This is the second book of Sandra Cavallo Miller's that I have read. I enjoyed the first one greatly so I was pleased to be able to read this new one. It was every bit as good as I expected. I love her writing style and love how she has adeptly introduced us to the life of a doctor with all the challenges that modern-day medicine brings. Anyone considering going into medicine should read this! The setting in Arizona lends itself well to the poetic descriptions of days and nights and the dogs are a great touch. I'm going to be recommending this to everyone I know. It's just a total winner of a book!

It is not easy being a family practice doctor in this day and age. Norah Waters is seriously ready to retire after 30 years in practice. Her stress is at an all time high between work, love, mentoring, volunteering and being trolled on-line. At times humorous, this book is also real. I can relate to the phone calls with her mother (in her 80's) and found lots of truth in the health care part of the book. I, too, have been in health care for 30 years in different capacities This is my first book by Sandra Cavallo Miller and I look forward to reading some of the stuff she has written in the past. Thank you to NetGalley and Nevada Press Publishing for the DRC in exchange for an honest review.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, from University of Nevada Press and #NetGalley. Thank you for the opportunity to preview and review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Ripe with whimsy, the tone is perfect for the time in which its set. Humor sprinkled throughout, characters are written with a thoughtful perspective.

Story: 4/5 Characters: 5/5 Writing: 4/5 Enjoyment: 5/5

Norah is the tending-toward-cynical but unfailingly caring and dedicated family practice doctor in the Arizona desert. In her 50s, she thinks of retirement almost every day, but can’t get herself to pull the trigger.

With a jaded but humorous and never bitter tone, Miller brings to life the modern family doctor. Forget Marcus Welby, Norah and her colleagues are beset with endless regulations, condescending specialists, arrogant medical students, health insurance battles, and a plethora of patients who don’t always (ie hardly ever) advance their own cause. On top of this, the practice seems to be losing money despite a full waiting room, and someone is leaving nasty-notes on car windshields. Norah had to kick her do-nothing boyfriend of three years out of the house for … continuing to do nothing, and she has nearly daily calls with (possibly my favorite character) her 86-year old mother who has a crush on the elderly, but well-built mailman and gives detailed instructions on what to do if she doesn’t answer the phone (wait several days to make sure she is dead!). While too grumpy to even consider dating, Norah does come across some potential love interests — an even grumpier vet and a shy radiologist who suffers at her side during endless student admissions committee meetings .

I loved the tone, loved the characters, and appreciated the peek into a real doctor’s life by someone who a) has lived through it themselves and b) translates her knowledge into a highly self-aware and comical story. Some very interesting medical tidbits and asides as well…

Some good quotes:
“To give your life more purpose, for what that’s worth. I’m not sure anyone has ever convincingly proved that human life actually has a purpose. Evolution just does its thing. Sunrise, sunset.”

“I guess when your spirit pales to a washed-out shadow, you grow tentative.”

“Once upon a time we became physicians, but now we also must perform as secretaries and transcriptionists and file clerks and coding authorities and billing experts ad regulations enforcers.”

“And I wondered how anyone can eat baloney, that mash of pig snouts and ears and genitals. You can feel gritty little bits of bone.”

“That made me sad, but why should it? Why should I impose my arduous overdrive, my endless quests, on a quietly contented person?”

“No, apparently my ego needed to analyze and try to fix them. Make a difference in their lives. Maybe I worried that my failure with Grace, a previous student, might repeat itself. I may have mentioned how doctors often obsess about doing things right.”

“Nobody listens. Sometimes I feel like a tiny squeaky voice in a wind tunnel, about to be blown away.”

“And even before I say this next sentence, I’m aware it isn’t fair, because I know tons of great physician men, smart and intuitive, generous and wise. But between Jeremy Newell and Carter Billings, I’d drink my fill of medical males that day.”

“A long afternoon, but mostly rewarding. Nothing easy, nothing cut and dried. Everyone needed to talk. Mostly good patients, all with real problems. No one surly or defiant, no one acting like I owed them good health because they demanded it, no matter how unwilling they might be to earn it. Every now and then those petulant people stayed home and I felt in my element, listening, sorting, treating. Come on, Norah, I told myself, settling in with my charts after everyone had gone.”

“What would fix me would be better healthcare systems, not spending hours grappling with a convoluted computer program. Where I got more than ten minutes with an addict. Consistent medical billing and affordable insulin. Free insulin, Where medical students didn’t lose their glittering idealism in a few short years, while a handful of ego-besotted attending physicians badgered them into despondency. Until some students lost themselves under the crushing demise of their dream. The statistics on physician suicide are dreadful — every day, at least one physician or medical student is lost forever. What an unforgivable waste.”

Love the cover and title of this book, and wanted to give this first-time author a chance. It was a good read in that it revealed the ins and outs of a job in medicine. I think the book would benefit from a bit more narrative drive, meaning something to compel the reader to keep going forward. However, if you are looking for a light, pleasant read, and curious about life in the medical field, this is your book! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

This is fun, with some humor along the way. I liked the characters and relationships, and the interesting plot. The ending was a bit weak, but a good read overall. I'll check out her earlier books.

Thanks very much for the free ARC for review!!

This is my first exposure to this author and I enjoyed the experience. With touches of romance and humor, this novel chronicles the challenges and frustrations in creating life/work balance while navigating the demands of today’s health care system.

The protagonist, Dr. Norah Waters, is a dedicated primary care physician in a small group practice. Teetering on the edge of burnout, she is seriously considering early retirement due to long hours, the mountain of paperwork, patients who cannot or will not accept her help in managing their health issues, and a mysteriously dwindling income despite her hard work. Add to this mix a strained relationship with her quirky mother, mentoring responsibilities for fledgling medical students and the end of an unsatisfactory relationship with a deadbeat boyfriend. It is little wonder that Norah is depressed, cynical and bitter. The one saving grace is her dog, Emcee, whose insights and commentary add a bit of levity.

The story is a first person narrative from the viewpoint of Norah, which is well-developed, believable and relatable. There is a wealth of other characters – some more developed than others – that populate her world and added color and dimension to Norah’s rather contracted worldview. My one criticism is that the ending felt a bit abrupt. It was gratifying to see the resolution of the issues and the beginning of new possibilities for Norah. However, after accompanying her on this lengthy exploration of her dissatisfaction with her life circumstances, the ending seemed superficial, lacking any real emotional depth. Because of this, I deducted 1 star.

My thanks to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the privilege of reviewing this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This review is being posted immediately to my GoodReads account and will be posted on Amazon upon publication.

Norah is a family medicine physician who is, well, burned out. She has a full time practice, volunteers, and mentors medical students (some of who can be a real pain). She has recently broken up with her boyfriend and her mom constantly encourages her to give him another chance. She has a few other physicians in her office with her and they begin being harassed, and they have to figure out who would harass everyone in the practice. She also begins spending time with both the veterinarian in town and a fellow colleague (radiologist).

What I liked: I’m a female in medicine so I enjoyed the day to day medical life aspect. It was a little disheartening to see someone so obviously sick of her job, though this did improve by the end somewhat.

What I didn’t like: It was a little slow to get going. I also wish there was a little less of the “harasser” and a little more of the love interest. The harassment didn’t really seem to add anything to the book from my standpoint.