The Medicine Woman of Galveston by Amanda Skenandore
Let me start by saying I love everything Amanda Skenandore writes! She has a gift for being able to take a slice of history, explore it in detail, and make the reader invested in the characters and the outcome. We know what is written in the history books, but do we really comprehend what happened, how it ultimately affected people on a personal level?
This is the story of Dr. Tucia Hatherley her disabled son and a group of “misfits” who wind up indebted to Huey and his traveling medicine show. They are all people who through no fault of their own find themselves at the mercy of Huey and his theatrical antics. The reader is provided a behind the scenes seat to the internal workings of this sideshow.
Upon reaching Galveston, the group encounters The Galveston Hurricane of 1900 and the devastating effect it had on the community and its residents. Numerous lives were lost as well as the town having to rebuild. Dr. Tucia Haterley is able to put her fears behind her and fulfill her life’s purpose and dream of helping people.
This story is so well written. You will immediately embrace the characters. You will laugh. You will cry. You will be angry. But most of all, you will be better for having read this book!

I really, really, really wanted to adore this book. Sadly it didn't happen for me soon enough.

I understand the need for background so you can get to the 'meat' of the book, but when the interesting part for me didn't happen until I was 3/4 of the way through the book, it was quite the let down.

Most disappointing for me was how meek and downtrodden Tucia was in the beginning of the book. She had worked hard, and had gone against family members to get her medical degree. I just can't see a woman that motivated to be a physician in the late 1890's, would give it up due to an issue in the operating suite. Yes, there was discrimination due to her gender. Yes, she had to work harder than the men. Just getting the M.D. after her name was extraordinarily hard, now she shuts down, pulls her hair out, and works in a factory? I was angry that what every man ever told her, she took to heart, and gave up...to a point. She did take her medical bag with her when she left to go on the road.

Having said all of the things above that lead you to believe I DNF or would leave you to think I hated this book, the last quarter of the book was what I expected from the whole book!. Tragedy will lead Tucia to an understanding of how life should be lived and how you need to move forward after being completely broken.

So, I still feel that the majority of the book was just setting up the ending, and it could have been much, much shorter.

3 stars since there was so much slogging through the majority of the book.

'Sometimes medicine presents us with impossible choices. Sometimes life does as well'.

Trucia Hatherley fought hard to become a doctor. She fought her step-mother, her classmates and she fought off a senior doctor during her internship. But after a fatal mistake in the operating theatre, she's now just fighting to keep debt collectors from her front door and keep food in her son's mouth. However, Huey seems to offer her a lifeline by asking her to join their traveling medicine show, where her medical license will offer credence and her past misfortune will surely be buried amongst a band of misfits, 'Snakes and imposters who besmirched the noble profession...A blight to humanity...It made her head throb all the more to think she'd joined one'. Yet, as she gets to know the other performers, she begins to understand there's more to them than meets the eye. And, maybe, just maybe, there's a way this new low won't be the end of her, but rather, the making.

Amanda Skenandore has clearly done an immense amount of research about this era, both within the medical field and the 'snake oil' peddlers. I enjoyed reading the back stories of the other show members. For me, the were a few slow patches within the book but overall I thought it was a good read and many historical fiction lovers are sure to enjoy it.

'there's more to a person than the worse thing they done'.

Thank you to Kensington book, netgalley, and Amanda Skenadore. The Medicine Woman of Galveston is a book that you should put on your tbr. This author does not disappoint she tends to write about medical issues and it is compelling and makes it hard to stop reading. This book was about a woman doctor who travels with a medicine show in order to redeem a mistake earlier in life. This book proves that everyone can get a second chance in the case of this doctor. This book was captivating and the details made me feel like I was write their along with the characters. This book comes out mid May put it on hold now and enjoy it.

