Review by vcurlee -- The Surgeon's Wife by William H. Coles
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vcurlee
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- Latest Review: The Surgeon's Wife by William H. Coles
Review by vcurlee -- The Surgeon's Wife by William H. Coles
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Surgeon's Wife" by William H. Coles.]
3 out of 4 stars
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The Surgeon's Wife by William H. Coles is the story of New Orleans physician, Mike Boudreaux, who is struggling with the dilemma of defending his mentor to the other surgeons at the hospital. His mentor, Clayton Otherton, has been performing bariatric surgery on questionable candidates, as well as having an increasing number of adverse events occur during his procedures. The other surgeons are ready to intervene and impose sanctions upon Clayton, and Mike is eventually moved to agree with them. Throughout the process, a love triangle develops between Mike, Clayton, and Clayton's wife, Catherine. As Mike and Catherine's relationship grows, Clayton reacts as expected to losing both his job and his wife, and everyone is left to pick up the pieces of his mental decline.
I liked that the book gave a very real portrayal of the power struggles between physicians in a large hospital setting. Typically, being very careful not to over-generalize, surgeons can have large egos. It comes with the territory of having the confidence to cut into another human being. This novel definitely showed the hierarchy that exists between different types of physicians. The story did not get bogged down in medical terminology that may be daunting to some readers, but instead put the focus on the human side of the issue. I was worried about this going in, with the author being a physician, but he definitely avoided it and made the story easy to follow for most audiences.
The relationship that develops between Mike and Catherine is expected but not forced. They face the normal struggles of any relationship, as well as the added stressors of Catherine leaving her husband for his good friend. As a reader, I was pulling for them to be happy, but also felt guilty because of the situation. It caused me to really examine how I felt, which I always enjoy when reading a novel.
What I disliked about the book was that so much of the plot was dedicated to the medical issues it introduced, and then seemed to switch gears to the love triangle storyline. It was almost as if it could have been two separate stories. There were also a few things that jumped out as glaring issues to me, but no one other than a New Orleanian would have even noticed them. For example, the name of the hurricane and the timing and location of Jazz Fest. These things had absolutely no impact on the plot, but as a local, I definitely noticed the errors.
As a healthcare professional and a native New Orleanian, I found the book to be overall enjoyable and give it 3 out of 4 stars . I would recommend it to anyone looking for a quick, entertaining read.
******
The Surgeon's Wife
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes | on Smashwords
3 out of 4 stars
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The Surgeon's Wife by William H. Coles is the story of New Orleans physician, Mike Boudreaux, who is struggling with the dilemma of defending his mentor to the other surgeons at the hospital. His mentor, Clayton Otherton, has been performing bariatric surgery on questionable candidates, as well as having an increasing number of adverse events occur during his procedures. The other surgeons are ready to intervene and impose sanctions upon Clayton, and Mike is eventually moved to agree with them. Throughout the process, a love triangle develops between Mike, Clayton, and Clayton's wife, Catherine. As Mike and Catherine's relationship grows, Clayton reacts as expected to losing both his job and his wife, and everyone is left to pick up the pieces of his mental decline.
I liked that the book gave a very real portrayal of the power struggles between physicians in a large hospital setting. Typically, being very careful not to over-generalize, surgeons can have large egos. It comes with the territory of having the confidence to cut into another human being. This novel definitely showed the hierarchy that exists between different types of physicians. The story did not get bogged down in medical terminology that may be daunting to some readers, but instead put the focus on the human side of the issue. I was worried about this going in, with the author being a physician, but he definitely avoided it and made the story easy to follow for most audiences.
The relationship that develops between Mike and Catherine is expected but not forced. They face the normal struggles of any relationship, as well as the added stressors of Catherine leaving her husband for his good friend. As a reader, I was pulling for them to be happy, but also felt guilty because of the situation. It caused me to really examine how I felt, which I always enjoy when reading a novel.
What I disliked about the book was that so much of the plot was dedicated to the medical issues it introduced, and then seemed to switch gears to the love triangle storyline. It was almost as if it could have been two separate stories. There were also a few things that jumped out as glaring issues to me, but no one other than a New Orleanian would have even noticed them. For example, the name of the hurricane and the timing and location of Jazz Fest. These things had absolutely no impact on the plot, but as a local, I definitely noticed the errors.
As a healthcare professional and a native New Orleanian, I found the book to be overall enjoyable and give it 3 out of 4 stars . I would recommend it to anyone looking for a quick, entertaining read.
******
The Surgeon's Wife
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes | on Smashwords
Latest Review: The Surgeon's Wife by William H. Coles
