Title: THE WAITING ROOMS
Author: EVE SMITH
Publisher: ORENDA BOOKS
Set in an alternative dystopian present, where antibiotics have lost their effectiveness due to over- and misuse and the world is therefore overrun with mutated diseases and viruses, of which there is no cure. Eve Smith creates a thrilling world in which a mere scratch can be fatal. In this world, reaching your seventieth birthday is not something to be celebrated, but to be feared, for seventy is the cut off point for receiving antibiotics. Once you reach seventy, you are on your own.
Reading this novel it was hard not to associate the pandemic with that of today’s, making the novel difficult to read at times. One point in particular stood out; ‘Behind me someone starts to hack. Instinctively I stiffen. Maybe we should all be wearing masks. So much for progress.’ (page 239). This only highlighted even more so how our current society could only be a few steps away from the world that Eve Smith creates in ‘The Waiting Rooms’. Aside from today’s Covid-19 pandemic, antibiotic resistance is a real issue, currently responsible for 700,000 deaths a year. But WHO estimates that by 2050, this figure could be as high as 10 million deaths a year. This stark reality shows how serious the issue is that Smith addresses and also how chilling her debut novel really is.
Smith creates three characters’ storylines, and the reader follows all three of these characters’ journeys at the same time. At first these interweaved tales seem to be unrelated, except that they all focus on the pandemic. We quickly learn as readers that all three storylines are connected, however. This technique is an excellent way of creating and maintaining cliff-hangers within the novel, as we have to wait to find out that character’s next steps. All three characters are also female, with two being very well respected in scientific fields, which is great to see in this work of fiction.
Smith’s characters are also well-rounded and believable. They all do things they regret and at times act out of selfishness. This humanity is not easy to write, especially when readers want to find a hero to latch onto within the first few pages. Smith writes her female protagonists with honesty and realism, and the same can be said for the world she has created within the novel.
Smith keeps us guessing within her fiction, placing a few twists throughout. For me, that is the fun of reading a novel, attempting to guess the coming plot twists. I must admit, I did guess a few before they are revealed within the novel, but that did not bother me as the reveals were still just as thrilling.
Being shortlisted for the Bridport Prize First Novel Award comes as no surprise to me, having read the novel in less than a week. I couldn’t put it down. Smith creates visceral worlds that spring to life on the page and each chapter reveals new and exciting plot developments. This believably scary world Smith creates can be attributed largely to her in-depth knowledge of the subject matter. The author had clearly done a lot of research for this, her debut novel.
Eve Smith is a name I will definitely be looking out for when her next novel is published, and so should you too. Her work portrays an essence of Margaret Atwood and George Orwell, two very well-respected authors. Both are authors who have also created many dystopian realities, and who, I must admit are two of my favourite authors. If Smith’s following novels are of the same calibre I can imagine her name being added to that list.
Reviewer - Megan Relph
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