Overview

Larry, an Edinburgh schoolboy, defies his doctor father, during COVID-19 lockdown, to meet with friends in the Meadows, but abandons them on seeing Skye, a girl in the year below him with whom he has been in love ever since she sang a solo at a school concert two years previously. Engineered by Larry's doting sister, Angie, their young love seems to blossom until Skye is taken away to Stornoway by her single mother and forbidden to contact Larry. Devastated, Larry then goes down with COVID-19 and ends up on a ventilator where his life hangs in the balance whilst, disconnected from his body, he relives past lives over seven thousand years. These stories all relate to major advances in the history of medicine, from the trephining of skulls (drilling holes in the head) seven thousand years ago to the recent discovery of CRISPR technology to remove harmful genes which, when Larry recovers, and he meets up again with Skye, might provide a solution to the true reason for her mother's decision to separate the young lovers: a genetic condition which was the reason Skye's musician father abandoned her and her mother. The love story is interwoven with stories from the past that highlight breakthroughs that changed medicine forever, each complemented by a factual account and illustrated by the author's own, often heartfelt, experiences as a hospital doctor.

Full Product Details

9781912513567

Table of Contents

Reviews

Powerful stories following key developments in medicine from Neolithic time to the present. Each chapter focuses on a medical advance illustrated by a dramatization, which in turn, is intertwined with a love story set in the current pandemic. A factual statement follows on together with a personal commentary from the author's own, often heartfelt, medical experience. Clearly written and hugely informative this will appeal both to those contemplating a career in healthcare and to anyone who wants an insight into the journey of medical development over the centuries. Illustrated with striking images, the authors have brought to the page a vivid portrayal of hope over adversity in a memorable work of fact and fiction. Ray Cartwright, Emeritus Professor of Medicine

Powerful stories following key developments in medicine from Neolithic time to the present. Each chapter focuses on a medical advance illustrated by a dramatization, which in turn, is intertwined with a love story set in the current pandemic. A factual statement follows on together with a personal commentary from the author's own, often heartfelt, medical experience. Clearly written and hugely informative this will appeal both to those contemplating a career in healthcare and to anyone who wants an insight into the journey of medical development over the centuries. Illustrated with striking images, the authors have brought to the page a vivid portrayal of hope over adversity in a memorable work of fact and fiction. Ray Cartwright, Emeritus Professor of Medicine

Author Information

A retired hospital physician, with a Chinese wife, a son plus two granddaughters in America, and a daughter plus two granddaughters in Switzerland, Oliver Eade has been writing fiction for young readers, young adults, and adults since 2005. Also a playwright, four of his plays have been staged in Scotland. One of these won the Segora 2018 International One-Act Play Competition. He has led fiction and drama writing workshops in schools in Scotland and in London. Until the COVID, he and his wife ran a writing class for home-schooled children in the Scottish Borders. Lucia, the writer's US eldest granddaughter, is in her third pre-med year at the University of Texas, Austin. A gifted artist, her great grandfather was a London artist who learned from the great. Henry Moore. She hopes to become a pediatric surgeon.

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