Never Closer
The debut novel from Margot Shepherd, Never Closer is a story about how penicillin touches the lives of two women living 75 years apart.
On an ordinary day in 2017, Jo receives a phone call about her 18-year-old daughter, Jessie. It is the call that every parent dreads. In 1940, 17-year-old Alice ties on her facemask and enters a laboratory to harvest a potential new miracle drug called penicillin. The lives of these women become entwined when Jo finds Alice’s diary in a vintage handbag. Past and present overlap and merge as life-changing events resonate for them across the gulf of time.
This is a story about a diary opening a door on the past, chronicling a young woman’s determination to succeed against all odds, while unknowingly inspiring others to step into a better life. Set against the backdrop of the Second World War, the infancy of antibiotics and a modern medical emergency and its consequences, it not only reminds us how fortunate we are to live now, but also serves as a stark warning about the fragility of life and the dangers of complacency.
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“Margot Shepherd knows how to tell a story and Never Closer hits a nerve that connects women and mothers across the generations.”
“An intriguing, touching story about the power of love – and science – to heal.”
“Never Closer is an impeccably researched call for the recognition of women’s contribution to medical research and an utterly absorbing cross-generational coming of age tale in which redemption comes through the agency of other women, A story that soaks into the memory and stays there.”
About the Author
Margot Shepherd is a British author who was born in Yorkshire where she spent her childhood. She now lives in rural Sussex with her husband and Springer Spaniel, Genni. When she’s not writing she works in medical research at the University of Surrey. She writes about family relationships with a particular emphasis on women and science from a female point of view.
Margot has an MA in Creative Writing & Publishing from West Dean College in Sussex for which she received a distinction and the Vice Chancellors prize.
Never Closer is her debut novel.
Inspiration for Never Closer
Never Closer has two storylines, one set in the early 1940s and the other in the present day. The idea for the first story sprang from an article I read in a newspaper about The Penicillin Girls, the young women who grew and harvested penicillin from the mould, penicillin notatum in the 1940s. My interest was immediately sparked especially as I knew little about the development of penicillin. Like most people I always associated penicillin with Alexander Fleming but as I started to research the subject, I discovered how little his contribution was to the development of penicillin as a drug. The heroes were Howard Florey, Ernst Chain and Norman Heatley. As a scientist I am always interested in stories about science told from a female viewpoint so I thought it would be interesting to tell this story from the perspective of one of the Penicillin Girls.
The spark for the second story was a book by Dame Sally Davies, who was the Chief Medical Officer for England, The drugs don’t work. I was aware of growing antibiotic resistance due to their overuse, but this book spelled out how serious this is. The second story is told from the perspective of a mother of an eighteen-year-old who develops meningitis when she starts university. The two stories are linked by a diary written by the Penicillin Girl. The diary enables my present-day protagonists to contrast medical treatment today with what life was like before penicillin and subsequent antibiotics were readily available, and also to realise the seriousness of antibiotic resistance.
Jo is obsessed with WW2 especially the clothes from this era. Why do you think there is such a fascination with this period of our history?
Alice’s determination to have a career is very different from Jo’s. Why do you think Jo gave up her dream career so readily?
Jo still considers the house and town where she grew up to be home. Why do you think the places where we spent our formative years have such a hold on us?
Alice’s relationship with her mother is very different from Jo’s relationship with her mother. Do you have any sympathy or understanding for Alice’s mother?
There are three generations of women in both Jo and Alice’s story. How do the relationships between these women differ and how does this impact the story.
Mealtimes feature in both Jo and Alice’s story. Do you think these can reveal family dynamics?
The attitude of hospitals to visitors is very different today compared to the 1940s. Jo is able to stay by Jessie’s side whereas Alice and her family had little opportunity to visit Peter. Why do you think this has changed so much?
Everyone associates Alexander Fleming with penicillin. Why do you think he is remembered rather than the scientists who turned his chance discovery into a useable drug?
Do you think we take antibiotics for granted? Do you think we need to be reminded of what life was like before penicillin became available?
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