The Woman with the Cure follows Dr. Dorothy Horstmann as she studied Polio outbreaks and researched how the infection was transmitted in order to develop a vaccine. The 40s and 50s saw many doctors in a race to cure Polio and they developed many theories on how to prevent it, but Horstmann focused on finding the Polio virus in the blood and what that meant for the progression of the virus. Despite the obstacles of being treated differently and less seriously than her male colleagues, Horstmann became a leading figure in polio research and was instrumental to the development of the eventual vaccine. The pacing of the book did falter at times and the back and forth with the romance was sometimes jarring, but overall, it was an interesting look into a key figure in polio research. Readers of Marie Benedict, Bonnie Garmus, and Heather Marshall will like this one.

I absolutely love historical fiction based on nonfiction. This was so well written and I love learning through these real life events. Cheers to female scientists!!

Knowing nothing about Dorothy Horstman, I had to begin with a quick Google search and background information. Found yet another female scientist, epidemiologist, virologist, clinician, pediatrician, and educator who somehow never made it to the forefront with a name on a plaque or recognition in a high school history book. Yet, that suited her just as fine. Dr. Horstman wanted a cure, not the accolades, though the Nobel Prize would have been nice since she did make the pivotal discovery regarding how the polio virus entered the body.

‘The Woman with the Cure’ is a fictionalized account of her life from the day she walked into Vanderbilt with determination to find a cure, or preventative, for polio. Coinciding with history, the reader begins to visualize the long trek through the 1940s, through trial and error, until the late 1950s, when the vaccine led the way for millions.

This book was too slow-paced for my liking. I understand how Lynn Cullen was trying to show how long the road to discovery was, but for every step forward in science, there were two steps back in the drama of Horstman’s “should I give it all up for a man” subplot. As shown through the interaction between Sabin and his wife Silvia, a man never has to make this decision, and I wished half the book could have been eliminated or rewritten; so it didn’t come across as “oh, poor me” when there was so much more to Dr. Dorothy Horstman.

What’s a random fact about you?

I would say, I have had 5 concussions. They started when I was in middle school – I got a basketball thrown at my head and I blacked out. Then I ran into a linebacker when I was playing soccer. I took a few years off then got three over the course of two years in my mid-twenties. My last was when I met my husband and I had extremely low blood sugar and passed out, hit my head on the bathtub, and got stitches – and a concussion. Whoops.

It's the 1940’s and America is knee deep in the Polio pandemic. Everyone is affected, no one can hide. Dr. Dorothy Horstmann is focused on beating her colleagues to a vaccine before anyone else – she just wants a cure. Dr. Dorothy applies the same determination that got her out of her humble beginnings to where she is now. When Dr. Dorothy discovers polio in blood, she edges ahead of everyone else. But, will she win the race?

I love books featuring women in science! They’re so fun for me. This book did not disappoint – it was exceptional. The author did a great job of shaping Dorothy and how she came to discover the cure for polio. I appreciated that while this book is fiction, it is rooted in facts – that always adds to the story. I feel this one drags in the middle, and then wrapped up way too quickly. We’d spent the whole story getting details and then bam it was done. I just wish the ending was a little better developed in space of some of the extra dialogue in the middle. But overall, this is a fantastic book and well worth the read for something I certainly take for granted – a vaccine for polio.

This one is out soon – Feb 21st.

Thank you to the publisher Berkley Publishing, @berkleypub and Netgalley @netgalley for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Woman with the Cure by Lynn Cullen follows a woman, Dorothy Horstmann, in over a decade of her life as she works with the scientific community to study and hopefully eradicate polio. The book follows her dealing with sexism in the scientific community, her personal struggles managing work and life, and her drive to find a treatment to eradicate polio.

This book was devastating. At every turn, I felt like Dorothy was hitting walls, and every one felt like a gut punch to me. While Dorothy does at times fight back against the sexism and obstacles she faces, I really wanted her at times to stand up and fight for herself and her work, though I understand the reasons she didn't. While in the end, (as we know), the community did find a vaccine for polio, it didn't feel like a win for Dorothy personally.

I enjoyed the exploration of how a desire for fame can motivate and at times cause issues within the scientific community as they strive to become the first to offer up a solution to the world. There was an interesting undertone of friendliness among the group but also a sinister competitiveness lying throughout.

