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Remedies
by
Kate Ledger (Goodreads Author)
A captivating new voice in women's fiction delves into the haunted past of a physician's seemingly perfect marriage.
Simon and Emily Bear look like a couple that has it all. Simon is a respected doctor. His wife, Emily, shines as a partner in a premier public relations firm. But their marriage is scarred by hidden wounds. Even as Simon tends his patients' ills, and Emily sp...more
Simon and Emily Bear look like a couple that has it all. Simon is a respected doctor. His wife, Emily, shines as a partner in a premier public relations firm. But their marriage is scarred by hidden wounds. Even as Simon tends his patients' ills, and Emily sp...more
Hardcover, 384 pages
Published
August 20th 2009
by Putnam Adult
(first published August 7th 2009)
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Intriguing book with a fantastic plot. The characters are a bit hard to latch onto and I was definitely reading more for the story itself rather than because I cared what happened to the people. They were quite unsympathetic despite the tragedy they experienced. Actually I do think Simon’s lack of likeability works because he is buyable as a megalomaniac so his actions make sense in the context of his character. Anyway, despite characters that you would never want to hang out with, I still loved...more
This is a striking picture of a marriage gone very wrong, nominally stemming from the death of an infant child fifteen years before. However,there is a strong sense that the marriage would be just as off-track even if the child had lived a normal life. I don't much like one of the main characters, Emily, who is not particularly sympathetic, but I wholly dislike the other, her husband Simon,a doctor who envisions himself as his patients' hero. What an ego - how self-important, self-centered, a...more
I was lucky enough to win an advanced copy of this book from the First Reads program on GoodReads. This is the debut novel for Kate Ledger, and I hope it won't be her last. This story is reminiscent of Ordinary People in it's focus on a family dealing with a personal tragedy. but it adds a modern spin involving two strong career professionals grappling with this challenge.
The first scene in the book arrives with graphic clarity. It might put off some readers, but in those first few...more
The first scene in the book arrives with graphic clarity. It might put off some readers, but in those first few...more
A well-written and compelling debut novel about a physician who deludes himself into thinking that his egotistical desire to discover a cure for pain is driven by his love for his patients. The doctor's wife, a public relations exec, has an affair with a former lover as a way of dealing with her floundering marriage and the loss of a first child. The couple's second child, an unhappy and unlovable teen, brings the situation to a crisis. There is quite a bit of detail about the husband's medical ...more
Denise
rated it
Recommends it for:
Everyone
Recommended to Denise by:
GoodReads Giveaway
Shelves:
first-read,
drama
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I was lucky to receive an Advance Reader's Copy of this book and I really liked it. Emily Bear is an executive with a public relations firm, who is very involved with her new lover, Will. Her husband, Simon, thinks that he has discovered a miracle medicine that would cure all pains, and he begins using it on his patients without the research that such a drug would normally go through. Their teenage daughter, Jamie, is struggling to find herself and in need of attention. Unfortunately, both o...more
This is not a book of many events and actions, but it is about relationships and how they can be ruined by people not being themselves and not showing their true selves. It was a slower read, but it became more gripping in the middle when the wife (Emily) shared the story of her infant son's death. It was such an emotionally devastating event to Emily and Simon. It was interesting to read about the dynamics of the Bear family and how each one of them avoids each other and refuses to invest in...more
Just had a great book club visit from Kate Ledger to discuss her book. I read this twice, and it just grew more multi-faceted. So many layers, so many nuances. Remedies discusses healing on many levels - from physical, emotional pain - families, over generations and the pain we keep inside and the pain we share, as well as that pain which wears us down physically and grinds our life away. Fascinating descriptions of the medical issues of pain, discovery, medication, etc. Lovely, almost poetic de...more
This was a hard one to review and I wish I could have given it 3.5 stars. I wanted to love this book--the author's children go to preschool with my sons and she seems like a nice person--but in the end I liked it.
The story follows the Simon and Emily Bear, a married couple with a teenage daughter. Before their daughter was born, they had a son who died when he was six weeks old and they never dealt with the pain of that loss. Simon is a doctor obsessed with healing his patie...more
The best thing about Kate Ledger’s Remedies is masterful character development. Especially a pathetically self-righteous, self-congratulatory doctor who needs constant reassurance of his self-worth from everyone around him. It’s really hard to like anyone in this book including his wife and his daughter, but it didn’t bother me at all. It was very interesting to read how these characters think and act. Totally believable. That’s the beauty of Ledger’s skillful writing. She has a true talent not ...more
I received this book as an ARC from Penguin Books. This is Kate Ledger's first novel and the book hits stores today, August 20, 2009.
Although this was a little slow in the beginning, it did become hard to put down towards the end of the book. Rather than chapters, the author used 5 Parts to divide the story, jumping between Simon and Emily's character as the story was told. As a reader, I like to have little breaks in the story, where if I need to put it down, I know I can finish a chapte...more
Although this was a little slow in the beginning, it did become hard to put down towards the end of the book. Rather than chapters, the author used 5 Parts to divide the story, jumping between Simon and Emily's character as the story was told. As a reader, I like to have little breaks in the story, where if I need to put it down, I know I can finish a chapte...more
I also received this as an Advanced Copy and for the most part I enjoyed it. Getting into the book was a bit slow, but once I got into it I really wanted to know how their crisis was going to be resolved. I found both of the main characters to be very believable and, although, flawed, selfish and sometimes stupid, forgivable.
