whole Bright Year, is well known for her relevant themes and witty humour. Now trying her hand at something darker and distressing, The Family Doctor is a thought-provoking novel that twists themes of domestic abuse and family grief together for one hell of a suburban thriller.
The novel follows Paula as she struggles with the discovery of another family suffering from domestic abuse. Tough moral and philosophical questions plague her as she decides what to do to try and save the family.
As well as domestic violence, Oswald also explores issues of mental health and grief. Paula has been through a lot, so it’s no surprise that throughout the novel she’s processing her grief over the loss of her friend, and dealing with some pretty severe anxiety.
The Family Doctor is a topical and extremely relevant book with some incredibly powerful characters and shocking moments. Have some tissues at the ready as it’s hard to come out of this without shedding a few tears. Oswald clearly had something to say with this story and its one I won’t forget anytime soon.
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