Big Doc Bitteroot
C. Everard Palmer
Hardcover
(Bobbs-Merrill, Jan. 1, 1968)
"Kendal was just an ordinary Jamaican village until Doc came rolling into town. It was wartime, and Nathan Berwick was the acknowledged leader of the community. But he couldn't stand Doc Bitteroot. He recognized him at once for the charlatan he was: their first meeting ended in a brawl that had the whole village agog. Doc stayed on. Why not? He had a strength-giving potion to sell, and the villagers were eager to buy. They adored him. He was big and he was a showman. But Doc was the kind of man who had to go too far, and when he tried his phoney cures on someone who was really sick there was trouble --Nathan saw to that. This story is rich in character and rich in atmosphere. The sun seems to generate energy and capacity for fun in the people of Kendal, so that even the smallest event is a happening to be relished. It is full of the forgotten pleasures of an unsophisticated way of life. It is happy, and it is fun. "