This book stands as a remarkable contribution to the medical humanities, especially in a time like this.

Combining apposite humour with realistic storytelling, Williams, besides providing a pleasurable reading, raises critical questions to explore the boundaries of health and challenges in a female medical practitioner's life.

Williams's distinct ways of using colour, page layout, and experimental narrative techniques help us to reflect the tone of the subject matter. The use of colour changes the way we perceive the story arc. These spatial arrangements produce a visual rhythm.

Reading The Lady Doctor in tumultuous times due to COVID-19 was indeed a striking experience.

Ok... I LOVED this graphic novel. Like really really really. The Lady Doctor is the story of GP Dr Lois Pritchard who practices in a small rural town in Wales. Alongside seeing her usual eclectic array of patients at the general clinic she also part-times at the hospital’s sexual health department whilst the book also shows her juggling her love life and the appearance of her long-lost mother who has quite the request....⁣
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It’s utterly hilarious in places (like laugh out loud- can’t stop yourself kind of funny), completely gripping (once I picked it up I didn’t put it down until I’d finished) and, I can imagine, very very accurate as to what being a GP is really like. Some of my favourite pages were the ones that displayed Dr Lois’ patients over the course of a day- one box given to each patient and from Williams’ brilliantly subtle drawings you can deduce their various ailments. It’s storytelling using pictures at its best. I should note though that this is NOT for children... the sexual health clinic bits see to that 😆😬 and if you do read it please can we talk about that one page featuring ‘Pinocchio’?! 🤣⁣
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This is like the fictionalised graphic novel version of Adam Kay’s ‘This is Going to Hurt’ so if you enjoyed that book and other medical memoirs like it then I think you’ll especially LOVE The Lady Doctor.⁣

The Lady Doctor (2019) is the follow-up companion graphic novel to The Bad Doctor (2010) by Ian Williams, a celebrated medical humanist, medical doctor and visual artist. He wonderfully portrays a richly humane picture of a female doctor.

Dr. Lois Pritchard works at a medical practice in small-town Wales and treats embarrassing ailments at a local genitourinary medicine clinic. The tone is wonderfully balanced: there are plenty of hilarious, somewhat raunchy scenes, but also a lot of heartfelt moments. The drawing style recalls Alison Bechdel’s.

Some books are more embarrassing to read than others. ‘The Lady Doctor’ is one of those that will have you laughing out loud on the bus, crying on the sofa and saying to your spouse that he’ll have to read it himself to understand! Written as a comic, or graphic novel, Ian Williams takes us on a short journey with the main character through a tricky chapter in her life.

Graphic it certainly is, as we follow Lois through the highs and lows of her work, both in general practice and in the local GUM clinic. We feel her emotions alongside her as she wrestles with the challenges faced dealing with her patients, and we desperately want her to be happy in her private life outside her work.

It is, of course, much more complicated than we expect and, like many of us, she has her vices and her demons to contend with. The story evolves further with the arrival on the scene of her estranged mother, who has needs of her own that catapult something of a hand grenade into Lois’ already troubled existence.

As a reader with my own busy life, it’s sometimes hard to make time for reading, and the printed text can be daunting when there’s always something else requiring your attention. Aha, I thought, a graphic novel will be easier going…

This book had me hooked from the start. Yes, it was indeed accessible and eminently readable, but be warned, it is hard to put down. The only reason it took me more than one sitting to devour it is that I had my own patients to attend to as well.

As they say in scientific circles, it’s an important contribution to the field

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words and this description applies perfectly to Ian Williams’ work. My favourite pages were the ones with no words at all… my respect for my GP colleagues was already high, but reached even further as I followed the rich and varied, yet highly stressful work that Lois and her colleague Iwan contend with.

I almost felt sorry for the grumpy senior partner too, and I really really hope he gets a book of his own. If our two stars of ‘The Bad Doctor’ and ‘The Lady Doctor’ have their struggles, Robert must have something eating him up, even if it’s only piles and a bad dose of wind. We also start to know and like some of the ‘difficult’ patients… life is, after all, quite tricky for many people and there is often a back story we aren’t aware of.

If you like your doctors and your heroes to be perfect, then this is NOT the book for you. Just like in Shakespeare, the main protagonists in the stories have character flaws, and are the more relatable as a result. Lois, the Lady Doctor, may be a good (or at least adequate) clinician, but her judgement is at times suspect in the life decisions she makes. This is what makes the book so readable, as we root for her and hope that it will all work out for her in the end.

