Kind & Sensible

Description

Jonathan Barber, an old-school doctor, struggles to adapt to societal and medical changes. After his decision to comfort a terminally ill patient, Jonathan finds himself facing legal and professional consequences, leading to his early retirement.

Following his wife’s death, his estranged daughter Margaret returns home, seeking to reconnect and understand her father’s plight. In conversations with her father, friends, and medical and nursing experts, Margaret uncovers the societal barriers to honest discussions about illness and mortality.

Margaret’s journey mirrors society’s struggle, culminating in newfound trust in her father and understanding of the need for a realistic resetting of expectations about what medicine can and can’t do, with a restoration of trust between doctors and patients.

John Firth qualified as a doctor in 1981 and is a consultant physician in Cambridge, where he’s the medical lead for professional governance. He has written many scientific papers and textbook chapters and is the senior editor of the Oxford Textbook of Medicine, the international reference work. Kind & Sensible is his first novel.