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6th out of 24 books
—
39 voters
The Doctor's Wife
“The memory starts here, in my apron pocket, with the gun.”
So begins The Doctor’s Wife, a stunning debut novel about four people and the cataclysmic intersection of their lives. Michael is a rising OB/GYN at a prominent private practice in Albany, New York; he also moonlights at a local women’s health clinic. But Annie, his wife, has become tired of her workaholic husban...more
So begins The Doctor’s Wife, a stunning debut novel about four people and the cataclysmic intersection of their lives. Michael is a rising OB/GYN at a prominent private practice in Albany, New York; he also moonlights at a local women’s health clinic. But Annie, his wife, has become tired of her workaholic husban...more
Paperback, 352 pages
Published
November 29th 2005
by Plume
(first published January 1st 2004)
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I know that this is just my opinion, and others are free to disagree, but I found this book nothing but trash. I found it to be very pro-choice and liberal, with Republicans potrayed as rude, ridiculous, religious bigots, and pro-life people potrayed as crazy and violent. The entire book is simply distateful; while the writing is well done, it is clear this author has an agenda (pro-choice), and the plot itself serves only to reiterate this purpose. To quote another reviewer, tough customer, fro...more
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After reading the reviews posted here I was worried that I was not going to like this book. So many people gave one or two stars, and didn't have much good to say about it.
Needless to say, I loved it. I thought it was fantastic and did not want to put it down. I was sad when it was over and really felt a connection to all of the characters.
I will be sure to look for more books from this author in the future.
Needless to say, I loved it. I thought it was fantastic and did not want to put it down. I was sad when it was over and really felt a connection to all of the characters.
I will be sure to look for more books from this author in the future.
Mar 14, 2008
Amy Randall
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone looking for a page turner for fun on the beach
This was a page turner. I enjoyed it. It was a cross between a love story and thriller/suspense story. It was a different kind of read for me and definitely brought me out of the serious dramas that I have been reading as of late. Well written for a debut novelist. I will certainly read the next one.
This book is a dull read. It does not really envoke the imagination nor does it educate you on anything. It would be a decent beach read, or a rainy day read to just say you read a book today.
typical - figure it out on your own - plot. didnt need to think at all while reading it. OK read
typical - figure it out on your own - plot. didnt need to think at all while reading it. OK read
Wasn't sure if I was going to like it at first because of the way it went back and forth in different scenes, past to present, etc. However, I did enjoy it very much and found it hard to put down once I continued reading. Although each of the characters had their own skeletons in the closet, so to speak, I felt empathy for each and every one of them, understanding what led them to their actions. At first I was thinking it would have been nice to find out who's baby Annie was pregnant with. But,...more
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I pulled this book off the library shelf because on the first page the main character was swearing up a storm. I mean, how often do you get to hear that? Especially followed by "I wanted him to be buried deep in the ground where no one would ever look... when I consider my unrelenting devotion to Jesus, I have to say that I am sorely disappointed." This scene is actually almost the last scene in the book and it took me a few pages from this intense beginning to get into the story. After that, th...more
Interesting timing. I finished Elizabeth Brundage’s novel The Doctor’s Wife just a couple days before Dr. Henry Morgentaler passed away at the ripe old age of 90. What do a novel and a doctor who changed the laws regarding abortion in Canada have to do with each other? Well, it’s the polarizing subject of abortion which is at the centre of Brundage’s over-written and uneven novel.
Annie and Michael Knowles live in upstate New York. Michael is an obstetrician who practices in Albany. Annie is a jo...more
Annie and Michael Knowles live in upstate New York. Michael is an obstetrician who practices in Albany. Annie is a jo...more
When I started reading this book, I got the distinct impression that the author had an agenda that she was going to shove down the readers throat. That agenda is "pro-life." As the story developes, we get to know characters equally on both sides of the abortion issue.
This was a riveting and fast paced story and as I got to know the Rev. Tim and his congregation, I found their characters to be too extreme. Rev. Tim had a heart full of hate and malice. He was a bit unbelievable.
Dr. Knowles is a fa...more
This was a riveting and fast paced story and as I got to know the Rev. Tim and his congregation, I found their characters to be too extreme. Rev. Tim had a heart full of hate and malice. He was a bit unbelievable.
Dr. Knowles is a fa...more
Now that I have finished the book, I am not really sure how I want to rate it. Part of me wants to give it 4 stars and then the other part of me thinks that 3 are justifiable.