I loved this book. I’ve already reread it several times and returned again to the story of Iwan in ‘The Bad Doctor’. I enjoyed this book even more, however. Perhaps it was because I related more to Lois than Iwan? Or perhaps it was because it made me laugh out loud more than I cried? Amidst all the troubles and angst, the illustrations of the work at the hospital clinic really do make your jaw drop.

So thank you, Dr Williams. As they say in scientific circles, it’s an important contribution to the field.

I’d recommend ‘The Lady Doctor’ to anyone inside or outside healthcare, but I am certainly adding it to my 'must read' list for anyone considering a career in our profession.

Dr Patricia Cantley Tweets under her married name of Elliott, as @Trisha_the_doc.

The first thing to say about Ian Williams’ new graphic novel The Lady Doctor is that it’s very funny. I mean, properly, snorting-tea-out-your-nose-while-you’re-reading-it funny.

But the follow-up to Williams’s first graphic novel The Bad Doctor is also an example of comics as social commentary

"So how are things with you? You sounded a bit upset on the phone."
"I got a letter. From my mother."
"From Cilla? Jesus Jones!"

Haha, that's a great curse for those of us of a certain age. I might have to start using that. The good doctor returns - that's Ian Williams by the way, certainly not any of his creations - to tell us more of the going-ons at and by the practitioners and patients of the Meddygfa Llangandida Health Centre which, with sincere apologies to our Welsh customers, itself sounds like it's named after a particularly debilitating brain disease. Perhaps from reading too many comics...

We will see Dr. Iwan THE BAD DOCTOR James, still covertly and timidly lusting after his very available titular co-worker, plus the supremely obnoxious Dr. Robert Smith, still just being a complete tosser, but the star of the show this time around is most definitely Lois. And her mum who tries her best to steal every scene she's in!

They have something in common, our Cilla and Lois, which after not seeing each other for nearly forty years since her mum simply dropped everything and walked out of Lois' life as a tiny child is somewhat unexpected. That it is Lois' liver, well, that falls into the completely totally and utterly variety of unexpected...

With no suitable husband material on the horizon (much to Dr. Robert's delight who is desperate for Lois not get herself up the duff and inconvenience the practice, well him at any rate...) and a drink habit verging on the cusp of getting out of hand, Lois finds herself at somewhat of a crossroads in life.

Her long-standing crop of patients, including one particularly prescription-mad one, are doing her head in, plus her sideline of sorting people's bits and bobs out at the nearby genitourinary clinic is, shall we say, not exactly satisfying her professionally, despite its potential for the occasional moment of hilarity. Good job her mum's about to drop a hepatic hammer blow on her before promptly attempting to bulldoze her way back into her liver, I mean life!

As before, Ian's art style minded me of Kevin FIELDER Huizenga, and actually this time around Andi THE CITY NEVER SLEEPS Watson. I think I've mentioned before he's exceptionally good at working expression into his characters' faces, including here one glorious sequence after a particularly bad inebriated life choice from Lois which me made howl with laughter. As before he completely eschews panel borders, frequently using single soft colour backgrounds with rounded corners. There is also a... trying to avoid spoilers... a rather more colourful section which I found mind-blowing. As did Lois.

Once again, I really admire the careful attention paid to the construction of this work. I devoured it with delight and I do hope Ian holds to his original intention to make this a trilogy. One would presume therefore that Dr. Robert might be the final member of our triaging triumvirate to take his comics bow. Given the proverbial (and highly appropriate) bomb that gets dropped on him at the conclusion of this work which I hope is part of said set up, I look forward to watching his misery first hand in the future...

On publication day, we’re delighted to be sharing with you Laura’s thoughts on The Lady Doctor by Ian Williams.

The Lady Doctor is my first graphic novel and I wasn’t sure if I would like it, however I thought it was amazing and read through it all in one sitting.  The characters were intriguing and even shocking at times, it held a realistic aspect of our GP service alongside a sly sense of humour.

Lois Pritchard, the main character is a GP at a Welsh Health Centre and a part time member of staff at a clinic. She is a forty-year-old smoker with relationship problems. This graphic medicine follows her frustrations with demanding and abusive patients, a reunion with her estranged mother and her stressful private life.

The illustrations are wonderful and portray this as both witty and realistic. Williams explores current medical issues with privatization of clinic’s, drug use and gender equality in the workplace.

I enjoyed The Lady Doctor and will be looking out to read The Bad Doctor.

Continuing in this grand and almost unheard of tradition of actually posting my thoughts about books I've recently read, I'm very excited to share one of the titles I talked about in our Indie Books Coming out in January post. Emma, the publicist for Myriad Editions, was kind enough to send over a copy of The Lady Doctor by Ian Williams and I read it in a morning.

