barbara fister reviewed In Place of Fear by Catriona McPherson
Review of 'In Place of Fear' on 'LibraryThing'
How appropriate to write a novel about the opening of the NHS just as the pandemic was straining it at the seams. The protagonist is a newly-trained "almoner" or medical social worker who sets up her practice with two physicians in Edinburgh. The story takes us on many of her field visits as she brings together medical care with human kindness and understanding of working class lives. There is also a mystery - a young girl is found dead on the premises of the home Helen and her husband have been provided, and she is the spitting image of the daughters of a nosy philanthropist who had taken Helen under her wing (but represents a pre-NHS approach to public welfare). All of this is told in a rich Scots narrative which can slow the reader down a bit puzzling over the unfamiliar words and phrases, though there is a glossary …
How appropriate to write a novel about the opening of the NHS just as the pandemic was straining it at the seams. The protagonist is a newly-trained "almoner" or medical social worker who sets up her practice with two physicians in Edinburgh. The story takes us on many of her field visits as she brings together medical care with human kindness and understanding of working class lives. There is also a mystery - a young girl is found dead on the premises of the home Helen and her husband have been provided, and she is the spitting image of the daughters of a nosy philanthropist who had taken Helen under her wing (but represents a pre-NHS approach to public welfare). All of this is told in a rich Scots narrative which can slow the reader down a bit puzzling over the unfamiliar words and phrases, though there is a glossary in the back. I felt it both slowed me down at times but also added a rich dimension to the story. returnreturnThere's something of an uneasy balance between the mystery and Helen's story (which, frankly, I found more interesting than the whodunnit) and the pacing is uneven as a result, with the mystery relatively underdeveloped or scattered. But the setting and subject matter and the exploration of what it takes to do social services well, with acceptance and understanding, was rewarding. Fans of Call the Midwife will be pleased.