Thank you to Net Galley and Kensington Books for the chance to read and review this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
I liked this book. Dr. Tucia Hatherly is a down on her luck female doctor. She has stopped practicing because she made a fatal mistake with a patient. She is working making corsets, but she is fired from that job. In order to support her and her son, she becomes a doctor in a traveling medicine show. We are introduced to the owner (who is not very nice), and several other performers in the medicine show. I thought the story was very well researched, and I had never really read anything about this subject. It was interesting to learn about the medicine show, and how much the townspeople looked forward to their visit. There wasn't much about Galveston until the end. The Galveston hurricane was a turning point for Tucia, and the other characters. Recommend if you like books about performers and history.

I love the style that Amanda Skenandore writes. This story starts out with Tucia and her small son Toby, very poor, Tucia is a Dr, however this is in the era where women doctors are frowned upon and scorned. A fatal mistake caused Tucia to be forced to not practice her degree. Huey, head of a Medicine show, hears of Tucia and presents her with an out. He will pay her debt, and provide a home for her and her son in exchange for her working in his 'medicine' show as a Dr. Tucia is at a crossroads and feels like she has no choice but to join with this man. She soon finds out that Huey's promises are nothing but weak charms. The author does a fabulous job of portraying the insides of a Medicine Show.

Thank you to NetGalley, Amanda Skenandore and Kinsington Publishing for allowing me this e-version in arc form in exchange for my opinion.

1900: Tucia Hatherley is a woman in a hard place. Once a trailblazing medical student, a costly mistake in the operating room led her to suffer from PTSD or, as the doctors of her time put it, "hysterical attacks." She turned her back on medicine and found work in a factory in order to care for her son with Down Syndrome. When she loses that job and is deeply in debt, Huey, the slick owner of a traveling medicine show, makes her an offer she thinks she must accept.

Her medical license is to lend credibility to the show. But Tucia soon finds that her new boss is a consummate con man. After hearing her fellow travelers' stories, she learns he's also a skilled blackmailer. Everyone with the show is there because Huey has something he's threatening them with. Tucia tries to find simple ways to dispense actual medical advice behind Huey's back and finally reaches her limit when Huey asks her to do the unconscionable. But soon, they will have a greater challenge to face - the 1900 Galveston Hurricane.

This was a fascinating look into the "snake oil' salesmen of the past, and their traveling medicine shows akin to circuses. Of course, the tonics they are hawking are ineffective. Skenandore is a registered nurse, which adds so much to the story since she knows the medical jargon and conditions. The novel also captures the scorn thrown at the first women who dared to be doctors. The novel is only set in Galveston for the last few chapters. Otherwise, it follows Tucia and the show workers along their travels. Historical fiction fans will enjoy this peek into the past!

What I lost most about Amanda Skenandore’s historical fiction novels is that she takes us to events, places, and times in history that are unique, that might not be well-known, or that we might have forgotten. In the Medicine Woman of Galveston, we are taken to the fascinating world of the traveling medicine show in the year 1900. When we meet our heroine Trucia, she is facing desperate times. Although she is a female doctor, she is unable to practice medicine due to a traumatic experience, and has cobbled together a paltry living to support herself and her disabled son. When she meets charismatic showman Huey, he offers her a way out of debt and destitution—as a doctor, she can give legitimacy to his traveling medical show, and in return he can give her a chance at a better life for herself and her son. We are then swept away into this world of snake oil and deception, and we are introduced to this bedraggled yet talented troupe of fascinating characters. As a reader, I was not just an observer, I felt part of this show—watching the performances, feeding off the desperation tinged with hope that the yokels bring with them. This is a fast-paced story, and yet the author takes the time to introduce all of the characters to us in such a way that we see beyond the talents and skills they bring to the medicine show—their secrets and pasts are revealed to us so that we understand how they all came to be traveling with Huey. This compelling book will take readers deep into the world of the seediness of the medicine show, while at the same giving us unique characters who add many layers of compassion, talent, and determination that takes us beyond the tents and wagons of the traveling show.