I have yet to read a bad graphic novel from Myriad, and some of my go-to recommendations for non-superhero graphic novels are Myriad titles (Naming Monsters by Hannah Eaton and For the Love of God, Marie! by Jade Sarson, if you were wondering). I'm happy to report that this is still the case and I was impressed with The Lady Doctor.  It's a very simple premise and is in fact about a doctor who is a lady.

Lois Pritchard, a general practitioner at the Welsh Llangandida Health Centre and part-time staff at her local Genitourinary Medicine (GUM) clinic, is a forty-year-old, divorced, sarcastic smoker who by her own admission is "not very good with relationships." But when her estranged mother makes a dramatic reappearance demanding a liver transplant, Lois has to examine her loyalties and confront some hard decisions both in and out of the surgery room.

The Lady Doctor is a humorous and insightful look at the realities of working in the NHS, as well as the complexities of human relationships of all sorts, and the many ways in which people use (and sometimes abuse) their doctors surgeries. It mixes levity perfectly with more serious issues and I found myself really feeling for Lois as she tries to get her life together and deal with her issues! I really enjoyed the honesty as it shows that doctors aren't superhuman and are just people living their lives and doing a job, and the art and words pair really well together.

The Lady Doctor in question is Lois, a GP from the Llangandida Health Centre in Wales, who also works in the local sexual health clinic. Both these occupations lead her into contact with a variety of larger-than-life characters, such as a prescription drug seeking guest house owner or a local lothario, as well as her own quirky colleagues in the medical profession. While this provides ample opportunity for the kind of outrageous medical tales we love to hear told, the real meat of the story revolves around Lois’ estranged mother reappearing out of the blue, in order to ask her for help with a liver transplant.

This arrival, brings to the surface years of angst about her mother leaving and also reminds us that Lois is not just a doctor but a person with their own issues and trouble to look after too. This discovery leads Lois on a journey of self discovery which sees her confronted with her own ethical and moral dilemmas about drug use, patient relations and of course brings into sharp focus her relationship with her mother.

The Lady Doctor has that classic English graphic novel feel we love in the work of Posy Simmonds, or more recently books like Mann’s Best Friend. It lilts and meanders along at a very careful pace, allowing the characters and dialogue to shine and also draw you in to the action. It’s a hefty book, that looks more like a prose novel when placed on your book shelf, but it is definitely a real page turner. There aren’t any real histrionics or jaw dropping moments, but that’s not to say it’s without drama, instead the story builds quietly and confidently with a natural ebb and flow like a conversation between old friends.

Williams does double duty on this book and, like the story, the artwork is relatively simple but packed with hidden depths. While much of it is talking heads in a treatment room or pub, he allows himself to really cut loose in a few places, either by using a technique of building up lots of detail in a quiet moment (similar to Jon McNaught’s excellent Kingdom) or with an all out series of colourful pages in the final third which are required to showcase an altered mental state and work to perfection.

While it might not have the quirky cool of some small press books, The Lady Doctor is a thoroughly absorbing read that benefits from not being flashy or faddy. Instead it relies on solidly realised and beautifully crafted characters who drive the story along and make it both very entertaining and also rather thought-provoking too. Instead of being all style and no substance it is very real and so very relatable and we will definitely be making a repeat appointment for any and all future books from Ian Williams as this is definitely a book which is worth the prescription.

Lois Pritchard is the eponymous GP heroine in this second graphic novel by Brighton-based Ian Williams.

As well as dealing with full surgeries, difficult patients and mounting paperwork, Lois works two days a week at a genitourinary clinic. Stretched to the limit, and already wrestling with important personal decisions, she suddenly has to deal with a desperate plea from her long-estranged mother, and all the emotional upheaval that brings.

Williams is a medical doctor with GP experience, and brings telling insight to his clever drawings and characters. Occasionally the dialogue slips into polemic, but flawed Lois and
her complicated world provide all the necessary intrigue and humour to carry the reader through to the satisfying conclusion.

Five years ago here at Broken Frontier I described The Bad Doctor – the debut graphic novel of practising GP Ian Williams – as “graphic medicine with true heart.” That book introduced us to the world of the small rural practice of Llangandida  Health Centre; one that we return to in the pages of Williams’ follow-up The Lady Doctor. It’s the workplace of the protagonist of the first book Dr. Iwan James, his self-serving partner Dr. Robert Smith and fellow GP Dr. Lois Pritchard, with the focus of this sequel shifting to the latter character.