This book takes place over many years, and I enjoyed how the author put in snippets of major historical events to remind the reader where they were in time. Though these events didn't play major roles in the plot of the story, it was still kind of fun to see.

Overall, I found this to be a worthwhile read, though it did leave me a little devastated. I would still recommend it to those interested in stories about women in STEM, particularly ones based on real women. Historical fiction fans and science nerds would also enjoy this one.

If you liked Lessons in Chemistry, you might like this one. They both play a little bit with story structure and point of view, which was fun. I think The Woman with the Cure has more of a historical fiction vibe (particularly since it is based on true events) and also includes more time spent on the procedures and collaborations of scientific community.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

I received a gifted galley of THE WOMAN WITH THE CURE by Lynn Cullen for an honest review. Thank you to PRH Audio, Berkley Publishing Group, and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review!

THE WOMAN WITH THE CURE is historical fiction based on the nonfictional Dorothy Horstmann. Dorothy is a rare female doctor working in 1940’s and 1950’s America where polio is very prevalent and scary. Children are kept home and in seclusion from others as the medical community tries to find out the source and solution for this deadly and debilitating disease.

Where Dorothy’s colleagues are all about the race to being first to the cure, Dorothy is focused on the cure. She advocates sharing ideas and doing everything possible to save and improve lives. From her roots being born to immigrant parents to fighting against gender roles to become a physician, she is smart and strong and willing to make sacrifices in pursuit of a vaccine.

This is a period of time that I haven’t read a lot about and I found it very interesting. There are a lot of discussions about prioritizing notoriety and profit over the greater good that certainly still felt relatable in the present day. I really enjoyed learning more about this important historical figure, though the fact that she was unusually tall felt a little bit over emphasized.

I will say that the book at times felt a bit like the author was trying to push some extra feminist messages into her text. In one instance, Dorothy was present for iconic picture of a World War II sailor kissing a nurse in celebration of V-J day and delivered a commentary on the lack of consent in her inner monologue. Moments like these certainly weren’t without a solid message, but I wasn’t sure they always flowed naturally.

Overall this was a really interesting read and I will definitely look for more from Lynn Cullen.

Pub date: 2/21/23
Genre: historical fiction (based on real people), history of science
Quick summary: Everyone's heard of Jonas Salk, but Dorothy Horstmann is the "woman with the cure" that helped protect children around the world from polio. This is the story of her life and research.

As a woman in STEM, I love reading stories about female scientists who succeeded despite insurmountable odds. I wasn't previously familiar with Dorothy Horstmann and her work with polio, and Cullen did a great job taking us through the story of her research. Horstmann interacted with multiple male luminaries in the field, including Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin, as well as other unsung female heroes (see the author's note for more information). Cullen gave science a human face - you could see the sparks fly due to the rivalries and egos of the various researchers. I enjoyed the window into Horstmann's work and personal life, and how the two informed each other.

I think readers of Marie Benedict's novels will enjoy this one! My one critique is that it's a little long in the middle (I do love a short read!) However, the end was quite compelling, and that bumped it up to four stars for me.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing and @letstalkbookspromo from providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
The Woman with the Cure has a great concept, exploring the race to create a polio vaccine from the perspective of Dorothy Horstmann, a woman who played an instrumental role, but who has gone largely uncelebrated compared to her male colleagues, which was an unfortunate reality for women in science in the past. And I also appreciate the author’s hindsight, exploring this time period while living through the COVID-19 pandemic, presenting a challenge for readers to draw parallels between the past and today.
But I don’t know that this story lends itself well to a novel structure, at least not in a way that personally keeps me engaged. I’ve often struggled with historical fiction that takes place over long periods of time, and the issue here is that there’s a long timeline of work that goes into the creation of the polio vaccine. With each passing year, the story just dragged on and on, and my investment flagged.
The writing style also didn’t give me a sense of intimacy with the characters either, so while the story attempted to incorporate stuff from Dorothy’s personal life, I just didn’t care. She goes through some romantic and domestic dramas, but it was all so forgettable.
While this book didn’t work for me, my opinion is definitely in the minority. If you enjoy biographical historical fiction, you might enjoy it more than I did.

