Hall of Mirrors

0/5 ( ratings)

This is, by any standards, a superb novel, fresh, convincing, compassionate and intensely readable.

It is not often that a libel action involves a whole profession. But when Sir Thomas Gilling, one of the physicians to the Royal Family, a Fellow of the Royal Society and consultant to one of the great London hospitals, sues David Line, Professor of Surgery and head of the experimental unit at the Metropolitan Hospital almost every figure of importance in the world of medicine finds himself involved.

Yet as the story progresses it becomes increasingly clear to both men that it is their own character, their own history, their own life that is the focus of attention. The case will, in the end, be decided on what the jury thinks of them as people. Is Gilling a widely experienced, highly capable doctor nearing the end of a deservedly successful career, or is he just an old buffer who wants to hold on to place and power? Is Line a brilliant pioneer, obstructed by mediocrities in entrenched positions, or is he an erratic exhibitionist, exploiting the opportunities offered by television and the popular press? We see them as they appear to themselves and to the women who love or once loved them; we see how life has made them what they are. Fascinating as the medical details involved in the case are, the real questions to be judged are those of character and personality.

The two aspects of this absorbing story give full scope to John Rowan Wilson's unique combination of talents. As a novelist he has long been recognised on both sides of the Atlantic for his narrative power, originality and sheer professional skill. One of his earlier books, Means to an End, was a Literary Guild Choice in the U.S.A. J. D. Scott, in a review for the Sunday Times, wrote that its pace and realism would do credit to Simenon or Raymond Chandler: and The Times Literary Supplement found it 'a highly readable gripping story that actually contrives to say something un-platitudinous and true about the will to success and the vacuum at the heart of power.' As a doctor and surgeon who knows the world of medical politics at first hand he is a thorough master of his materials at every point. His most recent book, Margin of Safety, which told the story of the development of poliomyelitis vaccine, was described by Brian Inglis in the New Statesman as 'a model of how a medical work designed for lay consumption should be written: lucid, fair and remarkably readable'.

These qualities, heightened and enhanced by wit and compassion, combine to make Hall of Mirrors a novel as memorable as it is enthralling.