Famous doc inspires author son’s new book

The son of renowned HIV/Aids expert Professor Jerry Coovadia will this week launch a medical thriller that draws on some of his father’s experiences.

High Low In-Between took Cape Town author Imraan Coovadia, 39, five years to write.

The Durban launch of the book will take place at Adams, Musgrave Centre, on Wednesday.

Coovadia launched the book in Cape Town two weeks ago.

The work of fiction, set in the early 2000s during the Thabo Mbeki era, tells the story of state doctor, Nafisa, who treats HIV/Aids patients in a Durban hospital.

Nafisa battles against HIV/Aids denialists, “quack doctors”, bribes and her feelings of inadequacy , as an Indian, in the new South Africa.

The book, set in Durban, explores her relationships with her dysfunctional family and a dying patient, Millicent Dhlomo. Nafisa faces her fear of death after being pricked with a needle while treating Dhlomo.

The book also delves into the practic e of illicit organ trafficking.

Coovadia, a University of Cape Town English and creative writing lecturer, said he “borrowed” information for his book from his father and other doctors about their experiences with and research into HIV/Aids.

Coovadia, whose two previous novels, The Wedding and Green-eyed Thieves, were runners- up in the Sunday Times Fiction Prize Awards, said he titled the book after a folk song that he liked.

“One of the things the title refers to is the volatility of the characters, the position of Indians in Durban and their state of in-betweenness,” said the father of one.

Coovadia is already working on his next novel, tentatively titled Paradise Road or Cape Town Taxi Poet.

“It’s about a guy who runs an institute that produces poets who go around in minibus taxis in Cape Town.”