Joe Sebastian

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Being a Malayali St Thomas Christian, I felt that this was my family story. The main protagonist 'Big Ammachi' had a strong resemblance to my own maternal grandmother who in the 1900s was married off at the age of 12, and the descendants that followed. Very coincidentally our family home is similarly named 'Puthen Parambil'. The writing was exquisite, masterful and accurately depicts rural life in the beautiful state of Kerala. I was reminded of childhood trips to my ancestral home. As a doctor I was fascinated by the medical slant to the storyline. At times, I had to stop and put the book down, such was the raw emotion and the tears that flowed, and yet I felt joyous. Having read all 715 pages over a week, I have never been more proud of my roots.

I was actually a junior doctor at the hospital where the outside scenes were filmed (Ealing Hospital), so this brought back flooding memories of many exhausting, yet exhilarating nights on call as a house officer; I had a tough time as a junior doctor when my ability to cope was severely tested; like the character Adam, I almost walked away from it all. It was all a bit close to home, and I would say the series fairly accurately depicted the experience of young doctors in the late nineties, early noughties.