I picked up this book because it was mentioned in my great-grandmother's diary from 1941. Written in the 30s, it tells the tale of a young Scottish doctor in the 20s, as he goes from a small-town doctor in a rough situation to a well-paid London doctor with a fancy office.

The story's written with intelligence, as the doctor ponders various ways to deal with the bureaucracy he faces. He deals with incompetent doctors, old doctors that have no desire to learn new treatments, young doctors more concerned with money and prestige than patient care.

And, as he gets absorbed into the system, the doctor begins to be lured in by the money. He starts to prescribe the 'easy' solution to patients, even if it's not the right answer, so that they're happy and he gets more cash. He does finally realize, in the end, that working for the patients is more important than gaining lots of cash, but only after some hard lessons.

I have a few small complaints with the story. One is that the wife could have been a really interesting character, but she's a little flat. She is sad when he becomes money-hungry, and draws back, but that's it. She was a schoolteacher when he met her, and it's made clear that she's very intelligent. But still she just sort of goes along with him, making his meals, wishing things could be better, but far be it for her to actually help out. She tries to get his friends to see him one night to bring back his old ways, but when that fails, "ah well".

My other complaint is that he slides far too easy from a passionate patient-first attitude into a "cash is nice" mentality. But that was necessary for the plot to progress.

Definitely a great book to read to learn about life in the 20s to 40s, from the small towns of Wales to the busy streets of London. Interesting details about the damage that mines caused to the lungs of the mineworkers, and the ways that doctors worked with each other and treated their patients. A great read!

Someone asked about the use of "Bach" in the opening scenes in Wales. For example, Dr. Jenkins (the local) says "We know what good old aqua means, eh, Doctor, bach?" (Aqua being Water in Spanish). Later, in section X, Mrs. Morgan's 70 year old mother says "Let me make you a cup of tea, Doctor, bach." She then says "She's awful set upon this child, Doctor, bach."

In Welsh, this is a term of friendly endearment, like "little one". It is usually used after someone's name like in "Let me get you a cupcake, Lisa, bach." In general Welsh has a sentence structure where they tend to have extra flourishes like that. They will say "It is a lovely day, dear, isn't it?"

From an English friend of mine:

Bach is not English, its Welsh. I checked with my elder son Dan who lives in Wales and is taking Welsh classes

Bach is what a Welsh person (and only a Welsh) person might say.

Pronounced BACK but with a soft k, like K with a bit of a sigh.

Bach means 'small' and is used as a sort of familiar reference, for instance

A cockney might say " 'ello mate "
A Welshman might say "Hello bach" or "Hello Owen bach" if they knew the persons (here Owen) name.

or like a whole load of English similars inc pet, ducks, love, pal etc etc

although its use can become automatic and follow every mention of the persons name when speaking to them.

Another question asked is about Book IV, Chapter xiii. Frances says about her husband: "He's at Juan at present. But I don't ask him why." In British English they say someone is "at University" as in James is at Oxford meaning he's a student there. They say the same thing about hospitals. "Sue is at hospital" (rather than "At THE hospital"). Finally, MOST people say this about a restaurant. "He's at Locke Ober in Boston / He's eating dinner at Locke Ober in Boston." Or for the more low-brow, "She's at Burger King." In Casablanca the restaurant's name was "Rick's". They would not say "He is at The Rick's". They would simply say "He is at Rick's." So my assumption here is that Juan is the name of a restaurant or cigar bar type of place.

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