David Longridge
Calling Time is a truly remarkable book. It generates it own genre in being a fictional account of something close to many of us, and yet not written about. This story combines a fascinating journey through the psyche of the characters, combined with a depth of knowledge of the background subject which reflects Judith Hereford's professional experience in the caring and nursing of aged people. The character of Kristine brings the reader into the mind and reality of a kind and understanding person, first as a sensitive young woman, then as a caring wife and daughter, in New Zealand and in Britain. Through the other characters, we experience life and events in the environment of the care home, both across this geography and from the inside and outside of the establishments where they forge their lives. There is drama and exposition of temperament underlying what one usually perceives as normal and commonplace, leaving the reader to his and her private thoughts on a subject seldom explored.
