The Good Doctor

Portland, Maine, 1910. An assembly gathers to listen to a fundraising lecture by the esteemed medical missionary Doctor Wilfred Grenfell. Grenfell has been working for eighteen years with trappers, fishermen, and their families on Newfoundland's Great Northern Peninsula and in coastal Labrador. Thanks in part to the wild adventures recorded in his recent bestseller, Adrift on an Ice Pan, Grenfell is becoming ever more famous in North America.

But tonight something is wrong. The man who appears before the audience as "the good doctor" suddenly receives a challenge from the floor. He neither looks, sounds, nor acts like the real Wilfred Grenfell.

Thirty years later, during research for an article, journalist Judy Agar tracks down the Grenfell imposter living quietly in Massachusetts. It soon transpires that he and the real Grenfell share a common history which dates back to London in the 1880s. As medical students they shadowed each other through the corridors of a London hospital, the music halls, the evangelist missions, and the slums, each of them vying for the affections of a young nurse whose influence turned out to be decisive for them both.

"This novel is eloquent and mysterious in its turns of phrase and imagery. Paul Butler provides a deft framework wherein time shifts occur while at the same time providing continuous flow of characterization." - Liz Allenby, The Historical Novel Society

"A rousing good read." - The Compass

"Butler's book is laced with mystery and romance. It keeps the reader turning pages to find out what happens next." The Aurora

"This novel truly is suspenseful, nail biting and enjoyable all at the same time. Butler provides a thrilling situation of a usual mundane historical event in an extremely well written piece." - Tint of Ink

"Butler writes succinctly, keeping his plot as tidily structured, as masterfully crafted as a shipbuilder bending hull planks to meet perfectly at the prow; or, plotting as niftily as Uncle Jack building a punt." - The Packet

"It's an entertaining story. Butler's usual impeccable historical research is augmented by an intriguing plot that doesn't really conclude until the final pages." - Northeast Avalon Times

"This novel is eloquent and mysterious in its turns of phrase and imagery. Paul Butler provides a deft framework wherein time shifts occur while at the same time providing continuous flow of characterization." Historical Novels Review

"I was so dazzled by [The Good Doctor] - so wholly original and such an interesting way to look at how legends are made. And the careful construction of the characters' motivations and complex emotional landscapes - utterly brilliant. I'm recommending it like crazy!" - Leslie Vryenhoek, Writer