Delicious is not a word that normally springs to mind when describing a book but consultant oncologist Sam Guglani’s debut novel is just that: delicious. Despite wanting to devour each chapter I deliberately slowed down to savour every word, every morsel, of this poetic, poignant, and charged novel.
Histories is — as the title states — a collection of stories set within one hospital over 1 week with each chapter offering a different perspective, and many of the substories interlinking. We are privy to the inner thoughts of the experienced, weathered, alone but not lonely consultant physician Dr Bhatia — or ‘Bat-yer’, the new but not-so-new consultant oncologist Dr Emily Carroll still orienting herself to this new role, wondering why after reaching the highest rung on the …