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Healer

by Carol Cassella (Goodreads Author)

3.48 of 5 stars 3.48 · rating details · 700 ratings · 198 reviews

From national bestselling author Carol Cassella comes the story of one doctor’s struggle to hold her family together through a storm of broken trust and questioned ethics.Claire is at the start of her medical career when she falls in love with Addison Boehning, a biochemist with blazing genius and big dreams. A complicated pregnancy deflects Claire’s professional path, and...more

Hardcover, 304 pages

Published September 7th 2010 by Simon & Schuster (first published July 13th 2010)

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Sep 28, 2010 Kathryn rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, bets-on

This is really a 3.75...it was just a bit slow for me to give it a full 4. I loved Carol Cassella's first book Oxygen: A Novel and even wrote her to tell her so. This book has far less interesting facts about medicine instead focusing on a family learning to forgive and move on. It seemed to go over again and again what went wrong and focused slowly on the will to change. The ending was a bit unexpected and not a good flow into the story I thought...worth reading, but not as good as her first bo...more

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Jan 28, 2012 Diane rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-group

I almost don't know what to say about this book. (I'm in a list phase in my life right now).

1. Good writing - I wanted to keep reading, but at the same time I wasn't just driven to get to the book every minute of the day.

2. It is set in Washington state, which I loved.

3. The story was hard for me to read. Perhaps that's why I'm having a hard time settling down to write about it.

Enough list. I think of myself as enjoying most kinds of books. In particular I love historical novels and biography,...more

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Oct 15, 2011 Connie rated it 4 of 5 stars

I am rating this book with 4 stars because I felt that it was well written. I thought that the storyline that dealt with the plight of the migrant workers was excellent and was pleased that the author exposed the horrible conditions under which these unfortunate people live.

However, I was horrified by the acceptance of animal research. I have serious ethical concerns with this situation. My friends who are doctors have told me for decades that there is no longer a need for this horrendous practi...more

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Jul 16, 2011 Carla Ford rated it 5 of 5 stars

Claire is truly a healer, beginning with her own family. When her husband loses everything, keeping her in the dark about most of it, she and her daughter move to their second home in a remote area of Washington. This move is from a lavish, pretty much over the top lifestyle into a house that is barely heated. Claire goes back to work as a doctor in a health clinic, even though she has never really worked as a doctor, having left the profession when her daughter was born over fourteen years ago....more

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Apr 12, 2011 Beth rated it 4 of 5 stars

We live in a time when people who are making money live as if it will last forever. This story is an example of what can happen when the money disappears. Move to a smaller house? Luckily they had a second broken down house. Have the wife get a job? How fortunate that Claire had almost become a physician 14 years ago and could work at a clinic for the poor with a mentor Doctor. Learn what the poor have known about how to make it on less? Claire had to learn to shop in a thrifty manner and not bu...more

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Feb 06, 2011 Paul Pessolano rated it 3 of 5 stars

Carol Boehning gave up her career as a doctor because her husband, Addison, was on the verge of having a cutting edge cancer drug approved. Money was no object due to the number of investors and they, and their daughter , Jory, were living the good life.

Just before the drug was to be approved for human study a problem was discovered in the animal study. Investors disppear and so does the money. Addison is unable to find anyone who will provide financing to continue the study.

They must move from...more

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Oct 11, 2010 Jmm rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: recommend-for-some-readers

Healer, Carol Cassella's sophomore novel, is a solid family drama with an original storyline that is very in tune with today. Claire and Addison Boehning were one of Seattle's golden couples who went from struggling to rich almost overnight when Addison, a biochemist, discovered a way to test for ovarian cancer in its very early stages. They have one daughter, Jory, who is fourteen. When the book opens, Addison has invested and lost the family's home and savings in a new project that developed p...more Healer, Carol Cassella's sophomore novel, is a solid family drama with an original storyline that is very in tune with today. Claire and Addison Boehning were one of Seattle's golden couples who went from struggling to rich almost overnight when Addison, a biochemist, discovered a way to test for ovarian cancer in its very early stages. They have one daughter, Jory, who is fourteen. When the book opens, Addison has invested and lost the family's home and savings in a new project that developed problems in initial testing. The family has been forced to sell their home in Seattle and move into their unrenovated vacation home located in the mountains of eastern Washington. Claire is hunting for a job as a family physician, a profession she has never actually practiced as she was 3 months shy of completing her residency when Jory arrived prematurely. Unable to have any other children, Claire chose to stay at home with her one child rather than return to complete her residency and board certification. Unfortunately, that choice has left her with few options for locating a position from which to launch her medical career. She eventually takes the only position offered her as a doctor in nonprofit clinic for migrant laborers where the hours are long and the pay extremely low. Meanwhile, Addison is trying to drum up new investors so he can continue work on his project that already has cost him almost everything he owns.

