The Naked Doctor

Book excerpt: At last Doctor Evadne Hinge emerges from the shadow of her former colleague and oldest friend, world-renowned soprano Dame Hilda Bracket, to tell her own story. And it's not the story you might imagine. Against a lovingly-drawn background of music and theatre, Doctor Hinge speaks frankly about her personal life. Her student days and her first love; her friendships with the good, the bad, the ugly, and the downright criminal; the men in her life and her troubles with her unusual family - whose hobbies, she tells us, include murder, blackmail, drug abuse, adultery and other less light-hearted pastimes. After the death of Dame Hilda in 2002, Doctor Hinge agreed to speak at some length about her life to her close friend, George Logan. She stipulated that these reminiscences, recorded on tape, should remain unpublished until after her death. However, since it appears that that event is yet some way off - the Doctor is now a robust ninety-four - she has finally agreed to their wider dissemination.