The Night Interns
Published on 4. May 2023
Book
Paperback/Softback
208 pages
978-1-78378-835-4 (ISBN)
Description
"Stylish, mordant, and pitch-perfect - I read it in one sitting. If Rachel Cusk or Sally Rooney had been junior doctors they might have come up with something like this" - Gavin Francis, author of Recovery
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Intravenous lines, catheters, bodies in distress, wounds: three young surgical interns working the night shift must care for - and keep alive - the influx of patients, while frightened and uncertain about what the night will throw at them.
The Night Interns beautifully conjures the alien space of the hospital wards and corridors through the viewpoint of one of the interns, as he comes to terms with the bodily reality of the patients and the bizarre instruments of healing. Equally unsettling for the inexperienced junior staff are the dysfunctional hierarchies of the hospital workplace. Under intense pressure and with very little sleep, the interns become inured to their encounters with sickness, all the while searching for the meaning in their work.
By turns moving, shocking, and darkly funny, The Night Interns fizzes with nervous energy, forensic insight and moral tension, as it evokes life and death on the frontline.
---
Intravenous lines, catheters, bodies in distress, wounds: three young surgical interns working the night shift must care for - and keep alive - the influx of patients, while frightened and uncertain about what the night will throw at them.
The Night Interns beautifully conjures the alien space of the hospital wards and corridors through the viewpoint of one of the interns, as he comes to terms with the bodily reality of the patients and the bizarre instruments of healing. Equally unsettling for the inexperienced junior staff are the dysfunctional hierarchies of the hospital workplace. Under intense pressure and with very little sleep, the interns become inured to their encounters with sickness, all the while searching for the meaning in their work.
By turns moving, shocking, and darkly funny, The Night Interns fizzes with nervous energy, forensic insight and moral tension, as it evokes life and death on the frontline.
Reviews / Votes
With the dark humour and moral seriousness that make Austin Duffy's writing so captivating, The Night Interns brilliantly portrays the excruciating stress of constantly feeling that what is expected of you may well be more than you are capable of achieving -- Carys Davies Stylish, mordant, and pitch-perfect - I read it in one sitting. If Rachel Cusk or Sally Rooney had been junior doctors they might have come up with something like this -- Gavin Francis * author of Recovery * A sharp shock of a book, visceral, and acutely affecting -- Lisa McInerney The Night Interns is an utterly immersive read. Duffy has managed to capture the claustrophobia, exhaustion and constant pressure of life in a contemporary hospital so effectively I could physically feel the tension on every page. A gripping, honest and incredibly important book -- Jan Carson * author of The Raptures * Entirely gripping... a fascinating but terrifying backstage glimpse of an apparently-functioning hospital where the director is a tyrant, the producer is unhinged, and the actors don't know their lines... This novel is to be prized on so many levels -- Claire KilroyMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Dimensions
Height: 199 mm
Width: 131 mm
Thickness: 17 mm
Weight
149 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78378-835-4 (9781783788354)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Previous edition
Person
Austin Duffy is the author of two novels, Ten Days and This Living and Immortal Thing, which was shortlisted for the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year and was runner-up for the McKitterick Prize. He is a practising medical oncologist and lives in Ireland with his wife and two children.