The Doctor of Broad Street

The Doctor of Broad Street tells the story of one man’s work to discover the cause of an epidemic, in an age when there was very limited knowledge, medicines and technology in comparison to today. With little effective treatment, it was only prevention that offered any real hope... 
The Doctor of Broad Street follows Frank Roberts, a doctor working with the poor in the squalor of Victorian London. After a night out with his friend, anaesthetist John Snow, he is called upon to conduct the autopsy of a man found in a cesspit on Broad Street. As London struggles with a heat wave, he finds himself drawn into the investigation as he becomes acquainted with the family of the man accused of the murder. However, his efforts to help clear an innocent man are overshadowed as a deadly cholera epidemic sweeps through the streets of Soho, causing painful ghosts from his childhood to resurface. He helps as John works painstakingly to find the source of the cholera, in the face of widespread opposition to his ideas. 
Can Frank help save an innocent man? Can he help his patients and not succumb to the cholera himself? Can he support his friend in his search for the truth? Will he finally be able to lay his ghosts to rest and find happiness? 
“Based on and set around a true event, this is a story of tenacity, perseverance and the steadfastness of the human spirit in the face of adversity. Ultimately it is a story of friendship and love,” comments Katherine. The Doctor of Broad Street will appeal to fans of historical fiction and medical fiction.

Katherine Tansley studied medicine at Oxford and qualified as a general practitioner before training and working in public health medicine, in which John Snow is an iconic figure. Katherine has always loved historical fiction which informs and entertains. She lives in Cambridge with her husband and three children. The Doctor of Broad Street is Katherine’s first novel.