Winner of the McKitterick Prize



Two women in a room.

‘Courageous’ Rachel Cusk, Guardian

One is dying.

‘Gripping’ Observer

The other just sits back and watches.

‘Necessary’ Independent

For both, there is everything to lose.

Surgeons are meant to save lives, but Nancy is a special kind of surgeon. When she makes a mistake in the operating theatre she is summoned to explain herself to a tribunal and is forced to consider what it means to be a doctor who has killed as well as cured. And to realise that her own redemption can only come through telling a tale that nobody wants to hear.

Gabriel Weston, author of the acclaimed Direct Red: A Surgeon’s Story, winner of the 2010 PEN/Ackerley Prize, has written an extraordinarily moving and powerful novel.

Prizes

Winner of Society of Authors Awards: McKitterick Prize 2014 (UK),Long-listed for Waverton Good Read Award 2014 (UK)

A lot of novels are called “brave”, and they aren’t. This one is. -- Lionel Shriver
A brilliantly intense, thought-provoking story * Stylist *
Gripping, well-researched and elegantly written -- Rosamund Urwin * Evening Standard, Books of the Year *
This courageous and interesting author is that unusual thing, a contemporary moralist -- Rachel Cusk * Guardian *
Bold, brave, and uncomfortable… it's a gripping read * Observer *
The subject matter is brave, the moral perspective complex, the writing vivid -- Lionel Shriver * Mail on Sunday *
Weston has an unwavering passion for the truth as well as the courage to tell it. -- Ian Thomson * Sunday Telegraph (Seven) *
Weston excels at writing about medicine precisely…but with great subtlety of tone that allows readers to appreciate the human faultlines that lie beneath conventional portraits of doctoring. -- Vivienne Parry * The Times *
Weston is a superb writer of lucid and evocative prose… This is not a dark book so much as a deeply thoughtful one * Independent *

Gabriel Weston was born in 1970. She qualified as a doctor in 2000 and became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons in 2003. Her first book, Direct Red, was published in 2009. It was longlisted for the Guardian First Book Award and won the PEN/Ackerley Prize for Autobiography. She lives in London and continues to practise as a part-time ENT surgeon.