Dustfall

Book excerpt: 'Haunting and lyrical, humming with compassion and insight, Dustfall heralds the arrival of a brilliant new literary voice. Michelle Johnston is a rare talent, and this is a rare jewel of a novel.' - Kathryn Heyman Dr Raymond Filigree, running away from a disastrous medical career, mistakes an unknown name on a map for the perfect refuge. He travels to the isolated town of Wittenoom and takes charge of its small hospital, a place where no previous doctor has managed to stay longer than an eye blink. Instead of settling into a quiet, solitary life, he discovers an asbestos mining corporation with no regard for the safety of its workers and no care for the truth. Thirty years later, Dr Lou Fitzgerald stumbles across the abandoned Wittenoom Hospital. She, too, is a fugitive from a medical career toppled by a single error. Here she discovers faded letters and barely used medical equipment, and, slowly the story of the hospital’s tragic past comes to her. Dustfall is the tale of the crashing consequences of medical error, the suffering caused by asbestos mining and the power of storytelling.