The story starts out interesting with the line "The memory starts here, in my apron pocket, with the gun." I was hooked at the beginning of the story and intrigued, but just as soon as I got into the story, I got to the portion of the story that was basically a long flashback. For me, I just didn't like adjusting to the way...more
The story starts out interesting with the line "The memory starts here, in my apron pocket, with the gun." I was hooked at the beginning of the story and intrigued, but just as soon as I got into the story, I got to the portion of the story that was basically a long flashback. For me, I just didn't like adjusting to the way...more
I liked the book, but I did not love it and I did not find it as suspenful as I expected based on the reviews listed on the book cover (all from respected magazines and newspapers). I found all of the main characters well developed and interesting. They're complicated and realistic and I appreciated that. My favorite character was actually Theresa Sawyer, a teenager that only makes a few very tiny appearances, and her appearance in the book was never explained, but she was interesting. I didn't...more
Contrary to what others may think, I thought this was a wonderfully written and suspenseful book. It really is hard to believe that this is Brundage's debut novel as it written like one of an experienced author. Thankfully I didn't read any of the reviews on here or I may not have read it as I think they are very misleading. It seems like a lot of the people on here took it way too seriously. I can understand how some may feel that Brundage was trying to insult the conservative way of thinking,...more
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I actually find it funny that some people hated this book because they found the pro-life/anti-choice characters to be "too extreme" and took offense on the basis that "not all those who stand on the right of this issue are psychotic maniacs." Well, duh. Of course they aren't.
But this book isn't about the ones who aren't. And why not? Because run-of-the-mill ordinary pro-lifers don't make for very interesting fiction. (Neither, for that matter, do run-of-the-mill ordinary pro-choicers). They ha...more
But this book isn't about the ones who aren't. And why not? Because run-of-the-mill ordinary pro-lifers don't make for very interesting fiction. (Neither, for that matter, do run-of-the-mill ordinary pro-choicers). They ha...more
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My mom had read this and gave it to me to read. I started it several months ago and then put it down because I got side tracked by another book that I thought would be more worth my time. A couple of weeks ago I came back to it and then couldn't put it down! Maybe it's because I haven't read a book like this in awhile but I couldn't wait to see how it would end and how the suspense of it would reveal itself. This book was not what I expected it to be but was very good in the end!
"The Doctor's Wife" by Elizabeth Brundage is a decent book. I devoured the book in a Sunday, getting caught up in the four main characters: Michael Knowles, a prominent obstetrician who pulls double duty between his practice and a health clinic that provides abortions; his wife Annie Knowles, a journalism professor at a local women's college; Simon Haas, another professor at the same local women's college who hasn't painted anything in years before meeting and falling in love with Annie; and Sim...more
I've read books about couples with commitment issues before. Their relationship is lacking, the wife finds someone more intriguing, the husband finds out, there's some other drama thrown into it, the end. But this book is so far off from that.
There isn't a lot of information given in the first part of the book, but it certainly drew me in right away. Actually, the entire book was like that for me: I loved every part of it because it was all so interesting to me. I loved that the author went bac...more
There isn't a lot of information given in the first part of the book, but it certainly drew me in right away. Actually, the entire book was like that for me: I loved every part of it because it was all so interesting to me. I loved that the author went bac...more
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An interesting debut from an obviously talented author. The plot was fast moving, switching viewpoints and time periods. Brundage balances these changes well without losing the reader with the constant changes. The story begins with a pivotal scene, and then tells the background story leading up to that initial moment through flashbacks. As the violence against main characters increases and emotions between warring spouses intensifies, the plot crescendoes nicely into that initial scene of captu...more
first, i was deeply offended by some of the prior reviews of this book, including one by a person who references herself as a "future doctor's wife." i resent any use of the phrase "hardcore feminist" in a derogatory manner to address an opinion that differs from one's own. really and truly, please. become a bit more evolved. This book IS a work of fiction, but it has roots in the modern day "right to life" movement. Not so long ago, quite a few "kill lists" came out on the internet, complete wi...more
The Doctor's Wife is a complex and beautifully-written novel that deals with some tough subject matter. I've read a lot of reviews that complained about the story as having an "agenda" which is unfortunate because it deals quite graphically with a painful reality in our society - violence in the name of righteousness. Specifically violence against women's health clinics where abortions are performed.