As a practicing anesthesiologist, Cassella uses her professional knowledge and experience with the medical community to craft a very original plot that explores the way medical research is done in the United States. At the same time as Addison finds a wealthy investor who seems eager to provide new funding for Addison's project, Claire has discovered that some patients at her clinic, immigrant migrant workers, have been enrolled in clinical trials for another drug. Through these two situations, Cassella exposes some little known loopholes in clinical drug testing, as well as drawing a grim picture of the life of the migrant workers who pick the nation's crops. The author provides some aesthetic release to these clinical tensions with her lyrical portrayals of the rugged landscape.

While the medical plot proved sufficient to carry the novel, I sometimes found myself tiring of Claire's constant inner dialogue about her relationships with Addison and Jory and her constant flashbacks to Jory's infancy and childhood. The economic aspects of the family's situation produced the biggest weakness in the story as the parents seemed to have or not have money to pay for things based on whether or not it allowed the characters to do what the author wanted and not what their economic situation would dictate. I found these moments jarringly unrealistic and they left me unable to take Claire's character seriously. However, despite these flaws, Healer is an interesting novel which I recommend for fiction readers who enjoy medical and/or family drama.(less)

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Sep 14, 2010 Fredsky rated it 3 of 5 stars

I found the family in this book difficult to like. The father, a brilliant biochemist, has struck it rich and then struck out, as in out of money, homes, or even a $200 diamond necklace for the whiney kid Jory, who doesn't get it. And why should she get it, that her family is horribly, astoundingly broke overnight? It didn't happen overnight, of course, but the husband/father Addison has finally broken the news to Claire, that they now have nothing and have to sell everything else. Claire, an un...more

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Jul 16, 2010 Jan rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a novel following her first book,Oxygen. The author, Carol Cassella is an anesthesiologist in Seattle, WA and understands both medicine and the health care system.
The Healer of the title is Claire Addison. She is a doctor who hasn't practiced medicine in over 14 years. She has been wife to Addison and mother to now teen Jory. Addison is a biochemist. His invention of a blood test for ovarian cancer gives him fame and fortune. He risks it all on the development of another cancer drug. Whe...more

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Dec 10, 2010 Heather rated it 4 of 5 stars

Claire Boehning is dealing with a lot these days. After a disastrous complication with her husband Addison's new drug research, Claire and her small family are left financially destitute. This is a severe change, as in the days leading up to the disaster, Claire, Addison and their teenage daughter Jory lived a very expensive lifestyle. Now the family has sold their beautiful and spacious home in Seattle and moved to a small farmhouse in rural Washington. Addison is not deterred by these complica...more Claire Boehning is dealing with a lot these days. After a disastrous complication with her husband Addison's new drug research, Claire and her small family are left financially destitute. This is a severe change, as in the days leading up to the disaster, Claire, Addison and their teenage daughter Jory lived a very expensive lifestyle. Now the family has sold their beautiful and spacious home in Seattle and moved to a small farmhouse in rural Washington. Addison is not deterred by these complications and continues to seek funding for his new drug, flying to cities all over the country to meet with entrepreneurs who might be interested in backing him. This leaves Claire to struggle alone at the farmhouse with Jory during a blisteringly cold winter, a winter in which she cannot afford to purchase propane to heat the house. As Claire struggles to make ends meet, she hatches a plan to seek employment as a doctor in the nearby small town. But having given up her schooling after Jory's birth, Claire has not actually been certified as a doctor, and as such can only find work caring for the sick in an underfunded clinic that mainly treats migrant farm workers. Meanwhile, the relationship between Claire and Addison is deteriorating rapidly due to the anger and resentment Claire feels about Addison's financial mismanagement. In addition, issues begin to crop up with Jory, who is not only lonely in her new surroundings, but acting out as she sees her parents' marriage crumbling. In this timely and realistic tale, Cassella shows us the life of one family struggling under the financial burdens that so many today are facing.

