Sea Sick

Is there a doctor who wouldn’t want to work on a cruise ship sailing to Rio? Ruth sets off on the voyage of a lifetime with her husband, Tom, yearning for a blissful break away from fifteen years as a hectic GP in the East End of London. Within days an epidemic of Norovirus takes over the ship. Strict sanitary measures are implemented. Passengers are quarantined. The mood on board changes. As the sole doctor Ruth works alongside two nurses one of whom is an alcoholic. Tensions in the Medical Centre mount. Medical cases include life-threatening emergencies. A GP surgery it is not. At the doctor’s table apparently colourless passengers reveal surprises as the trip unfolds. By day Ruth struggles with the masculine hierarchy while evenings bring romantic escapism for Tom and Ruth. Ruth’s unease grows as she realises that the ship retraces the Atlantic slave trade ports. Her family story as Ten Pound Poms emigrating to Australia in 1949 and their subsequent four Atlantic crossings ignites her lifelong attachment to the sea. But will this be Ruth’s last voyage?