The Sick Doctor

A funny, topical follow-up to The Bad Doctor and The Lady Doctor, this final book in Ian Williams’s highly popular “graphic medicine” trilogy, set in a Welsh general practice, focuses on prostate cancer

Treating patients alongside his partners, Dr. Iwan James and Dr. Lois Pritchard, Dr. Robert Smith is not known for his bedside manner. With one eye on the budget and another on his virility, we find this aging libertine and part-time spiritualist on the verge of first-time fatherhood.

But celebrations are short-lived when his partner, Sandy, miscarries. While a fertility test confirms all’s well with Robert, he also tests positive for prostate cancer. The prospect of cancer, and the possible side effects of treatment (impotence, incontinence) send him into spirals of panic at the impending threat to his masculinity. He must find the right treatment, learn to process fear and live with uncertainty, and rediscover a sense of self-worth, as well as a new sense of empathy with his patients and family. Inspired by Ian Williams’s own experience, The Sick Doctor pulls no punches but delivers its vital message with wit, clarity, and purpose.