Unbutchered

One of the last baby boomers, Luke Gordon, was born in the mining town of Boksburg, South Africa to catholic parents. He grew up in a family of five children in a middle-class neighbourhood.

His father was a teacher, and his mother worked as a typist to make ends meet. Luke was raised by his nanny, Sarah, as his surrogate mother.

Although his parents were not well-to-do, he enjoyed a happy childhood. His parents scraped and scrounged to ensure that their children could get university degrees to enjoy a better life than they had.

As a small boy, he was inspired by his family's GP—a caring and kind Jewish doctor. Those were the days when doctors still did house calls. When he was sick as if by magic, a bottle of cough syrup and some antibiotics made him feel better in no time.

In this, the first book in his serialised memoir, he describes his childhood and school years. He chronicles his university years at medical school and his time spent becoming a plastic and reconstructive surgeon.

Returning to the community in which he grew up, he sets up his practice, and it thrives.

One day, he has a seemingly minor tiff with an old cantankerous plastic surgeon. The fallout of this trivial incident would only manifest ten years later with catastrophic consequences….