Lately I've been avoiding the news and similar outlets where the financial crisis plays itself out day after day for public consumption. It's a hard time for everyone and I don't think I know one person who hasn't felt the crunch in one way or the other. I certainly know that our family has taken some major hits in the last two years, and like many, we haven't fully recovered. You would think that having this mindset, I wouldn't enjoy reading a story about a couple who has to watch it all slip away. In fact, I think Cassella does some very interesting things with this story that keep it not only right on target, but make it very easy to relate to, and sometimes just slides shyly away from making this story too uncomfortable for her readers.

First off, I think that there was something about Claire that made her very easy to understand emotionally for me. Though she wants to be kind and supportive of her husband and daughter, she's burning the candle at both ends and finds herself emotionally raw and frustrated much of the time. I could really relate to that, and though it's sad to say that money can cause this kind of devastation in a marriage, it is ultimately believable, especially the way Cassella portrays it. Part of the problem is that Addison hasn't been transparent when it comes to what has happened to his family's money. He's used their nest egg to bail out his fledgling company and didn't tell Claire what he was doing. This understandably upsets and frightens Claire, and although she loves her husband, there's a deep wound between them that continues to fester throughout the story. I can completely understand where she's coming from. To be blindsided and lose everything without a clue must have been maddening for her, and just what is she supposed to do about her teenage daughter? I felt a lot of anger toward Addison in this story. Although he's a likable enough fellow, I felt he betrayed his family to a startling degree, and couldn't imagine having to be in Claire's position. To forgive him would have been murderously hard for me.

Another main aspect of this story has to do with Claire's work at the clinic. Though she is qualified for the work, it's been many years since she's seen a patient and the language barrier is not the only problem she has when treating them. Many of them are almost destitute and live seasonally at farms across America, harvesting the fruits and vegetables that we see in the grocery store everyday. They're not only underprivileged but have to constantly worry about the border patrol that comes hunting for them. There's no safe place for them and they often go a startlingly long time without medical care. Claire's clinic is always overpopulated and understaffed, and finding a way to treat these people who seem to have no home base or ties to the community is almost impossible. Cassella does a great job of highlighting the problems that immigrants face in America today. It's not a black and white issue, but one with a lot of gradations and hues, and it's an issue that seems to be on the minds of many Americans right now. Cassella is sensitive to the immigrant population as a whole and paints a picture that most people don't think about when they seek to speak on immigration.

I think the part of the book that resonated most deeply with me was the financial struggle Claire and her family was going through, and what it ultimately did to the family relationships. Where Claire was almost irate and scared for the future, plowing ahead determinedly, Addison had his head buried in the sand and refused to see the consequences of his actions. Jory, on the other hand, begins to steal and lie to her parents. These are all very different reactions to the same stimuli but all very believable coping mechanisms. Each is trying to get by in a world that's been changed under them and each can't understand the reaction of the others. This creates confusion among them and the lack of communication between them only heightens this effect. Though I wanted to castigate some of them for the things they were doing, I ultimately realized that they were coping with a trauma, and like a trauma victim, there was no prescribed set of actions and reactions that I could pin them down to. Yes, there was passive-aggressiveness, there was open hostility, and there was secretiveness, but there was also a lot of compassion and understanding when things began to boil down to their basic elements. It was amazing to see the heartache and reconciliation between these three, but for me, the most startling thing to realize was that these people could be any of us. They didn't seem like creations to me but rather like fictional versions of people I might know.

I loved this book for its stark honesty with character creation and for the fact that it highlighted so beautifully one facet of today's economic disaster. In its quest to be relevant, it was also touching and believable in a way that not many other books on this subject have been to me. The book has a lot to say about many different issues and utilizes a great plausibility of character and situation in which to frame this often-told and familiar story. I think this book would appeal to many for various reasons and have to say I'm glad I got to spend the time with these very human characters. Recommended.(less)

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Oct 04, 2010 Diane rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Boehnings were a family who at one time had it all. A lakefront McMansion in Washington State, a vacation getaway in the mountains, and all the other material things that go hand in hand with success. Addison was a brilliant Bio Chemist, and his company made it big when he discovered a simple blood test to detect ovarian cancer. As the novel opens, Claire is moving into the Hallum, Washington vacation home which is in desperate need of updating, along with the couple's fourteen year old dau...more The Boehnings were a family who at one time had it all. A lakefront McMansion in Washington State, a vacation getaway in the mountains, and all the other material things that go hand in hand with success. Addison was a brilliant Bio Chemist, and his company made it big when he discovered a simple blood test to detect ovarian cancer. As the novel opens, Claire is moving into the Hallum, Washington vacation home which is in desperate need of updating, along with the couple's fourteen year old daughter Jory. Her husband, Addison, without Claire's knowledge, gambled their life savings and even their home on an experimental cancer drug, whose trial testings go badly.