What a fabulous book. I grew up in New Haven during the years when everyone feared polio. We all knew someone who had the disease and we were all aware that research was taking place at Yale. Lynn Cullen has done a masterful job of showing readers some of what went on behind the scenes as Drs. Salk and Sabin raced to develop an effective vaccine against the disease, highlighting the enormous contribution of a woman who fought off the prejudices, restrictions, and humiliations female professionals experienced then and still experience today. I can’t wait to read her next novel.

This book hit home for me because during the last few years of a worldwide pandemic, I had Covid eight times and now have been diagnosed with Long Covid. I’m not saying that Covid is anything like polio, but the fear that I’ve felt during some really serious bouts and the long-term side effects I’m left with makes me very empathic to what the world must have gone through in the 1940s and 1950s before a vaccine was discovered.

I love novels based on true events and especially when it is a story about a woman hero!! Cullen is a new-to-me author and I really enjoyed her engaging writing style. I’m looking forward to reading some of her other titles in the future.

Horstmann is an inspiration for women everywhere. She was a daughter of immigrants with humble beginnings and faced that diversity head-on and became a doctor. I love that the author shares some of Dorothy’s personal life because we can see she has given up much to find a cure for polio.

Dorothy Horstmann, a dedicated doctor in the 1940s–1950s was instrumental in eradicating the polio virus, but in a man’s world she is an unsung hero. As I read Horstmann story, I couldn’t help but wonder how many women and minorities there are today that are still overshadowed by men in our society. It may be over seventy years later, but we still have a glass ceiling in some professions.

Horstmann searching for a cure, found that the polio virus travels through the bloodstream of its host. Her discovery was overlooked by her male counterparts fighting to be the first to uncover a vaccine. Unfortunately, these roadblocks caused many people to suffer and/or die that may have otherwise been saved.

As I read this book, I couldn’t help but think of the last three years and the fear we have all gone through as a nation attacked by covid. Even though we now have a vaccine and fewer people are dying, I feel like those that have/are doing the research might have struggled like the doctors in the 1940s. Hopefully, our doctors work better together today no matter what their race or sexual orientation is and a cure isn’t being overlooked.

Cullen has done such a thorough job of researching as is apparent in this book. It is 400 pages which usually will take me two days to read, but I flew through this one in one day because I just couldn’t stop turning the pages.

this book was so incredible!! i can't believe i got to read this one early! it was so much fun and such a delight! i truly hope every one of you picks this one up. and soon!!

5 ⭐️

I was provided a copy of The Woman with the Cure by netgalley. Thank you so much for the opportunity to read such an outstanding book!

Dr. Horstman is a figure that will continue to stay in my mind. Her struggles, her determination, her grit, her passion, her pure love for her career and the love she felt for children… all of these qualities were admirable well on their own, but, to give up on love because you knew your career would always remain first, that was self sacrifice at the highest account.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this account of all of the trials and tribulations the scientists took on to find a safe and effective vaccine for polio. The journey was not easy or without some setbacks, but by the end, they accomplished the goal and were able to see a world (almost) completely eradicated of polio.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a bit of historical fiction, but also anyone in the medical field who is curious about polio and how vaccines are made.

Polio, now a disease of myth, once paralyzed and killed children in epic proportions. During the 1940's and 50's teams of dedicated scientists worked ceaselessly to find a vaccine and save lives. Dorothy Horstmann, an up and coming scientists, has some unique ideas about how Polio is transmitted throughout the body. However, as a woman, she must fight for her voice and ideas to be heard.

I thought this was an interesting and well written book. I love reading about women in male dominated fields. Dorothy's strength and intelligence shined throughout the book. I also learned a lot about polio, vaccines, and scientific advancements. Overall, highly recommended!

Thank you for an advanced copy of The Woman with the Cure. This is a really good historical fiction that I think people are going to enjoy a lot!

Star Rating: 4⭐️
Genre: Historical Fiction
Pub Date: February 21, 2023

I am always so excited about reading books focusing on women in STEM or women in power positions. I knew a little bit about the race to find the polio cure before reading this book, but I didn't know much about the individual scientists searching for the cure. Fans of Lessons in Chemistry will particularly like this book, I think.

I think this story does a wonderful job at showing how women scientists are able to isolate the scientific issue and work towards the greater good. Dorothy is singularly focused on saving lives in the story while her male counterparts are only truly worried about receiving credit for the discovery. So often, women in STEM are brushed aside for the male competitors, and Dorothy suffered this injustice time and time again in this story. As a woman in academics, I appreciate her struggle and fight to keep going in her field.

