Moral Injuries by Christie Watson

Moral Injuries by Christie Watson
Buy Moral Injuries by Christie Watson at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Thriller
Reviewer: Sue Magee
Summary: A psychological drama about secrets, lies, medicine and morals. Highly readable.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 320	Date: March 2024
Publisher: W&N
External links: Author's website
ISBN: {{{isbn}}}
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Olivia, Laura and Anjali met on the first day of medical school and their friendship would keep them inseparable for a quarter of a century. Olivia is ruthlessly ambitious, which is a bonus when you aim to be a cardiothoracic surgeon. Laura is a perfectionist and a trauma doctor. Anjali is the free spirit of the group and she becomes a GP. When we first meet them they're at a drug and alcohol-fuelled party and it's going to end in tragedy. We don't know who suffered the tragedy or the consequences. Twenty-five years later there will be an eerily similar event that will impact the three friends. This time, it's their teenage children who are involved.

Last time, they swore they would never speak about what happened again - and they've stuck to that. This time it's Olivia and Laura's children who are involved and Olivia is not going to allow a promise made last century - or her closest friendships - to stand in the way of protecting her child. It's not just the friendship that's now at risk - it's three careers on the line and the freedom and future of two teenagers.

It was a cracker of a read. An examination of ethics in medicine threw light on some dusty corners of my brain. I liked, too, the look at female friendship and the stresses of working in the modern NHS. The most impressive part, though, is the plot. There's a dual timeline - 1999 and 2024 - and the three women each give their version of what happened and how it affected them. You will have to concentrate to follow what's happening. There were several occasions when I had to go back a chapter or two to find out what was happening. Otherwise, the crafting is superb and made for a read which was very difficult to put down.

Christie Watson is a nurse by training and for someone not in the business, the medical side of the story was realistic: I felt present but not to the point where it became stressful. I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.

As well as reading the book, I listened to an audio download (which I bought myself) narrated by Miranda Raison. Her range of voices is excellent. There are a lot of women in the cast and I was always confident about who was speaking. The pacing is good and I would happily listen to more from Raison.

You might also enjoy Right to Die by Hazel McHaffie.

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