Publication: The Times, 31 May 2010

Reviewer: Caroline Fish

WHEN reading The Angina Monologues, about the ordeals and triumphs of three interns with different backgrounds facing the challenges of nursing in a rural hospital in KwaZulu-Natal, I didn’t know whether I was reading fiction or local newspapers.

Rachel comes from a wealthy Jewish family and a luxurious life of pedicures, spa treatments and shopping sprees.As a medical intern she finds herself in an environment of poverty, illness and survival. Her parents want her to drop the internship for an opportunity to study abroad.

Seema is married to a manipulative, abusive husband, but her upbringing compels her to stay with him no matter what: tradition and custom frown upon divorce. He’s terrible. She’s an amazing doctor. Can she take control of her own life and survive this marriage?

Nomsa left home 15 years ago. She’s streetwise and good at her job. When she realises she has to tell unfortunate parents of their son’s death, she gets news of her own mother’s death and realises how far she’s moved on without taking her beloved family with her. Has she made a drastic mistake?

Get to know the doctors, sisters, nurses, patients. Read about patients’ reluctance or inability to accept medical assistance and how interns cope with long working hours and the facilities of this rural hospital.

It’s a poignant, compelling read and it made me rethink my relationships. Kendal’s writing is heart-warming and funny, as is apparent in her previous novel, The Karma Suture. After studying medicine for six years and working as a doctor for another five, she enrolled for a Masters degree in creative writing.
She is now a freelance writer and part-time general practitioner.