This book reminds me of countless afternoons spent at the dentist's surgery as a schoolgirl. I was at boarding school and, at Red Maids at least, the custom was for the boarders to have their appointments (after the check-up which was carried out at school) on Wednesday afternoons. There would typically be five or six of us, and we'd go together either with a matron if we were all young ones, or in the charge of one older girl.
And there we'd sit, waiting for our turn.
