{"id":3217,"date":"2017-06-03T11:49:08","date_gmt":"2017-06-03T06:19:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fableandi.com\/?p=3217"},"modified":"2020-03-10T10:02:51","modified_gmt":"2020-03-10T04:32:51","slug":"dark-circle-linda-grant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebooksatchel.com\/dark-circle-linda-grant\/","title":{"rendered":"The Dark Circle by Linda Grant – An Emotionally Fulfilling Read"},"content":{"rendered":"
After the Second world war, tuberculosis cases are on the rise and the twins, Lenny and Miriam fall prey to the illness. They are sent to a sanatorium in Kent where they forge new relationships, some of which leave permanent scars. The Dark Circle<\/em> by Linda Grant promises to be an emotionally wrenching read.<\/p>\n The Dark Circle<\/em> is set mainly in 1949 when the war has ended and anti-Semitism is on the rise. The story concerns the twins, Lenny and Miriam, eighteen years of age and living with their mother. Their father is dead and they have an uncle who helps the family out. Lenny has big plans; Miriam works in a flower shop and dreams of opening her own shop one day. Their dreams bite dust when they both are diagnosed with tuberculosis. Under a new plan of the National Health Service scheme, they are accepted into a sanatorium in Kent where the privileged ill stay. Housing an eccentric cast of patients, the sanatorium has excellent food and orderly silence until Arthur Persky, an American merchant seaman, is admitted as a patient and he decides to hold the mast for small rebellions.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This book made me realize how fortunate we are to live in a period with so many medical advancements. The patients in those days were administered harsh measures such as sleeping in the biting cold in the verandah for fresh air, or being tested with new medicines and methods which often had drastic consequences. The children who are diagnosed with TB are shut in rooms or even tied down to contain their excitement and urge to play. It was scary even reading about them, both the young and the old, confined to a sanatorium with an uncertain future. This book made me feel grateful for all the busy moments of the day that we often whine about. The patients are advised full rest and are provided all the good facilities such as nourishing food and nursing care; but this joblessness terrifies them, bores them and they crave to lead a normal life.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The cast of characters in the book is wonderful. There is Arthur Persky, the ladies\u2019 guy, an American who brings about chaos in the orderly life of the institute; Hannah, a German who suffered the brutalities of war only to be confined in the sanatorium; Lady Anne, the privileged lady with a sad and shocking ending who was kept with the sole reason to attract more privileged patients; Valerie, Miriam\u2019s room mate who is an avid reader and wonders if she would get along with Miriam.<\/p>\n <\/p>\nREVIEW<\/h3>\n