How could Claire have been so blind? A bright woman in her own right, Claire was in her residency in medical school when a difficult pregnancy forced her to end her residency early. She spent the last fourteen years as a stay-at-home mom. Now she finds herself searching for work in the medical field. The only position she can find, without being board-certified, is a job at an understaffed clinic that serves primarily the indigent and the migrant worker population. Rusty in both skills, and Spanish, Claire works long hours to keep her family afloat while Addison searches for other backers in business.

Claire befriends a woman from Nicaragua who develops a bond with daughter Jory. The woman is not completely honest with Claire, and Claire soon learns a secret about what happened to the woman's daughter. The revelation brings up medical ethics issues, and this subplot becomes significant within the story.

I liked this story, but not quite as much as her first novel, Oxygen, which I loved. I felt angry at Addison for being secretive about family finances. While he was off traveling and trying to rebuild his career, Claire was left to deal with the aftermath. She had all the pressure and demands placed on her as a result of his bad decisions. Claire kept her cool and did what she needed to do to keep things as harmonious as possible given the circumstances. I doubt I would have acted in a similar manner. The title is significant, and, in my opinion, Claire was the true Healer in this story: herself, her family and others in need, in the process.

The author practices anesthesiology in Seattle, and her writing style reflects her knowledge in the field of medicine. The novel gives you much to think about regarding ethical issues, the ups and downs of a marriage, and child rearing. If you enjoy stories with a strong and sympathetic female protagonist, then this might be just the novel for you. RECOMMENDED (less)

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Jul 14, 2012 Julia rated it 5 of 5 stars

Claire is nearly finished with her medical training to be a doctor when she becomes pregnant and delivers early. So, she chooses to put her career on hold to be a stay at home mom.

In the meantime, her brilliant husband, a biochemist has made a breakthrough in medicine and they are suddenly finding themselves in the lap of luxury. They are enjoying all the things money can buy and not thinking about the cost. It is a good life. At about the time their daughter turns 12, husband takes a risky gamb...more

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Jun 24, 2011 Donna rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: first-reads, own

I would have to agree with the majority of other reviewers; the ending was severely lacking something..... Like Cassella reached page 290 and said "oh good, that's all I was contracted for, let me just slap on a one page conclusion and I'm done." I hate that. Granted, I'm not a big fan of the open ending, but it can be done in a way that is not so abrupt. As for the rest of the novel, it flowed (mostly) well, the story-line was engaging, and the characters were fleshed out well enough that I som...more

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Nov 29, 2010 C. rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

Healer
by Carol Cassella

Carol Cassella is an author and a practicing anesthesiologist. Healer is her second novel. Her first novel Oxygen was a national bestseller.

Claire's husband, Addison, is a biochemist who had succeeded in creating an ovarian blood cancer test, introducing his family into wealth and status. Unbeknown to Claire, he invested all he had in a new drug to cure cancer, that failed to pass the final research studies, sending them into unexpected financial loss, forcing them to sell...more

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Jul 25, 2011 Mary Torrey rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I won this book in a GoodReads giveaway. The plot intrigued me when I read the description in the giveaways section. The story is particularly pertinent in today's economy: a very wealthy family has to drastically downsize due to the husband's risky business venture. The family sells their home and moves to their vacation home in the mountains. Claire is forced to take a job as a physician in a medical clinic even though she never practiced medicine.
I enjoyed the minor characters more than the...more

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Dec 27, 2010 Laura Christie rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 01, 2012 Linda Bouley rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: new-beginnings, medical-issues, family-relationships

I loved Carol Cassella's first book, Oxygen & I though Healer was even better. Claire is married to Addison and they have a 14 year old, Jory. Claire is a doctor who gave up her career just short of finishing her residency to care for preemy Jory, made easier because Addison, a biochemist, has struck it rich with a test for ovarian cancer. When Addison moves on to his next cancer treatment research, everything falls apart. He has invested everything they have plus...to fund the work and, due...more

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Jul 09, 2011 Val Wilkerson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-books-read

I gave her other book Oxygen 5 stars because I enjoyed it more, however this also was
good. About a husband and wife who have a daughter, they have been living quite well, private
schools for the daughter, beautiful home in Seattle, club membership etc etc etc....and then the
money is gone, they have to sell the house & move into a very old house that they had purchased
for maybe a weekend cabin in a small town, Idaho I think. The mother had gone to medical school
but had not finished her residen...more

