Interesting book about TB treatment in a sanatorium in the late 1940's and the cast of characters there. ( )

Perfectly pleasant read, a window into the horrors of TB treatment on the cusp of antibiotics. My only criticism was the drawn out ending with numerous jump-forward chapters that could have been just one and the better for it. ( )

(7.5) I found this book good but not great. I am surprised that it was shortlisted really. The topic I thought was important for younger generations and even my own to be reminded of how deadly and debilitating a TB prognosis could be.
Lenny and Miriam, 19 year old twins of Jewish parents are just achieving independence and looking forward to their futures when they are diagnosed with tuberculosis. They are sent off to the South of England to a sanatorium for treatment. They like others before them soon become institutionalised. They are exposed to a different set of people and their lives are permanently altered and affected.
I wanted to like this more but really failed to feel any connection to the individuals in this story even though the setting was an important one to learn about. I felt more empathy with their aging characters, one disappointing scene aside. ( )

I'm a fan of Linda Grant both her books ( fiction and non ) and on Twitter. That is along as she confines herself to writing about her own, when she brings in Americans or America the stereotypes abound. And I am not some red white and blue flagwaver but I just had to groan when Arthur, the jacked-up Bronx sailor arrived on the scene, from there on in the novel suffered. And in her The Party Upstairs, the book's narrator spends time in the US where she has a cringe-worthy two page encounter with a cross between Gabby Hayes and the Marlboro Man. Maybe this is stuff she can get away with with her UK readers, god only really knows what they think of us. ( )

An interesting novel set in a TB hospital as the new NHS takes over, enabling working class patients to access treatment. Even more significantly, antibiotics are beginning to be made available. Although the characters were charismatic and engaging, I was never gripped by the story. ( )