White trash

Über

White Trash is the fifth novel written by English author John King, published in 2002. Set in a new town, it records the world as seen through the eyes of a hard-working ward nurse, Ruby James, and a sinister, money-obsessed administrator, Jonathan Jeffries, who works at her hospital.
Their paths rarely cross, but the calculating, hard-hearted outlook of Jeffries begins to have terrible ramifications, and Ruby becomes entangled in his web when she begins to have suspicions about the consequences of his actions.
Working class Ruby manages to keep her dignity, sense of humour and sanity despite a life of daily struggle that includes wrestling with the pain of having a mother with Alzheimers and living on a salary that barely helps her get by. Her unfailingly positive and inclusive take on life is a mirror image of the vindictive, exclusive viewpoint of the handsomely-paid Jeffries, who spends his hours in the glow of a computer screen and prefers the company of statistics to human beings.
Jeffries’ existence is about cold, calculating ‘reason’, staggering snobbishness and an obsession with the rationing of healthcare that leads him to make depraved life and death decisions.