Healer
by Carol Cassella
Simon & Schuster, 2011
320 pages
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
About the Book
Claire Boehning must dust off her long-unused medical expertise and make a living for her family in rural Washington when her husband’s biotech venture crashes–taking everything they owned with it.
Healer exposes the vulnerabilities of the American family, provoking questions of choice versus fate, desire versus need, and the duplicitous power of money.
My Thoughts
Well-written prose, multi-layered themes, realistic characters and contemporary social issues mixed in with the drama of recovering relationships and purpose after years of gradual withdrawal – these are the elements that make up Carol Cassella’s second novel, Healer. Like her first book, Oxygen, this story takes place in the world of medicine – not surprising since the author is also a practicing anesthesiologist.
I was quickly drawn into Claire’s story, which held my attention throughout. As we follow her progress of trying to pick up the pieces after her family’s financial collapse, we also learn more and more about how it happened, both in terms of the business dealings and within Claire and Addison’s marriage. Thankfully, both partners become willing to see their own mistakes and make an attempt to reconnect rather than simply place blame for their situation.
I would highly recommend both of Cassella’s novels as well worth the read.
Note: This is Book #77 of my 2011 Reads (master list here).
I'm a mom with Asperger's raising an amazing son with autism, which means I'm basically the case manager/advocate/cheerleader/chauffeur. The rest of the time, you can usually find me with my nose in a book!
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Thanks so much for this kind review. A lot of this book came from my own experiences and those of my patients. Always great to see avid readers like you supporting books. Be well!