Poleaxed

The author marketed this as a medical style mystery about what happens when a new contagious disease is identified in a small village during the late 60s. Poleaxe hits its victims with paralysis and sometimes death. Most of this is seen through the eyes of two doctors and a patient at a hospital who investigate the cause. This was written just before the covid pandemic, so the book has come about at the right time, but is more about the medical investigation than the consequences for those who have it, so I don't think it's likely to be upsetting. 


Firstly, I want to make it clear that I read a proof edition of the novel (from Pigeonhole) so some of the issues may be cleared up. However, whilst I though that the book had some interesting ideas it was rather a let down for me in terms of plot and more specifically the depiction of Barbara, the patient. I didn't appreciate the descriptions of ‘firming breasts' and a ‘creamy body' and thought that the author was objectifying her, particularly with the way that she was portrayed as being young, naive and virginal.


The author was obviously very knowledgeable about the medical side of things, especially about how doctors were treated during the period, and whilst I think the book had potential, I think it needed an editor or a few more constructively critical readers to help the author improve it. 

Read it at the pace of ‘a stave a day' via the online book club Pigeonhole.
Written pre-COVID-19 times, it follows (mainly) one young woman through her journey of being ill with the titular disease, Poleaxe, escaping from her parents to college and enjoying her studies.
The plot jumped around somewhat, as the author had several things he wanted to say.
It also needed editing for typos and to tidy up the inconsistent names, but Pigeonhole often have advanced drafts, some in better states of the edit than others.