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A review by marilynw
Doctors and Friends by Kimmery Martin
4.0
Doctors and Friends by Kimmery Martin
Kimmery Martin wrote this story before Covid-19 became a part of all our lives. As a former emergency medicine physician, her understanding of the strain on the health care workers during a pandemic is shown here in horrifying detail. Before Covid-19, I think it would have been easy for me to dismiss the happenings in this story as something that happens somewhere else, to someone else, but after the last eighteen or so months, this story felt way too real.
The story covers seven women doctors, close friends since their medical school days. Each of them is successful in their medical specialty. Five of the women are present when one of the first known victims of a fast spreading virus fells a young woman. One of them, Kira Marchand, an infectious disease doctor at the CDC in Atlanta, is center stage in the effort to learn just what is killing hundreds of thousands of people and what can be done to save lives and stop the spread of this virus and one that comes after it.
Another of the friends is Compton Winfield, is an emergency room doctor in New York City, where the city is brought to a stand still by the number of victims of the pandemic. It's an unwinnable war for some and even for those who may survive the initial onslaught to their body, many will be hit later with something different but just as horrible. We also follow Hannah Geier, an ob-gyn in San Diego, whose hopes of finally having a baby may be shattered by this devastating virus.
As doctors, each of these women must keep working to save those they can, despite the futility of their efforts. Friends and family are lost, the emotional and mental toll is enormous, and they and other health workers struggle with exhaustion, grief, guilt, and the feeling of helplessness. Before now I've avoided reading a story like this because the "realness" was more than I wanted to face but I'm glad I read the story and I enjoyed the closeness, love, and unconditional support these women gave to each other. There are choices that must be made, life and death choices that may even decide the fate of the closest of family members, choices made under the worst of circumstances. I appreciate that despite the horribleness of the situation, that the author gave us some happy times and happy outcomes. Happy outcomes that can't erase all the heartache and loss but that allow for hope to exist, all the same.
Publication: November 9, 2021
Thank you to Elisha at Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for this ARC.
Kimmery Martin wrote this story before Covid-19 became a part of all our lives. As a former emergency medicine physician, her understanding of the strain on the health care workers during a pandemic is shown here in horrifying detail. Before Covid-19, I think it would have been easy for me to dismiss the happenings in this story as something that happens somewhere else, to someone else, but after the last eighteen or so months, this story felt way too real.
The story covers seven women doctors, close friends since their medical school days. Each of them is successful in their medical specialty. Five of the women are present when one of the first known victims of a fast spreading virus fells a young woman. One of them, Kira Marchand, an infectious disease doctor at the CDC in Atlanta, is center stage in the effort to learn just what is killing hundreds of thousands of people and what can be done to save lives and stop the spread of this virus and one that comes after it.
Another of the friends is Compton Winfield, is an emergency room doctor in New York City, where the city is brought to a stand still by the number of victims of the pandemic. It's an unwinnable war for some and even for those who may survive the initial onslaught to their body, many will be hit later with something different but just as horrible. We also follow Hannah Geier, an ob-gyn in San Diego, whose hopes of finally having a baby may be shattered by this devastating virus.
As doctors, each of these women must keep working to save those they can, despite the futility of their efforts. Friends and family are lost, the emotional and mental toll is enormous, and they and other health workers struggle with exhaustion, grief, guilt, and the feeling of helplessness. Before now I've avoided reading a story like this because the "realness" was more than I wanted to face but I'm glad I read the story and I enjoyed the closeness, love, and unconditional support these women gave to each other. There are choices that must be made, life and death choices that may even decide the fate of the closest of family members, choices made under the worst of circumstances. I appreciate that despite the horribleness of the situation, that the author gave us some happy times and happy outcomes. Happy outcomes that can't erase all the heartache and loss but that allow for hope to exist, all the same.
Publication: November 9, 2021
Thank you to Elisha at Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for this ARC.