The Medicine Woman of Galveston by Amanda Skenandore is a fictional story that outlines the early days of Tucia’s medical career. Tucia is one of the first women to enroll and graduate in medical college. While the story is fictional I thought that the research gone into writing this was spot on. One can only imagine the hardships that early women pioneers in the field of medicine faced from their peers, the existing medical community, and the public. Amanda Skenandore presented the story in such a believable way.

I enjoyed the medicine show storyline way more than I expected to. There are backstory chapters given to each character in the show Tucia joins. I had wished we’d had a little more to each of these stories, as I could have easily continued on with each one. Though the author did an excellent job of later explaining through conversations the characters had and gave me most of the answers I was looking for on each character.

If you pick this up expecting most of the story to be about the Galveston Hurricane, note that happens later in the book. Most of the book is setting up the scenes for that tragic disaster. Early on I was confused and disappointed that it didn’t hit right away, but found that the structure of the book wouldn’t have worked any other way. This is a story of hope and future chances, and the title is looking towards that hope!

Overall, this book started as a 3 as I did have to push to read some of the earlier chapters. It seemed to drag on just a bit too much. The moment I read Fannny’s story the book flipped for me. After completing it and reflecting on the character building and the story building this easily hit a 5 in my book. Excellent read and I’d like to thank Kensington Books, The Author, and Netgalley for my advanced copy.

Amanda Skenandore has done it again! I always find her writing beautiful, meticulously researched, and interestingly informative. I enjoyed the premise of the novel—a down-on-her-luck female doctor with a child to support and a traveling medicine show. I learned a great deal, and it was a great read!

I read the first few chapters and I had to push myself to even read that. I didn’t like this book and it wasn’t very good. I’m sorry but I didn’t like this book and can not post a review on it.

historical-novel, historical-research, historical-setting, history-and-culture, PTSD, medical-doctor, physical-attack, misogyny, friends, friendship, frustration, triggers, hucksters, unpleasant-boss, trauma, travel, family-by-choice, family-history, family*****

From medical school in Chicago with double trauma and shame, to having a young son with physical limitations, to being deep in debt and fired from a sweat shop, to reluctantly joining a travelling medicine show. Her PTSD has taken the form of Trichotillomania and Hemophobia. Despite having an MD license, she has no desire to ever do a surgical procedure again but is roped into sham performances to sell snake oil/nostrums. She becomes friends with the other nonstandard people working for the charlatan as they travel onward with the eventual destination of Galveston just before the historic hurricane. Well written with just the sort of characters and behaviors you'd expect. I really enjoyed the story and the well researched history.
I requested and received a free temporary EARC from Kensington Books via NetGalley.Thank you!
Pub Date 21 May 2024

The Medicine Woman of Galveston
by Amanda Skenandore
Pub DateL May 21, 2024
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
A downtrodden female doctor takes up with a traveling medicine show to support her disabled son, joining a German giantess, a bowlegged musician, an indentured Creek poet, and a handsome tinker under the thumb of a charismatic but menacing swindler on a collision course with the deadliest natural disaster in American history – the Galveston Hurricane of 1900.

Readers of Christina Baker Kline, Sandra Dallas, and Sara Donati will be captivated by this story of medical historical fiction by Amanda Skenandore, registered nurse and acclaimed author of The Nurse’s Secret and The Second Life of Mirielle West.
The synopsis and title is misleading as the story doesn’t even arrive in Galveston until 80% of the book is over. The story focuses on Tucia—a licensed physician who has sworn off doctoring after a horrible debacle in a surgery room that has left her with severe PTSD. Her fight for survival for she and her Down syndrome son is the crux of the story. She also does self harm of pulling her hair out to cope with stress.

For those who like to know—There are times of cruelty in the story, abuse, sex, and heavy innuendo.

So for me... this was just an ok book.

