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A review by thepoemreeder
Wickett's Remedy by Myla Goldberg
4.0
A story woven through with bits of narrative, newspaper articles, letters, and overheard conversation, Wickett's Remedy takes place during the Spanish influenza epidemic in Boston, focusing around a woman named Lydia. Lydia marries young, her husband is a frail man from a wealthy family who doesn't want to be the doctor his parents have sent him off to be, and who develops the idea of "Wickett's Remedy." Henry wanted to be a journalist, and believes in the healing power words can bring. And so, with everty bottle of "medicine," the purchaser receives a letter from Henry. Never a moneymaker, it made Henry happy. That is, until he became quite ill, and died.
Lydia returns to her family, to find that her beloved brother has been drafted and is being sent off to war. When HE dies as well, she is sent into a tailspin, needing to find some sort of purpose in life. And she does find it--by volunteering to help give care at an experiment on Gallups Island meant to find the cause of the flu and subsequently, how to put an end to this growing plague.
Meanwhile, a young business associate of Henry's takes the drink of Wickett's Remedy and being to market it as a soda with his initials. Quentin Driscoll becomes like the man who founded Coca-Cola, running a vast empire whose influence transcends decades, and whose drink becomes a household favorite. Lydia never receives any credit or monetary compensation. It is not until Mr. Driscoll is aging and fading away in a senior center that we see the toll the remorse from this secret has taken on him.
The reason I give this book 4 stars instead of just 3 is for its ingenuity: in the margins of the pages are what appear to be little notes, and which is what they are. But they are notes from those who have died, and who also remember scenes described from Lydia's point of view, but these perceptions do not always match Lydia's. These "Whisperings" give the reader that little nudge of a reminder that we don't know what all lurks in the air around us, and that our memories are faulty at best. Our perceptions of reality or facts are just that - perceptions, for what one person remembers vividly another remembers quite differently. I enjoyed these little notes and felt as if I was being included into a different world, none which any living person is granted true access to.
Lydia returns to her family, to find that her beloved brother has been drafted and is being sent off to war. When HE dies as well, she is sent into a tailspin, needing to find some sort of purpose in life. And she does find it--by volunteering to help give care at an experiment on Gallups Island meant to find the cause of the flu and subsequently, how to put an end to this growing plague.
Meanwhile, a young business associate of Henry's takes the drink of Wickett's Remedy and being to market it as a soda with his initials. Quentin Driscoll becomes like the man who founded Coca-Cola, running a vast empire whose influence transcends decades, and whose drink becomes a household favorite. Lydia never receives any credit or monetary compensation. It is not until Mr. Driscoll is aging and fading away in a senior center that we see the toll the remorse from this secret has taken on him.
The reason I give this book 4 stars instead of just 3 is for its ingenuity: in the margins of the pages are what appear to be little notes, and which is what they are. But they are notes from those who have died, and who also remember scenes described from Lydia's point of view, but these perceptions do not always match Lydia's. These "Whisperings" give the reader that little nudge of a reminder that we don't know what all lurks in the air around us, and that our memories are faulty at best. Our perceptions of reality or facts are just that - perceptions, for what one person remembers vividly another remembers quite differently. I enjoyed these little notes and felt as if I was being included into a different world, none which any living person is granted true access to.