Boomerang

"You must be your own analyst. Write your story form A to Z - before and after the "boomerang miracle"." Jo, the young wife of Kobie van der Walt, a South African sheep farmer, takes this advice to heart and, as she lies in hospital, tells her story.After the birth of her first child, Jo discovers she is going deaf. On a visit to Sun Downs, a well-know merino stud in Australia where her disability puts her at a serious social disadvantage, Jo meets Rob Stirling, a doctor, who is strongly attracted to her but distressed when he learns she is to have another child. Her type of deafness, he suspects, may be increased by further pregnancies. Later, when he takes up an appointment at a hospital in Cape Town, Rob renews his friendship with Jo and Kobie van der Walt, and meets Kobie's actress sister, Rita. Although Rita is a career girl, she instantly decides that Rob is "for her".Kobie has to attend an agricultural conference in America; Jo, fearful at meeting new people, refuses to accompany him. During Kobie's absence there is a medical conference in Cape Town at which a world-famous Australian surgeon is to demonstrate a new operation which Rob in convinced will cure Jo. He arranges for her to be the demonstration case, but Kobie is against it. Jo disregards her husband's opposition and the operation is performed."It was the all-time high success story," says Jo, "the miracle that got off to a flying start until it came back like a boomerang when Kobie returns from America, the stage is set for an explosive situation which involves the three most closely concerned in a highly dramatic climax.Boomeran is one of Lady Packer's most moving stores. It is based on carefully researched medical detail, and the human conflicts are set against the backgrounds in South Africa and Australia which she knows extremely well.