A ground-breaking surgical intervention promises to free women from psychological disorders. The procedure is painless, the risks are minimal, and patients are calmer and more compliant after healing. The doctor promises them a new and productive life, free from suffering – can it be so simple?
Meret is a nurse on the surgical ward. The hospital is her home, and her uniform is her identity. She supports her patients through their interventions and is proud to be a part of the solution. But when she falls in love with another nurse, she crosses an invisible boundary and her certainty in the system begins to crumble.
With echoes of Kazuo Ishiguro and Margaret Atwood, this is the story of a world of rigid hierarchies and a love with its own rules.
About the author
Marielle Sutherland was born in 1976 in Hartlepool. She has a Ph D in German and is a translator at the German Historical Institute London. Her publications include the selected poems of Rainer Maria Rilke (co-translated with Susan Ranson) and Rulantica: Hidden Island, by Michaela Hanauer. Marielle Sutherland was awarded the Peirene Stevns Translation Prize in 2023.