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Nov 16, 2010 Nette rated it 3 of 5 stars

As I get closer to (possible) retirement, my fondness for books about smug, well-off people who end up poor because of unwise financial decisions is starting to wane. I used to love these books in a totally mean, schadenfreudy way, but now they make me uneasy. This book is about a woman whose husband's pharma-based wealth vanishes, forcing her to move with her daughter to a decaying old house in the wilds of Washington and work at a rundown medical clinic (where, of course, she finds her true ca...more

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Oct 14, 2010 Tonya rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010-reads

I have mixed emotions about this book. I enjoyed the storylines between Claire and Addison, and the parent/child -- even when she goes looking for a job after losing all their money that Addison gambled away on their future with his new drug to help cure cancer, without her knowing it I might add! I mean who wouldn't enjoy a book like that.

However the family frustrated me because even when they didn't have money to spend, they spent it!

My main complaint is I really enjoyed the book until the en...more

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Sep 04, 2011 Trish rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

Well-written prose, multi-layered themes, realistic characters and contemporary social issues mixed in with the drama of recovering relationships and purpose after years of gradual withdrawal – these are the elements that make up Carol Cassella’s second novel, Healer. Like her first book, Oxygen, this story takes place in the world of medicine – not surprising since the author is also a practicing anesthesiologist.

I was quickly drawn into Claire’s story, which held my attention throughout. As we...more

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Jul 19, 2011 Kathy rated it 3 of 5 stars

I had a hard time getting into this book. I felt forced to stay with it at times, in hopes that it would pick up and start to reattract my attention. Cassella's is a good writer in the way she presents things but seems to rehash over and over the same things. The characters were interesting but the storyline and excitement came too late for me. I didn't feel that need to read more. I also felt that the writer never really experienced hardship, so she couldn't relate it to it too well. The way th...more

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Aug 10, 2011 Susan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

"Two circumstances cause Claire to not finish her medical residency program ; she gives birth to a daughter prematurely, who requires a lot of care and then her brilliant husband Addison's success in the biotechnical field makes them instant millionaires. Caught up in living a life of privilege, Claire's personal dreams fall by the wayside. Through a crisis in Addison's latest research, they literally lose everything, except their primitive vacation home, a rundown farmhouse in small town Hallum...more

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Oct 29, 2010 Kathy rated it 3 of 5 stars

I started out enjoying Healer, as I truly enjoyed Oxygen and was seeing some of Carol Cassella's same writing style and character formation. For me, however, the story didn't rivet me and make me want to stay up late to finish. I found I wasn't as concerned about the main family in the story, the Boehnings, as I liked the doctor Dan and his wife Evelyn. I felt them more pure, while it was a miracle the Boehnings stayed together with such frayed interests. (or perhaps, that was the point!) Regard...more

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Jun 26, 2011 Denise rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: first-reads

4.0 out of 5 stars What's left when you've lost it all?

This second novel by medical doctor Carol Cassella explores the answer to the question -- what is left when you've lost all your material possessions, your home, your reputation, and your previous world of friends and social interaction? The answer lies, for these characters, in the rustic, rural former vacation home they never renovated, in a small town in Hallum, Washington. What remains is simple: hard work and love.

Claire is a stay-at-ho...more 4.0 out of 5 stars What's left when you've lost it all?

This second novel by medical doctor Carol Cassella explores the answer to the question -- what is left when you've lost all your material possessions, your home, your reputation, and your previous world of friends and social interaction? The answer lies, for these characters, in the rustic, rural former vacation home they never renovated, in a small town in Hallum, Washington. What remains is simple: hard work and love.

Claire is a stay-at-home mom to teen-aged Jory (the only child she can have, born prematurely) when her husband Addison, a wildly successful biochemist who had made them rich by discovering a test to diagnose ovarian cancer early, gambles their entire financial portfolio on a new anti-cancer drug he's trying to bring to market. Almost ready for FDA approval, lab data from clinical trials is suspicious, and the fledgling research venture folds along with Addison's integrity. Gone is all the money they had received from Addison's former triumph, and they have to sell their house and possessions and relocate to Hallum while Addison goes begging at medical conventions for investors in the project he can't give up.

