Dustfall, Michelle Johnston
Dustfall, Michelle Johnston
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Dustfall

Author: Michelle Johnston

Narrator: Katherine Littrell

Unabridged: 9 hr 27 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: UWA Publishing

Published: 11/01/2018


Synopsis

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.

About Michelle Johnston

Michelle Johnston is both an emergency physician and an author. On good days it is difficult to tell the difference. She is a Staff Specialist at the Royal Perth Hospital Emergency Department, a busy inner-city trauma centre where she works as both clinician and teacher. Michelle's first novel, Dustfall, was published by UWA Publishing in February 2018 and shortlisted for the MUD Literary Prize for a debut novel in 2019. She speaks and holds workshops, for both doctors and normal people, about marrying critical care and creativity, and she is occupied searching for the beauty and awe in an often-brutal reality.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Robert on March 05, 2018

Endlessly gorgeous prose; characters that feel real; a completely compelling story; I don't know what else to ask for.......more

Goodreads review by Michael on September 30, 2018

A gripping story with powerful political reverbrations told in a neatly structured, well-written novel - wonderful.......more

Goodreads review by Cate on April 16, 2018

Dustfall addresses an important chapter in Western Australia's history and tells a story of an industrial health disaster that demands to be told. It brings the events of Wittenoom in the 1960s beautifully to life through the tandem experiences of a doctor at the time and one revisiting many years l......more

Goodreads review by Heidi on April 19, 2020

I had the pleasure of meeting Michelle Johnston through work a few years ago, and was excited to hear that she has branched out from emergency medicine to writing. Being a damn fine ED doctor, I just knew that her experience would make the perfect basis for a brilliant medical thriller, and I was no......more

Goodreads review by D on March 06, 2018

I was lucky enough to read a very early draft of this book several years ago, and am so pleased to say how much I enjoyed the final version! The author uses beautiful, evocative language to describe the WA settings in which this book is placed. I loved the character of Lou, and Miss Rosa has a few su......more