The Northern Borough

It is the late 1950s and Grace Thomas is a surgeon working at The Northern Borough Hospital in London. Grace has reached thirty and is struggling not only to replicate the achievements of her renowned surgeon father, Reg Royson-Thomas, but also to drop her guard and find a man who she can enjoy a settled relationship with. James Hadley is a new surgeon to The Northern Borough, recently qualified and keen to make his mark. James' natural rugged charm is a hit with the nurses but conceals a curious shyness with people. Both share a mutual attraction but is James' charisma enough to disarm Grace? Will Grace have to choose over her career or relationship? Or can she have it all? Richard Herniman's witty novel follows the ups and downs of Grace and James' relationship and shines a light on those other lives around it that become entwined in the setting of The Northern Borough Hospital. The novel charmingly captures the mood of the times and offers a snapshot of city life in late 1950s Britain.