I was anticipating an interesting read when I requested this book from NetGalley. A woman in medicine called a “trailblazer” in the description makes a mistake in surgery and now works in a corset factory. And … ends up traveling in a medicine show with her son along with a German giantess, a bow-legged musician, an American Indian poet, and a can-fix-anything man.

What I liked about the story …

- The characters of the giantess, the musician, and the fix-it man. These are not dumped on the reader with full descriptions of each but the characters are built much as a person getting to know more about them as time goes on.
- Huey who was not mentioned above. He is the lead of the medicine show. You know from the beginning that he is lying all the time. And he gets worse as the story goes. His character is key to what happens to everyone else. You will not like him; I didn’t.
- Life in a traveling medicine show. What it took to put up the stage at every stop. What kinds of acts would appeal to people. Huey’s ways of getting poor people in his audience to spend when they shouldn’t. About the care and feeding of people in the traveling caravan (not that Huey cared all that much). And why Huey wanted a “real” doctor in the group.
- The handling of what a hurricane would be like in 1900.
- The friendship that developed among the caravan (sans Huey) and how they found ways to support each other.

Now that’s a good list. BUT … What I did not like …

- The title of the book is The Medicine Woman of Galveston. In the description, “When the show reaches Galveston…” should have read “When the show FINALLY reaches Galveston …” I expected a good section about the book being about how she becomes a “real” doctor in Galveston, the challenges, and yes, triumphs, there. Instead, they arrive just before the end which makes the title — well, flat wrong. It was in THIS section that the book became compelling.
- The name of the doctor — Tucia. Authors, if you want the reader to identify with your lead character, do not give her a weird name. I *still* don’t know if I’m pronouncing right. Maybe if the author had explained why she had such a name … Tucia is also a surname. I know, I know. You probably won’t agree but I never got used to the name all 409 pages.
- Tucia’s panic attacks. There were just too many of them and they sorta got old. The author does explain why she has them.
Tucia’s pulling out her hair leaving bald spots. I’ve heard of people doing this but like the panic attacks — just too many.
- I kept waiting for Tucia the Real Doctor to show up. Appreciated her workaround to give REAL information out, but longed for a “will the real doctor please stand up” moment.

The five-like list, for this reviewer, did not outweigh the five did-not-like list resulting in a three-star rating. I leave it up to you future reader. You may like this story tremendously. I kept waiting for it to get better.

I received a complimentary DRC (digital review copy) of The Medicine Woman of Galveston via NetGalley from the publisher, Kensington Books | Kensington. A positive review was not required; the opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Rating: 3 stars
Cover: Fits the story.
Pages: 409
Publish Date: 21 May 2024
#TheMedicineWomanofGalveston #NetGalley #AmandaSkenandore

A compelling novel of a female physician and her journey to self discovery, confidence, and forging her way in a male dominated world. Dr. Tucia Hatherley makes a fatal mistake during her medical training. She ends up going to work in a corset factory and then joins a traveling medicine show in order to dissolve her debts. Readers are sent on a journey alongside Tucia while she learns how to gain her confidence and self worth back. I fell in love with the relationship between her and her son. This story also offers an inside look into the lives of those who worked in medicine shows which adds to an already interesting premise. I really enjoyed this and couldn't help but continue to cheer on Tucia.

Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books | Kensington for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Medicine Medicine Woman of Galveston by Amanda Skenandore is an informative and emotional read. The story incorporates social issues that are still relevant today: single parenthood, care for the special needs child, the difficulties of a woman in a "man's" job, etc. I especially enjoyed the real life events and people that were incorporated into the story. The medicine show setting was unusual, outlining the lives of those forced to live on the fringes of society due, in part , to physical abnormalities.

What I most enjoyed was how Tucia, a former female doctor, lost faith in herself and her abilities at the beginning of the book, but slowly began to fight for herself. Heartbreaking and heartwarming at turns Tucia finds herself in adversity.