Simon, or Dr. Bear, has a successful physician's practice in Baltimore. He claims to work "only for the patients", but his wife suspects that he works ...more
Simon, or Dr. Bear, has a successful physician's practice in Baltimore. He claims to work "only for the patients", but his wife suspects that he works ...more
Here's the funny thing: I picked the hardcover edition up at Big Lots for $.50 (really) and realized after I started reading it that I had already read it. I think I checked it out of the library a couple of years ago. So, was it just not memorable or is my aging brain forgetting huge chunks of time spent? Anyway, I decided I am going to reread to answer that question, even if I just skim the thing. Will revisit a review later, stay tuned!
I loved reading this book and was sad when it was over. The story and characters in Remedies are totally engaging - complex, tragic, funny, unique. Kate Ledger's deep understanding of human nature and incredible story-telling skills are really what makes this book special. This is a fantastic book club choice ... there are so many facets of the book to discuss and analyze as well as many issues that touch on one's own experience. I can't wait to read it again!
This was a Goodreads Giveaway win.
I dislike books that 1) Have lengthly descriptions of meaningless things and 2) Throw around big words and long narrations about topics that a normal person does not know/care about. This book did both of these things in the first few pages (Description about eating an apple on page 7 and narrative of medical terms on page 24). That almost immediately turned me off (not to mention the somewhate graphic first two pages which seemed completely unnece...more
I dislike books that 1) Have lengthly descriptions of meaningless things and 2) Throw around big words and long narrations about topics that a normal person does not know/care about. This book did both of these things in the first few pages (Description about eating an apple on page 7 and narrative of medical terms on page 24). That almost immediately turned me off (not to mention the somewhate graphic first two pages which seemed completely unnece...more
Not only was this an exceptionally well-written book, but I went to college with the author, and she's a sweetheart, too! Great character development (although you may not like the characters), and beautifully crafted prose. The story of a narcissistic and naive doctor, his repressed wife, and their sullen daughter. The family is wounded by a past tragedy. Won't give anything else away.
What can't we see, maybe especially when it's right in front of us? I loved the many sides of Simon and Emily Bear as we see them in crisis, along with glimpses of their past selves. The scenes with simon's parents are particularly poignant. The book is filled with small, lasting details, like teeth that recall a picket fence. I wanted more at the end. A very rewarding read!
I really wanted to love this book. However, I just couldn't like the characters, they were all so fake to me. The middle part of this book is so good it makes the first half and the last half so boring! And the end!! Is there going to be more to the story? It just cut off. I want to know what happens! The chapters were too long, spending too much time on one person and then switching us back to the other after such a long time. Overall, I loved the middle of this book, but the rest was just okay...more
Writing was decent but could not overlook gaping holes in research storyline. I work in biomedical research and have for many years so maybe my low ranking is unfair as the story wasn't about regulatory compliance. If there had just been a little bit of acknowledgment of the clinical trial rules, probably would have rated higher.
This novel centered around an unraveling family, haunted by an event that happened early in their unity. I liked how the book was written but didn't particularly like the main characters--husband and wife. They were arrogant and unfeeling and I found myself annoyed with them throughout the book.
I picked this up because I thought I had read a good review of it in the New Yorker or something. About 20 pages in I realized I must have been mistaken. The writing felt like something I remembered from a high school creative writing class. Would have been one star but I'm feeling charitable.
I received Remedies as a book from a contest. I like Kate Ledger's writing style and I thought the concept of a medication to help patient's pain was interesting. I wish she had delved in to that a little more. I thought the ending was a little abrupt, but I did like the characters.
Just a so-so book about a marriage in crisis. I didn't find either of the main characters likeable, and some of the plot lines just didn't seem plausible. In addition, this book could have benefited from some fact checking - the town is 'Glen Burnie' and not 'Glenburnie'.
I could not put this book down! The suspense builds as family tension escalates. Several sub plots weave together in unexpected ways. Unpredictable and well written, I give this book 5 stars and will recommend it to all my friends.
I am looking forward to the next!
I am looking forward to the next!
This was an interesting story. I liked that the author switched off and on the narration on each chapter, giving each spouse the chance to show the story from their perspective. The parts about their first child were heartbreaking (probably especially so since I have a young child, who happened to have a cold while I was reading this). Parts of it seemed predictable, but not overly so.
This book deals with pain in all its manifestations: the emotional pain of a dissolving marriage and physical chronic pain. The author brings a fresh perspective to the subject; recommended for book clubs, too!
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The main characters were so thoroughly unlikeable that I didn't really care to spend this much time with them. The book is well written and constructed, though. I would read another book by this author.
I'd really like to give this 1.5 stars. I didn't find the characters particularly interesting and the storyline was sort of boring to me. I sort of just hoped I would finish it quickly. 2 out of my 6 Goodreads friends have already read this, but I wouldn't recommend it to the rest of you.
I love books about medical issues; this one is quite good! I learned much about pain and healing both emotional and physical. I found the ending moving.
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