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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
This was such a great book! It describes the hard pull of what society expects you to be and what YOU want to be. A great example of a woman following her heart.
I find it so interesting how medicine and the medical field evolved, especially in the 1800’s. So “The Girl in his Shadow” definitely kept my attention though the rest of the story held no real surprises - a young women is exceptional at being a doctor, has strong instincts, and very intelligent, but it’s the 1800’s, she isn’t allowed to practice medicine. It’s well written, so I recommend if this kind of history appeals to you. It also reminded me a lot of “Anatomy” by Dana Schwartz.
medium-paced
adventurous
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
funny
informative
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
adventurous
inspiring
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
A few of my favorite things…historical fiction, medical drama and a strong, inspiring female character. A thoroughly intriguing book!
dark
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
After he finds her entire family dead from cholera, Dr. Horace Croft wraps a very ill eight year old girl in a nearby curtain and rushes her home to his clinic. With the help of his housekeeper, Mrs Phipps, they nurse the girl back to health. With no surviving relatives, the girl, Nora Beady, becomes the doctor’s ward and grows up in his household.
Dr. Croft is a famous surgeon. He teaches at the local hospital, sees patients at his clinic and does research in his home surgery. Busy and distracted by his cases and research, he leaves Nora primarily to the care of the tireless Mrs. Phipps. While both the doctor and the housekeeper care about the girl, she isn’t showered with affection. However, her unusual home life exposes her to knowledge and ideas thought unseemly for females. She quietly becomes Dr Crofts’ secret assistant. She begins by keeping his surgery pristine, then moves on to creating detailed anatomical drawings, then assisting with surgeries.
One day, shocking both Mrs. Phipps and Nora, young Dr. Daniel Gibson appears at their door: he was hired by Dr. Croft as an assistant. Full of bluster and male confidence, he pretty much dismisses Nora as being unworthy of notice. Nora, determined that she won’t be displaced, begins to make herself even more useful to Dr. Croft. She studies and researches unusual cases as well as conducting a few experiments of her own.
One fateful night, Dr Gibson makes a lovelorn, drunken spectacle of himself at an exclusive men’s club. With the help of another doctor, Nora drags him out, causing shocked ripples through the upper crust community and putting herself in a very regrettable spotlight. This incident kicks off a chain of events that damages more than one medical career and changes the direction of Nora’s life.
This book came to my attention through a newsletter email directed at librarians. It is the featured book for this summer’s Big Library Read. I spend hours browsing various book-related websites and email notices, but hadn’t come across this book promotion previously. The synopsis was appealing, so I downloaded the book and promptly became thoroughly engrossed.
I love historical fiction, especially about strong women. Set a strong woman in the field of Victorian medicine and I’m hooked. Less than two hundred years ago, some brave doctors were finally spurning the theories and practices of humors, bloodletting and trepanation. They had to work much like Dr. Croft, who furtively brought corpses into his surgery in the dark of night to study anatomy and practice surgeries. The real-life versions of curious, talented women like Nora Beady were most likely lost to history.
My Rating 5 Stars, Grade A
Dr. Croft is a famous surgeon. He teaches at the local hospital, sees patients at his clinic and does research in his home surgery. Busy and distracted by his cases and research, he leaves Nora primarily to the care of the tireless Mrs. Phipps. While both the doctor and the housekeeper care about the girl, she isn’t showered with affection. However, her unusual home life exposes her to knowledge and ideas thought unseemly for females. She quietly becomes Dr Crofts’ secret assistant. She begins by keeping his surgery pristine, then moves on to creating detailed anatomical drawings, then assisting with surgeries.
One day, shocking both Mrs. Phipps and Nora, young Dr. Daniel Gibson appears at their door: he was hired by Dr. Croft as an assistant. Full of bluster and male confidence, he pretty much dismisses Nora as being unworthy of notice. Nora, determined that she won’t be displaced, begins to make herself even more useful to Dr. Croft. She studies and researches unusual cases as well as conducting a few experiments of her own.
One fateful night, Dr Gibson makes a lovelorn, drunken spectacle of himself at an exclusive men’s club. With the help of another doctor, Nora drags him out, causing shocked ripples through the upper crust community and putting herself in a very regrettable spotlight. This incident kicks off a chain of events that damages more than one medical career and changes the direction of Nora’s life.
This book came to my attention through a newsletter email directed at librarians. It is the featured book for this summer’s Big Library Read. I spend hours browsing various book-related websites and email notices, but hadn’t come across this book promotion previously. The synopsis was appealing, so I downloaded the book and promptly became thoroughly engrossed.
I love historical fiction, especially about strong women. Set a strong woman in the field of Victorian medicine and I’m hooked. Less than two hundred years ago, some brave doctors were finally spurning the theories and practices of humors, bloodletting and trepanation. They had to work much like Dr. Croft, who furtively brought corpses into his surgery in the dark of night to study anatomy and practice surgeries. The real-life versions of curious, talented women like Nora Beady were most likely lost to history.
My Rating 5 Stars, Grade A
Wonderful story
Great read. Thorough and accurate for the time. I can’t wait to read the second book :) As a woman in anesthesia myself, I couldn’t put the book down.
Great read. Thorough and accurate for the time. I can’t wait to read the second book :) As a woman in anesthesia myself, I couldn’t put the book down.