The only con is that the title led me to believe the story was set in Galveston , yet most of the book occurs elsewhere. The hurricane of 1900 is a focus after the group arrives on the island. I made many trips there for summer swimming as a child, hence my interest. It did not detract from my enjoyment of the book.

Thank you for the advance reader's copy, #NetGalley #KensingtonBooks #Kensington All thoughts and opinions are my own.
#TheMedicineWomanofGalveston #NetGalley

I enjoyed the historical fiction, The Medicine Woman of Galveston by new to me author, Amanda Skenandore. I am going to give it five stars.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️From publisher Kensington Books: Once a trailblazer in the field of medicine, Dr. Tucia Hatherley hasn’t touched a scalpel or stethoscope since she made a fatal mistake in the operating theater. Instead, she works in a corset factory, striving to earn enough to support her disabled son. When even that livelihood is threatened, Tucia is left with one option—to join a wily, charismatic showman named Huey and become part of his traveling medicine show.

Her medical license lends the show a pretense of credibility, but the cures and tonics Tucia is forced to peddle are little more than purgatives and bathwater.

When the show reaches Galveston, Texas, Tucia tries to break free from Huey, only to be pulled even deeper into his schemes. But there is a far greater reckoning ahead, as a September storm becomes a devastating hurricane that will decimate the Gulf Coast—and challenge Tucia to recover her belief in medicine, in the goodness of others—and in herself.
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My review: Tucia is stuck in between impossible choices and the poor house. To save herself and her young son she agrees to join a traveling medicine show. Everyone in Huey’s show has a story and the build up to learning all of them was worth it. Great characters who have something to teach about how the world was is one of my favorite things about historical fiction. And this novel by Skenandore is no different. I have been a fan of her work for a while (Mirielle West, anyone?) and Medicine Woman delivers. With determination, intelligence and creativity Tucia forges forward, finds ways to survive, to protect her son, and to help those around her that she can. Darl, Lawrence, Cal and Fanny are all heart wrenching and heart warming characters.
Although Galveston and the storm are relegated to the last part of the story, Tucia's trials, travels and work kept me interested and reading.
Another great one from Skenandore about a string, determined woman.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for an advance digital copy of the book in exchange for my review.

I absolutely love Amanda Skenandore's becautiful writing, so I was trilled to get an ARC of this book! Thank you to the author, publisher & netgally!

The story was really good, and true to Skenandore's style, touches on a variety of interesting topics that taught me a lot & also made me want to research them more: the 1900 Galveston hurricane, traveling medicine shows of the time, female physicians of the time, etc. I think the main character ends up really showing her strength and intelligence by the end - something pretty hard for a woman to do in the 1900s (but also something I find so important in novels - I can't stand it when women are portrayed as idiots!).

The only slightly disappointing thing was that based on the title I spent the entire book waiting for the troupe to get to Galveston - but they didn't make it there until 80% of the way through the book. I wish all the characters had arrived in Galveston much earlier & that more of the book was about the city! I understand the title now, having read the book: Tucia DOES in fact become "the medicine woman of Galveston" - but that only really happens in the last chapter or two.

The Medicine Woman of Galveston by Amanda Skenandore was an interesting historical novel that explores life in the times of traveling medicine shows. This medicine show also felt like a carnival and shows how easy it was to take advantage of people and their trust, shilling out treatments that didn't really treat. Tucia and her son join the medicine show after Huey, swindler and leader of the show, pay off debts that Tucia has incurred. He dishonestly states terms that will allow her to pay him back and she finds that she will seemingly always be in his debt.
Having Tucia and her medical license as part of the show allows the troupe to meet legal requirements as they scam their way across the country, much to Tucia's dismay. She finds friendship and love along the way. Once the show arrives in Galveston, they face even bigger problems as they find themselves in the middle of a hurricane and its aftermath.

Thank you to Kensington Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.