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A review by half_book_and_co
The Dark Circle by Linda Grant
5.0
1949, London. Jewish twins Lenny and Miriam Lynskey are diagnosed with tuberculosis and sent to a sanatorium in Kent. The two young people find themselves in a strange place and time: the sanatorium -the Gwendo - only newly admits non-private patients. It is the beginning of the NHS. And also they find themselves on the brink of the implementation of an actual cure for TB. But for now, many patients spend month after month on their balcony "resting". The Gwendo is full of interesting characters, many of them lethargic at first glance. But with the arrival of the twins - and later a charismatic US-American - the mood starts to shift.
In her book, Grant not only throws a light on the historical specifics of TB treatment but asks bigger questions about illness, treatments and what it means to be(come) a patient (does it just mean being patient?). And even though during a treatment doctors would love their patients just to be that: obedient patients, Grant's characters are never only patients but complex figures with different identities and positions in society which shape their experiences. Grant captures the anti-semitism of 1940s/50s Britain, alludes to questions of class and education; there are women exploring sex. And then there is a subplot about the prosecution of lesbian women in Nazi Germany - something I think I have not yet read in fiction.
Even though the novel deals with rather difficult topics, the writing is not without its humour and there is a dreamlike quality of it all. Without the Baileys' Prize I might not have picked up this book, but I am all the more happy that I did.
In her book, Grant not only throws a light on the historical specifics of TB treatment but asks bigger questions about illness, treatments and what it means to be(come) a patient (does it just mean being patient?). And even though during a treatment doctors would love their patients just to be that: obedient patients, Grant's characters are never only patients but complex figures with different identities and positions in society which shape their experiences. Grant captures the anti-semitism of 1940s/50s Britain, alludes to questions of class and education; there are women exploring sex. And then there is a subplot about the prosecution of lesbian women in Nazi Germany - something I think I have not yet read in fiction.
Even though the novel deals with rather difficult topics, the writing is not without its humour and there is a dreamlike quality of it all. Without the Baileys' Prize I might not have picked up this book, but I am all the more happy that I did.