I feel like Dorothy is a really relatable character in this book, and I felt for her struggles. She had to choose between her career and a life, in many ways, as she consistently made her life all about the search for the cure. She did all of this during a time when women were not given basic human rights in many ways, and they certainly were not respected in the workplace. She's honestly a character to look up to.

If you enjoy books about women in STEM and historical fiction, I think The Woman with the Cure is the book for you. I particularly think you will enjoy this book if you liked Lessons in Chemistry.

Thank you to Berkley Pub for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Polio, the scariest word a doctor could say to a parent in the 1940's and 50's. The Woman with the Cure is the story of the struggle to find a vaccine. Doctors Salk and Sabin are the most recognizable names in the fight but it is Dr. Dorothy Horstmann who discovered polio in the blood that was instrumental in learning how the disease affects the body.

Based on the real life of Dorothy Horstmann, we learn of the extraordinary lengths she went to to help patients and the world at large. Not only was she successful in the lab, mostly at Yale, but also working with the WHO traveling the world helping with outbreaks and trying to save lives. She didn't feel constraints in her experiments like some of the men around her who only wanted the glory for themselves, she was willing to accept results wherever they came from.

As successful as Dorothy was, she had to deal with the prejudices of her time, women were sidelined in preference to men and not taken as seriously when they discovered something new. She had a heck of a time convincing her peers that her work deserved funding, funding necessary for continued lab work. Until a man had some of the same findings as her, the money was not there for her.

I love historical fiction, especially when it centers on a real-life person as this story does. There were a few times when it read a little like non-fiction, that was the reason for only 4 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for this honest review.

Another story of a brilliant woman's strength, dedication, and intelligence being buried under men's accomplishments! I had never heard of Dorothy Horstmann and very little about the struggle for the polio vaccine, and this was a wonderful, humanizing portrait of a woman who pretty much literally gave her life over to finding it.

I flew through this book in less than a day. A page-turner with heart and an amazing history lesson about a little-known woman who made major scientific contributions. This was such an interesting book and even though it was fiction, I feel like I learned so much. I would definitely read more from this author in the future.

Wow, what an interesting story about a woman no one’s ever heard of! Too bad, too, as she was very instrumental in helping to eradicate the poliovirus in the 1950’s. We hear of Dr. Jonas Salk and Dr. Albert Sabin, but here was a woman, Dr. Dorothy Horstmann, whose insistence that the poliovirus had to travel through the bloodstream of its host was met with skepticism and roadblocks so that her important hypothesis was later in coming and being proven than it might have been.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I must say that she’s done a masterful job of creating a book that, for me, was
very hard to put down!

I received this book from the publisher via net galley in exchange for an honest review. Five stars!

I would love to see more pandemic fiction along these lines and less along the lines of contagion/dystopia.

I usually don’t compare authors and often find publishers’ recommendations of the ‘perfect for fans of…” to be wildly off base. But I would definitely recommend The Woman with the Cure for fans of Marie Benedict.
Cullen has written about Dr. D. M. Horstmann, who helped arrive at a cure for polio.
The book is a vivid reminder of the devastation that polio brought to the country in the 1940s and 50s. And also a vivid reminder of how women were discounted - last to be hired, first to be fired, fighting to get even the slimmest credit for their ideas. Not just Horstmann, but Sister Kenny, an Australian nurse who came up with a better idea for treating those who developed polio and Dr. Jessie Wright, who used the rocking bed as a substitute to the iron lung.
It seems fitting that I’m reading this on the day that a study proved conclusively that women have more empathy than men. Because Dorothy was willing to put the good of the children ahead of her own prestige. I was engaged with her from the first pages of the book. Cullen does a great job of blending her personal life with her professional one. There’s a romantic angle but it never overtakes the main story.
Cullen switches between POVs and included a few side stories that I felt were unnecessary, especially that of Sabin’s wife. Flip side, I was glad that she found ways to include Isabel Morgan, Bernice Eddy and Elsie Ward.
It was interesting to learn that the “clinical trial” for Sabin’s vaccine were 77 million Russian children, for which Dorothy was the overseer. It just goes to show that countries on opposite ends of the political spectrum can still work together for the good of the world. (It also was an interesting comment on what a dictatorship can get away with).
My thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for an advance copy of this book.