Pages

Sunday 19 April 2020

Book Review: DUSTFALL by Michelle Johnston

Title: DUSTFALL 
Author: Michelle Johnston
Publisher: UWA Publishing
Read: March 2020
My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟


Book Description:


Dr Raymond Filigree, running away from a disastrous medical career, mistakes an unknown name on a map for the perfect refuge. He travels to the isolated town of Wittenoom and takes charge of its small hospital, a place where no previous doctor has managed to stay longer than an eye blink. Instead of settling into a quiet, solitary life, he discovers an asbestos mining corporation with no regard for the safety of its workers and no care for the truth.

Thirty years later, Dr Lou Fitzgerald stumbles across the abandoned Wittenoom Hospital. She, too, is a fugitive from a medical career toppled by a single error. Here she discovers faded letters and barely used medical equipment, and, slowly the story of the hospital’s tragic past comes to her.

Dustfall is the tale of the crashing consequences of medical error, the suffering caused by asbestos mining and the power of storytelling.

What attracted me to this book:


I had the pleasure of meeting Michelle Johnston through work a few years ago, and was excited to hear that she has branched out from emergency medicine to writing. Being a damn fine ED doctor, I just knew that her experience would make the perfect basis for a brilliant medical thriller, and I was not disappointed.

My musings:


DUSTFALL is set in Wittenoom, an abandoned asbestos mining town in the Hamersley Range in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Since 2006, the town’s name no longer appears on any official maps and road signs, as if it had been erased from Australian soil together with its dark history. As a physician, Johnston knows firsthand the terrible legacy of asbestos mining, and the toll on human lives. Her personal experience of being an emergency doctor also shines through in her two main characters : Lou Fitzgerald, a young ED doctor seeking refuge in the abandoned mining town after a medical error ended her career; and Dr Raymond Filigree, who is a doctor working in the town’s small hospital at the time when the mine is still operational.

It is not easy to find Australian medical mysteries based on the vast knowledge of an author who is also a medical professional – especially a “homegrown” one from WA. You won’t find any inaccuracies here, and all medical emergencies the two fictional doctors encounter are so well presented that I could feel my own adrenaline rush on putting myself in their shoes. As Johnston delves into Wittenoom’s dark history as seen from the perspective of one of the town’s physicians, the true scale of the crime committed there against its residents becomes even more palpable. With a rich cast of characters you would encounter in a remote Australian bush town, the story made for compelling reading.


DUSTFALL is the type of novel that showcases how a dual timeline can add both depth as well as tension to a narrative, and I felt equally invested in both as the mystery slowly unfolded. Atmospheric, with a constant sense of tension and foreboding, the story gripped me from the very beginning and kept me invested until the end. I felt that Johnston beautifully captured the atmosphere of the remote Pilbara region, an area I have spent some time in and which is always close to my heart.

Summary:


In summary, DUSTFALL is the type of medical mystery that only comes around rarely: beautifully written, well plotted and based on the author’s own experiences and knowledge as an accomplished emergency physician. Set both in the present as well as exploring one of WA’s darkest chapters in history, the book made for compelling reading from start to finish. As a health professional, I appreciated and admired the authenticity with which Johnston explores both her subjects as well as the challenges presented by the remote Australian setting. DUSTFALL was a pleasure to read, and I hope to read more from this talented author in future.



No comments:

Post a Comment