Approaching middle age and single, Lois works both with Iwan and Robert, and also a couple of days a week at the nearby Genitourinary Medicine clinic (a source for a number of colourful encounters throughout the story). Drinking to dangerous levels and prone to impaired judgement socially while under the influence, Lois’s world is thrown into further disarray when her mother re-enters her life after decades away in desperate need of a liver transplant…

As with The Bad Doctor, The Lady Doctor follows a similar storytelling structure; a main narrative line exploring its protagonist’s life and the past that shaped her, surrounded by set pieces that provide sometimes comedic, sometimes dramatic vignettes of patient interaction. Lois’s story is now at the forefront with the other familiar characters orbiting her narrative. But what remains the same is Williams’ dry humour, keenly observed characterisation and undertstated but stinging social commentary.

In Lois Pritchard we have another very human, very flawed character who nonetheless engages the audience’s sympathies from the outset. Early sequences underline the differences in how patients can interact with her as opposed to her male colleagues but, like Iwan before her, Lois also finds herself dealing with a familiar catalogue of the bizarre and the confrontational. Encounters with an aggressive patient with an addiction to prescription drugs are a running theme but odder moments include a man with Pinocchio’s face tattooed around his genitalia and a disastrous date when saving a fellow diner’s life results in her finding herself covered in the woman’s excrement. The humour, as ever from Williams, is as dark and awkward as it is bleakly funny.

The Lady Doctor is a book of self-discovery as Lois comes to terms not just with who she is and who she has become but with the forces that shaped her too. There’s also an underlying anger here as well, though, as the strains of life on the GP frontlines are portrayed with a raw honesty and the spectre of the gradual destruction of the NHS looms large throughout. Social commentary is an integral part of Williams’ work, effectively wrapped up here in the trappings of everyday, slice-of-life storytelling.

In terms of craft, Williams’ cartooning feels  more expressive and fluid in The Lady Doctor than ever and he also effectively plays with visual tools to emphasise mood. Lois’s memories of her mother take on a vague and indistinct form; concepts of time are toyed with in multi-panelled accounts of days at the practice; and representational map scenes create the illusion of characters moving through the geography of the area. One key section late on, though, where Williams abandons his restricted colour palette in a full colour segment represents personal epiphany with an almost meta flourish. It is paticularly impressive in bringing the recurring motifs of the book to a satisfying denouement.

Whether Williams has plans to revisit these characters remains to be seen but a third book focusing on the obnoxious Robert Smith and giving greater insights into what makes him tick seems a must to round out the trilogy. In the meantime The Lady Doctor is another insightful exploration of the realities of working in the medical profession made all the more affecting by the fragile humanity it encapsulates.

Ian Williams (W/A) • Myriad Editions/Penn State University Press, £14.99/$24.95

Review by Andy Oliver

Although there are those among us who regard expertise as something to be suspicious of, there is much to be said for an author who knows what they're talking about. As a GP, Ian Williams is certainly well informed about the work of a doctor, and the fact that he is an excellent writer and cartoonist at the same time makes for a very appealing package. The Lady Doctor follows on from his previous (and very good) graphic novel The Bad Doctor with some character overlap. Dr Lois Pritchard does not fit the stereotype of someone whose concern with good health starts at home. The pressures of work are certainly one reason why she drinks heavily and smokes but there's much more to this book than what happens at the surgery.

Williams has written nuanced characters that developed well beyond our first impressions. Dr Pritchard's arc involves the reappearance of her long estranged mother which opens up a deep seam of introspection. As one expects from a cartoonist who has worked for the NHS, and Myriad as a publisher, there’s also social commentary of the sort to enrage Daily Mail readers and those who would privatise our health service, but the book never rants. Alongside this it is extremely funny. A panel with colleagues musing about why doctors still prescribe drugs as dangerous as benzodiazepines is followed by a closeup of a promotional mug from a pharmaceutical company. A patient complains his appointment is 30 minutes late before announcing he has three problems to discuss. The man who arrives at the GUM clinic and describes a weekend of extremely unsafe chemsex then reveals he is an actuary.

Superficially simple, the drawing economically conveys the inner life of the characters through expressive faces which reveal a more confident technique than his last book. A frequently used motif is a sequence of panels, each showing the face or sometimes a body part of that day's patients, very effective at conveying what it must be like to have your work to change every 10 minutes with almost no control over this. Williams is adept at bringing together the various strands in this book, balancing the dark with the uplifting and ensuring that we are kept laughing, and that we understand that there is nothing more important in life than the people we have relationships with. Whether you are already a fan of the graphic medicine genre or not, this excellent book is highly recommended. Pete Redrup