The four main characters in the story are complex and interesting people although I have to say t...more
The four main characters in the story are complex and interesting people although I have to say t...more
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The basis of the book could be one of 'controversy' but, regardless of the pro/anti abortion theme, this book picks up as quick thriller. Just about half way through I become addicted to the characters and did not want to stop reading.
The way the story was written you get to know the characters, as their backgrounds intertwine with their current lives.
Michael and Annie, and their two children; Annie is a bored housewife, who adores her children and her husband, Michael, is a popular Ob/Gyn who...more
The way the story was written you get to know the characters, as their backgrounds intertwine with their current lives.
Michael and Annie, and their two children; Annie is a bored housewife, who adores her children and her husband, Michael, is a popular Ob/Gyn who...more
Yes, this novel involves abortion and an extremist Right to Life Christian group. Yes, it involves a practicing ob/gyn who offers his services at a women's clinic on Saturdays and it also involves a manipulative, fundamentalist pastor.
And yet, in no way was I swept away by the controversial issues included in this story. It was the characters who I was immersed in, the dynamics which made them who they were and the journeys they took to get them to the point of this book.
Not only was this book...more
And yet, in no way was I swept away by the controversial issues included in this story. It was the characters who I was immersed in, the dynamics which made them who they were and the journeys they took to get them to the point of this book.
Not only was this book...more
Early on I found myself not caring about what happened to the characters. They weren't just deeply flawed, they were unlikable, every single one. I kept reading to see if any life lesson was going to turn even one into a better, likable person, or if something were to be revealed about a character which would mitigate their unlikability. Didn't happen. The ending was underwhelming and unsatisfactory. Don't bother.
Lets just sum up the real story here... I do not care for Elizabeth Brundage's writing! Plain and simple. I do not recommend her and would never suggest her books to anyone unless I want to put them through torture. The only reason this book received 2 stars instead of one was because of Lydia Haas. She plays a crazy wife and a good one at that. This book really touches on a sore subject in political talk. I believe that is what frustrated me the most of this book, the whole love affair was ente...more
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Lies, adultery, secrets...sin at it's finest. This book connected the lives of four people with boatloads of skeletons in their closets. A doctor who will stop at nohthing to do what he believes in, a woman so desperate with desire, a wife so completely naive and passionate, and an artist so riddled with guilt. This book takes you on an adventure and with every page you change your prediction of the end.
I didn't love this book, but I didn't hate it either. It is one of those books that starts off jumping back and forth between different characters, doing it's absolute best to confuse you and wonder how all of these characters are going to come together and relate to one another. The overall topic of this book is abortion; one of the most controversial topics. What I found very interesting about this book is that it didn't focus on the expectant mother's choice of abortion, but instead it was a...more
I did not care for this book. it was a relatively easy read, but Im afraid I may have not read it carefully towards the end. I have a few unanswered questions, but there's a chance I just blew over them. Was her article ever published? What happened to her baby? Why didn't Lydia see Simons car at the house when she arrived? Who stuffed their dog? Did the minister ever get his cat back? How did they find a new house and move when they were at the hospital all week? Where were they moving to and w...more
I didn't finish the book. I read it once a long time ago and I remember it taking me a while to weigh through but this time around, I just couldn't do it. The characters are flat. None of them have any moral likability about them which would be okay if there was a reason for it. Instead, there isn't one. The bad guys are bad because they're religious and the good guys (Although I really hesitate to call them that because they seem like equally horrible human beings) are good because they are the...more
Living in Wichita, KS. allows me to relate to the harassment and lunatics that abortion doctors endure. I am not saying I agree with abortion, quite the contrary, but I absolutely do NOT believe in killing or harassing someone who does. There are religious groups that do act as though they are the judge and jury and their actions, "In the name of Jesus Christ" appall me. Some reviewers feel that this representation in the book is far fetched, believe me it is not.
The Doctor's Wife is a very heav...more
The Doctor's Wife is a very heav...more
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Elizabeth Brundage holds an MFA from the prestigious Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where she received a James Michener Award. Before attending Iowa, she was a screenwriting fellow at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. She lives with her family in New York State.
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“Awkward interests me, he said. At least when you are feeling awkward you are always thinking. When you are feeling fabulous, for example, rare occurrence that it may be, you stop thinking altogether. Which gets you into all kinds of trouble. Hence, you are for the better off feeling awkward. Just the sound of it on your tongue. Like chewing on screws.”
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