Say No to Death

Last updated
Say No to Death
Author Dymphna Cusack
CountryAustralia
Language English
GenreFiction
Publisher Heinemann
Publication date
1951
Media typePrint
Pages324pp
Preceded by Come in Spinner  
Followed by Southern Steel  

Say No to Death (1951) is a novel by Australian writer Dymphna Cusack. [1]

Contents

Story outline

Set in Sydney following the war, the novel follows the medical journey of Jan, a young woman suffering from tuberculosis, and her struggles to gain any help from a Government health service struggling for funds.

Critical reception

A reviewer in The Age was impressed by the novel: "'A novel built entirely around a social injustice is a rarity, but with competence and courage Dymphna Cusack, in Say No to Death, has presented the subject of the tuberculosis patient and, in a story of heroism, pathos and great sympathy, put the case for the sick civilian at the mercy of a Government — a Government and a people — who respond to the needs of the scourge of war so much more readily than to the scourge of illness...This is a book well worth reading, as much for the story as for the message it carries." [2]

A reviewer in The Mercury had a similar view: "In painting her characters all typically Australian - Miss Cusack has reached unusual literary heights. She shows a deep knowledge of the vagaries of human nature. The unexpected, courageous ending gives the final touch to a novel which must rank high in Australian literature." [3]

See also

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References

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