Meanwhile, Claire -- who was almost done with residency when Jory arrived early -- needs a job to feed herself and her daughter. Because she's not board certified, she takes the only job she's offered -- in a free clinic for migrant workers run by an aging physician, Dr. Dan Zalaya. The position pays little, and Claire is nervous and anxious about actually working as a doctor again and has also a little difficulty with translating the patients' complaints from Spanish since she doesn't speak the language. She is forced to be a single parent to Jory and works long hours in the barely funded clinic. This was the best part of the novel for me, watching Claire develop her confidence in the art of practicing medicine, being the "healer" as doctora to these migrant workers. I loved the interactions between her and the patients, and between her and the staff at the clinic. It painted a bleak picture of the life of the illegal immigrants and it felt to me that Claire was getting back some of her self esteem.

A constant irritant in the book was the teenage daughter Jory, whom I could not stand. I realize that many teenagers are self absorbed and narcissistic, but the amount of patience that Claire had to use to deal with her defied my tolerance level. I just couldn't stand Jory's character and in my view she never redeemed herself or grew up any in the book. Addison was shallow and also selfish -- forging ahead with his dream when he should have taken a bench lab job to provide for his family. I saw him, who had basically stolen away the family fortune without ever discussing it with his wife, as a complete failure as husband and father. I also couldn't understand where the money to buy the food and pay the other bills was coming from as they were buying jewelry and food and paying utilities on only Claire's meager salary. Despite these discordant notes, the narrative moved along hopefully as the family tiptoes around each other trying to work their way back to being a unit and the loving trio they once had been.

Then, for some reason, the last part of the book attempts to set up a mystery using a Nicaraguan refugee with a lost daughter. This part of the novel fell flat and seemed tacked on, but other than that - the story moves to a conclusion that is somewhat satisfying. There is redemption of a sort, and the restoration of trust -- though hard won -- and above all, there is love. (less)

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Sep 18, 2010 Christine rated it 5 of 5 stars

I picked this up this morning when I woke at 7:30am and couldn't leave my bed for the next four hours until I'd finished. I read Cassella's earlier novel and enjoyed it too. but this one grabbed me, perhaps as I reflected on my prior life in Washington, where this story takes place. The main character has to remake her life and rethink the story of her marriage after a change in financial and career fortunes for her husband. Such forced, unexpected structural changes in one's life are not easy t...more

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Sep 27, 2011 Bookbabe rated it 5 of 5 stars

Well done! After her great start with “Oxygen,” I had high hopes for Healer, and I wasn’t disappointed. The story is gripping even though there is very little action, and the relationships are strong, supportive, difficult and heartbreaking all at the same time. I was completely drawn in by the story and the characters, and the writing is elegant – a word I don’t use often to describe popular literature. And while the story ended before I thought it would, I can see why the author left it there...more

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Jul 07, 2011 LuAnn rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: first-reads

I was quite taken by this story. First off, because I live in central Washington, I recognized the area the author talks about as the setting for this book. I also appreciated the struggle the main character had to go through when she had to go back to work after living the dream life with her husband and young daughter. She suddenly finds herself having to support her family, but years of being off the payroll means it’s very difficult to find suitable employment. I also dealt with this when my...more

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Feb 16, 2011 Carol rated it 4 of 5 stars

I've added Carol Cassella to my favorite authors list. I had read and loved Cassella's debut novel, Oxygen and hoped that this book would live up to the first. I am pleased to say if anything, Healer is better. Cassella is a practicing anesthesiologist. This gives her a lot of insight to the medical world and health care issues. These are blended throughout Healer in a way that draws the reader in. Her characters are interesting studies of people who seem so real that you might know them. Her ex...more

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Sep 24, 2011 Marlene marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Although I won this Goodreads giveaway in late spring/early summer, I have not yet received it. I do, however, look forward to reading it. I love the theme of revisiting values and character that I am reading in the reviews. Sometimes "life happens," and we just need to acknowledge that "it is what it is" and do whatever is neceessary to move on. Easier said than done, and a process that demands action without corresponding feeling. I suspect this is probably why one review expressed some vascil...more

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About Carol Cassella

Carol Cassella, M.D. is a practicing physician and national bestselling author of two novels, Oxygen (2008) and Healer (2010), both published by Simon & Schuster and translated into more than a dozen languages. She majored in English Literature at Duke University and attended Baylor College of Medicine. Carol is board certified in both internal medicine and anesthesiology, and practiced primar...more

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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7887990-healer?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348461446l/7887990.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7887990-healer?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Healer by Carol Cassella[/url]

Healer

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