Bats in my Belfry THE PLOTThe PlotBats in my Belfry THE PLOT sets the scene behind Bernard Preston's second book. The excerpt chapter, Just Reward, this month attempts to get to grips with the AIDS epidemic that currently is killing a staggering 1000 South Africans per day. The reasons why South Africa has been affected so badly are complex, but much of the blame must lie at the door of the government of ex-President Thabo Mbeki and his appointed Minister of Health, mockingly known at AIDS congresses as Dr Beetroot. Dr Preston takes the controversial view that, in a country where the disease is rampant, a person's HIV status should be notifiable.
Chapter 1 finds a totally demoralized and depressed Dr Preston planning to leave his chosen profession as chiropractor but he finds himself up against ‘she who must be obeyed’. Helen has sacrificed much to support him during the long of years of training in America. The good wife knows when not to accept ‘no’ for an answer. A humble bat enters Preston's remote mountain cottage … and he saves a man’s life. As chairman of his local branch of chiropractors Dr Preston faces a difficult confrontation with a colleague who refuses to meet up to the standards demanded by their profession. The book, not unlike its predecessor, Frog in my Throat, gives insights into the intimate relationship that exists between patients and their doctors worldwide. A lady who adopts him as her surrogate daughter to fill the gap left by her deceased loved one, born on the same day as Dr Preston. Preston finds himself thinking of himself as the daughter’s twin. A man who is controlled by a domineering wife, and how both wife and husband find a new lease of life in Preston’s soaring club. A bishop who is nearly driven to his deathbed by thieves who rob his beehives, and his wife of 49 who finds herself pregnant …. A patient with a huge aneurism – what does Dr Preston think: should he have a dangerous operation, or take his chances and not have it? Dr Preston has an intense interest in ergonomics, and finds himself considering why airline travel is so harmful to his patients. He notes that the airline company of the future that first enables their passengers to … will be the company of the future. Dr Preston makes an epic voyage of 150 km in his ancient wooden glider – and needs the services of a chiropractor after being thoroughly baptized by his mates from the club in a nearby dam. The book ends with an offer to spread his wings even further – to Europe for three years.
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