Blurb
A heart-warming, poignant and engaging tale about the doctors, nurses and patients of the Wandin Valley Bush Nursing Hospital, and their friends and neighbours.
A Country Practice follows the dramas, loves, secrets and dilemmas of the people in an Australian small country town. There is romance, humour and tragedy for the medical staff of the local hospital, and the rural community it serves.
A desperate woman arrives at the Wandin Valley Bush Nursing Hospital in the final stages of labour. Can Dr Terence Elliott overcome his demons to save both mother and baby?
Simon Bowen, the newest doctor in town, is frustrated at being seen as an outsider by the tight knit country people. Will he succeed in winning them around ‒ especially young vet Vicky Dean?
Vicky’s mum, Sister Shirley Dean, is courted by widowed police sergeant Frank Gilroy. But is he the man for her?
Young married couple, Brendan and Molly Jones arrive in Wandin Valley. Are they prepared for the realities of country life?
Meanwhile, a teenager in love clashes with her father and a serious car accident reveals a surprising secret about two of the town’s residents.
Based on the award-winning, international hit television serial A Country Practice, this new series of novels follows the lives and loves of the rural community of Wandin Valley, South-Eastern Australia. Set in the early 1980s it is a nostalgic look at country life, yet with all the same joys and problems we face today.
Review
If you’re looking for a book packed with everything from romance to tragedy, plus everything in between, I would highly recommend A Country Practice. Based on an award-winning Australian TV series, this book is packed with memorable characters, several engaging plot threads and a great style of writing that leaves you wanting more. In short, it’s a soap opera in book form.
What I loved most is the way the respective stories linked together; there were more than a few intriguing romances, as well as dark secrets and some new faces in Wandin Valley. I don’t watch a lot of soaps, but I enjoyed the feeling of community within this book. I liked meeting the residents of Wandin Valley, getting to know them and their respective stories. The writer has done an excellent job of weaving them all together and maintaining a good pace throughout.
This is the first book in the series and I’ll definitely be looking out for future ones!
Links
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25764168-a-country-practice?ac=1&from_search=true
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Country-Practice-New-Beginnings-ebook/dp/B00Z37ROM2/
https://www.amazon.com/Country-Practice-New-Beginnings-ebook/dp/B00Z37ROM2/
https://www.amazon.com.au/Country-Practice-New-Beginnings-ebook/dp/B00Z37ROM2/
About the author: Judith Colquhoun was born in Queensland and grew up in Sydney. She studied production at the National Institute of Dramatic Art and soon after graduating, love and a job took her to Melbourne. Later, she lived in London for a time, spent many years in country Victoria and long enough in Italy to fall in love with the Mezzogiorno. She is now back in Melbourne and may even stay there.
She started writing when she was six and from the age of twenty-three has always earned her living from it in one way or another. She was a scriptwriter for far too long, writing countless hours of television for many of Australia’s most popular shows, including Neighbours and Home & Away. Her output included one hundred episodes of A Country Practice.
Judith has worked as an editor and script producer, and in Italy was a script consultant on the serial Un Posto Al Sole. She has won five Awgie Awards and in 2007 was made a Life Member of the Australian Writers’ Guild.
In 2009 she finally gave up scriptwriting to attempt a novel. Thicker Than Water, which is largely set in southern Italy, was published in 2014. It was Highly Commended in the Fellowship of Australian Writers 2014 National Literary Awards.
She has written three novels based on the stories and characters of A Country Practice – New Beginnings, To Everything a Season and Silver Linings.
Judith is married with two children and three grandchildren.
Lynsey James 
Great review, Lynsey. I enjoy books with multiple threads. I like the idea that it is a soap opera in book form!