Gabriella Montini’s physician father left ten years ago to complete his encyclopedia of diseases. Prohibited by the Guild of Physicians to practice medicine because her mentor is gone, Gabriella is forced to cross Europe in search of him. “It was then I knew I must set my life in motion or disappear.” So begins her quest to find her father. Accompanied by faithful Olmina and Lorenzo, more family to her than her own mother, she sets off loaded with provisions, satchels, her medicine chest and her father’s letters. She resolves not only to find her father, but also to unearth diseases and cures hitherto unknown to the Doctor’s Guild. The adventure morphs into her road to self-discovery and affirmation.

The concept of a sixteenth century woman doctor begs for our attention. That she would trek across Germany, Holland, France, Scotland and into Morocco activates our interest. The author braids correspondence, travelogue and Renaissance medical practice into her debut novel. Period detail abounds. The book has moments of lush, lyrical writing. “Outside the sunlight bled from the red-tiled roofs and left them ashen.” Sometimes lumbering, sometimes full of marvels, the book lacks consistency and meanders, perhaps a reflection of Gabriella’s travels.

Award-winning poet, Regna O’Melveny, steps into the historical fiction circle with her debut novel, The Book of Madness and Cures. Extensive travels in India contributed to her research. A Renaissance woodblock engraving of the human anatomy, which would have inspired doctors of that time, was a stimulus to write the book.

Maps and an interactive reading guide may be found on the author’s website.

Little, Brown and Company graciously supplied the review copy for my unbiased opinion.

Reviewed by Holly Weiss, author of Crestmont