This is the life of a pioneering woman doctor who, graduating in 1937, had by the time of her death in 1974 reached the highest honours of her profession and become a leading public figure. A specialist allergist and paediatrician, Alice Bush was at the vanguard of debates about the provision of health services, attitudes to sexuality, reproductive rights and health education. At the same time she was also a daughter, wife and mother sharing contemporary views about these roles and gradually working out, without support of a prevailing feminist ideology, ways to sustain both aspects of her life. Her story is one of courage, flexibility, imagination and compassion whihc offers much interest to people from different perspectives.