{"product_id":"9780730401094_affection","title":"Affection","description":"Shortlisted for the National Year of Reading 2012 Award\u003cbr\u003e January 1900, and Australia's tropical north just got a little hotter. An outbreak of plague is suspected, and the Queensland Government sends Dr Alfred Jefferis turner - small, refined and immaculately dressed - to assess the situation. turner, armed with a microscope, a butterfly net and his lovelorn yet devout colleague, Dr Linford Row, is met with incredulity, not least by local councillors who insist it's only typhoid. Fifty-two possible plague-carriers - including two prominent MPs - are isolated in a dilapidated quarantine station on Magnetic Island. Meanwhile, in town, the sewers overflow, the streets choke with rubbish; and still no-one wants to listen. When Dr Row delivers a letter from one of the quarantined men to his hauntingly beautiful wife, he ensnares both himself and the eccentric Dr turner in a hotbed of small-town scandal and fear. Written with wit and wonder, Affection uncovers a unique period in Australian history. A novel based on a true story of shonky politics, courageous medicos, and humidity, it's also a mystery of heart and mind.","brand":"Ian Townsend","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46908358557845,"sku":"9780730401094","price":24.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0484\/3175\/9509\/files\/9780730401094.png?v=1777422798","url":"https:\/\/harpercollins.com.au\/products\/9780730401094_affection","provider":"HarperCollins AU","version":"1.0","type":"link"}