Alice Campbell

Esther Rowe is a Canadian nurse. She accompanied a patient to Cannes, and wants to stay there longer, so she takes a job with the intimidating Doctor Gregory Sartorius, whose life is dedicated to scientific research. Sartorius takes patients only to earn money for his research. He has already discovered an antidote to tetanus and is working on one for typhoid, which is rife in Cannes. This really takes you back to the book's publication date of 1926 - before vaccination, before antibiotics, a water supply that couldn't be trusted. Sartorius gives up his practice when he is hired as a private physician to a rich, elderly man, Sir Charles Clifford, who is suffering from typhoid. Esther accepts the position as Clifford's day nurse, and becomes suspicious of Clifford's much younger wife, who is having an affair with an impecunious younger man.

Juggernaut was interesting for its picture of the times, rather than for its characters and plot. It's highly melodramatic, and both Sartorius and Lady Clifford are stock villains. Lady Clifford has the hands of a cocotte, with short fat fingers!… (más)