Publisher: 30th May 2023 by Allen & Unwin
Pages: 270 pages
Genre: memoir, medical, Australia
My Rating: 4.5 cups
Synopsis:
The bestselling author of Going Under recounts her real-life journey from hard-partying Sydney medical intern to dust-covered rural GP.
"Solo GP needed for medical clinic, mining town in Pilbara region, Western Australia. Car and accommodation provided. On call paid extra. Close proximity to absolutely nothing."
In 2020, lost and heartbroken, and with an unscratched travel itch thanks to international border closures, Sonia Henry accepted a job as a GP in remotest Western Australia. The plan was to stay for one month. But before she knew it, this dressed-to-the-nines Sydney party girl was becoming an Akubra-wearing bush doctor covered in red dust--and loving every minute of it.
Sonia spent the next two years working in some of the remotest parts of the country. She learned how to shoot in the middle of the desert, visited pearl farms and pubs, came to terms with being regularly outnumbered by crocodiles, and adopted a cattle dog called Buddy, who would come to be her closest companion. She also met an eclectic bunch of patients and friends, and opened her eyes to the truths--both good and bad--of the country she calls home.
Put Your Feet in the Dirt, Girl is a modern outback medical memoir full of heart, energy, rage and wonder. It is a must-read for anyone who has ever had to get lost in order to be found.
My Thoughts
‘So you wouldn’t go out there?’ I ask. She looks at me as if I have turned green. ‘Are you kidding? As a solo female? With no experience in that kind of medicine? No way in hell.’
So begins a story from an excellent storyteller. It’s difficult to write this review as the topics covered are so broad and diverse, however, I shall try my best hoping that readers will walk away inspired to read this gem of a book. In essence if I had to sum it up, I would say Sonia writes about some harsh truths many Australians most likely are unaware of and that then is reflective upon self truths and the tales we tell ourselves.
‘With a destination in mind, there’s a goal and a road, and challenges and hurdles and life to be lived on the way.’
On one level this is an exquisite and eye opener report into remote Australia and that alone makes this requisite reading. Confronted with the remoteness of the Pilbara, far west New South Wales and of course the great Northern Territory, Sonia arrives at these places and more often than not, finds herself the only doctor for miles around - hundreds of miles around! The stories she then goes on to share will seem as if from another country but they are not - neglect and far worse of our First Nations people, where the gap between the ‘haves and have nots’ is increasing at a rapid and sorrowful rate. Questions are raised on how to fill this ever increasing chasm with the understanding that only by connecting to the outside will we allow ourselves to connect to the inside.
‘Everyone always wants to be somewhere else. I was always like that, too: there was always somewhere else to be, someone else to meet, another horizon to conquer.’
Sonia’s descriptions of the vast, remote and wondrous expanse of the Outback is awe inspiring, as if she had somehow gone back to the beginning of time itself. ‘People talk about the power of the land. Because the land is alive, here, speaking to me.’ Living this way forced her to be in the present moment, ‘I am nothing but a speck, a whisper of a life, crossing over a power and history I can’t put into words. I have nothing but the present moment. That’s what the earth does to me. Every plan, every worry, every feeling I have is insignificant compared to this.’
To be a solitary woman and experiencing this is yet another remarkable feat. ‘I thought I had to see the world to find myself, but all I really had to do was put my feet in the dirt of this enormous land, and get lost enough to learn the truth. And the truth is this: there are so many things bigger than me that I have been humbled completely. With that truth comes freedom. And in the freedom of humility, comes the chance to live a truly meaningful life.’
Sonia’s writing is eloquent, her story to tell so very worthy of being heard. Do yourself a favour and make sure you read it and don’t forget to put your feet in the dirt!
‘Someone said to me once, Stevie,’ I tell her, ‘that the best thing you can do in trying circumstances is to put your feet in the dirt and see what happens after that.’
This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.
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