The Doctor's Daughter: A novel by the bestselling author of Hearts
4 journalers for this copy...
Amazon:
In her first work of fiction in more than a decade, award-winning novelist Hilma Wolitzer brilliantly renders the intimate details of ordinary life and exposes a host of hidden truths. The Doctor’s Daughter is a haunting portrait of a woman coming to terms with her family history and the fallibility of memory.
One morning, Alice Brill awakes with a sudden awareness that something is wrong. There’s a hollowness in her chest, and a sensation of dread that she can’t identify or shake. Was it something she’s done, or forgotten to do? As she scours her mind for the source of her unease, she confronts an array of disturbing possibilities.
First, there is her marriage, a once vibrant relationship that now languishes stasis. Then there’s her idle, misdirected younger son, who always needs bailing out of some difficulty. Or perhaps Alice’s trepidation is caused by the loss of her career as an editor at a large publishing house, and the new path she’s paved for herself as a freelance book doctor. Or it might be the real doctor in her life: her father. Formerly one of New York’s top surgeons, he now rests in a nursing home, his mind gripped by dementia. And the Eden that was Alice’s childhood–the material benefits and reflected glory of being a successful doctor’s daughter, the romance of her parents’ famously perfect marriage–makes her own domestic life seem fatally flawed.
While struggling to find the root of her restlessness, Alice is buoyed by her discovery of a talented new writer, a man who works by day as a machinist in Michigan. Soon their interactions and feelings intensify, and Alice realizes that the mystery she’s been trying to solve lies not in the present, as she had assumed, but in the past–and in the secrets of a marriage that was never as perfect as it appeared.
Like the best works of Anne Tyler, Sue Miller, and Gail Godwin, The Doctor’s Daughter is private yet universal, luminous and revelatory–and marks the reemergence of a singular talent in American writing.
In her first work of fiction in more than a decade, award-winning novelist Hilma Wolitzer brilliantly renders the intimate details of ordinary life and exposes a host of hidden truths. The Doctor’s Daughter is a haunting portrait of a woman coming to terms with her family history and the fallibility of memory.
One morning, Alice Brill awakes with a sudden awareness that something is wrong. There’s a hollowness in her chest, and a sensation of dread that she can’t identify or shake. Was it something she’s done, or forgotten to do? As she scours her mind for the source of her unease, she confronts an array of disturbing possibilities.
First, there is her marriage, a once vibrant relationship that now languishes stasis. Then there’s her idle, misdirected younger son, who always needs bailing out of some difficulty. Or perhaps Alice’s trepidation is caused by the loss of her career as an editor at a large publishing house, and the new path she’s paved for herself as a freelance book doctor. Or it might be the real doctor in her life: her father. Formerly one of New York’s top surgeons, he now rests in a nursing home, his mind gripped by dementia. And the Eden that was Alice’s childhood–the material benefits and reflected glory of being a successful doctor’s daughter, the romance of her parents’ famously perfect marriage–makes her own domestic life seem fatally flawed.
While struggling to find the root of her restlessness, Alice is buoyed by her discovery of a talented new writer, a man who works by day as a machinist in Michigan. Soon their interactions and feelings intensify, and Alice realizes that the mystery she’s been trying to solve lies not in the present, as she had assumed, but in the past–and in the secrets of a marriage that was never as perfect as it appeared.
Like the best works of Anne Tyler, Sue Miller, and Gail Godwin, The Doctor’s Daughter is private yet universal, luminous and revelatory–and marks the reemergence of a singular talent in American writing.
Off to Dove-i-libri to fulfill a wish. Hope you enjoy it!
Thank you so much! This book and a pretty little beaded bookmark arrived in the mail and were waiting for me when I returned from a "Stay-cation" at a local beach! It's so nice to be thought of! Please look to see if there is a book on my TBR list that you might like, I can move it up to be one of the next books I read. (Just make sure the status was set by me! ☺)
I love BookCrossing. BookCrossers are the nicest people, I have found! Thanks again, Eponine, and let me know if there's a book that catches your eye! Going to amend my wishlist now!
April 27, 2018: On the short list to read as part of the 2018 "Reduce Mount TBR Challenge" and then shared through BookCrossing!
June 9, 2018: Starting this book today, and already 1/4 way through. I like the character. Also, in the review, it mentioned that the writing was reminiscent of Anne Tyler and Sue Miller, and I'm finding that to be true.
June 16, 2018: Finished and being put aside to share in Iwillrejoice's ABC (Alphabet) Bookrings - US version - Books Beginning with the Letter D - Round 2 (Link)
I love BookCrossing. BookCrossers are the nicest people, I have found! Thanks again, Eponine, and let me know if there's a book that catches your eye! Going to amend my wishlist now!
April 27, 2018: On the short list to read as part of the 2018 "Reduce Mount TBR Challenge" and then shared through BookCrossing!
June 9, 2018: Starting this book today, and already 1/4 way through. I like the character. Also, in the review, it mentioned that the writing was reminiscent of Anne Tyler and Sue Miller, and I'm finding that to be true.
June 16, 2018: Finished and being put aside to share in Iwillrejoice's ABC (Alphabet) Bookrings - US version - Books Beginning with the Letter D - Round 2 (Link)
Arrive today with the “D“books. I am picking this one and I will replace it with another book.
When I started the book, I had high hopes, but partly through the book I decided I did not like the characters. I am "traumatized" by a memory she didn't even remember.
Enjoy! surprise RABCK to Iwillrejoice - a book on her wishlist