The Heart Specialist

by Claire Holden Rothman

Set in Quebec at the turn of the 20th century, The Heart Specialist is the epic story of Agnes White, a lonely orphaned girl fascinated by the "wrong" things—microscopes, dissections, and anatomy instead of more ladylike interests—who rises to the status of one of the world's most celebrated pioneering women doctors. Not only does she break through patriarchal academic barriers; she masters the science of the human heart, becoming a scholar of international fame, all in a place and time inimical to intelligent women.

When Agnes is small, her father, a French-Canadian doctor living in Montreal, is charged with the murder of his handicapped sister. Although he is eventually acquitted, his reputation is ruined, and he flees, abandoning Agnes and her pregnant mother. Less than a year later, her mother dies of consumption, leaving Agnes and her baby sister Laure on their own. Agnes's sparse memories of her father have an abiding impact on her, and she is determined to find him, as well as to follow in his footsteps as a doctor, even though medical schools in Canada are closed to women at the time. She eventually gets her degree and finds a niche for herself as the curator of the McGill University pathology museum. But even as her professional star rises, her life is solitary and her happiness remains incomplete because of her missing father. One of the only clues in her quest to find him is a strange, misshapen heart that teaches her an invaluable lesson about love. Agnes ultimately must recognize that though she's a world-reknowned expert on the human heart, she still doesn't understand the her own.

Inspired by the career of Maude Abbott, one of Canada's first female physicians, The Heart Specialist is a novel about the mysterious, painful journey into selfhood.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Canada, Book Club, Historical, Novels, Medical

325 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2009

About the author

Claire Holden Rothman is a Montreal writer who taught literature at Marianopolis College for many years and headed the advanced fiction workshop at McGill University. She now makes her living translating and adapting scripts for television. She has also translated literary works, including the first novel written in French Canada, Philippe Aubert de Gaspé’s 19th century classic Le chercheur de trésors (The Influence of a Book), for which she won the John Glassco Translation Award. Claire’s own fiction publications include two collections of stories (Salad Days; Black Tulips) and a novel, The Heart Specialist.

Reviews

[DeB · Rating 4 out of 5]

Long listed for the Giller Prize in 2009, The Heart Specialist is meaty historical fictional based closely on Maude Abbott, Canada's first female physician and an eminent pathologist. Factually, the story is about as close to true as one can get but the license of fiction definitely gave Claire Rothman liberty to bring her characters to life in the late 19th Century. The path to become educated at a university, in this story with Agnes White, was a fight and in Montreal, McGill University was highly reluctant to allow women to enrol in any classes. I very much appreciated learning about this little known female pioneer in the field of medicine in Canada's history, even though she was lightly disguised as Agnes White and found the novel to be well-rounded and charming.

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love Story Entwined with Medical History

This is a sweet story about a woman’s journey to becoming a doctor near the turn of the 20th century. Of course there’s a love story that accompanies it. The settings are wonderful starting in Montreal, where Agnes’ family home overlooks the St. Lawrence, dipping into New England and on to England and France. Rothman does a good job giving a feel for these places, especially Montreal and Calais. The medical information is also entertaining as Agnes’ ambition fuels her desire for knowledge which helps her get over multiple obstacles. Ultimately though the book falls short. The love story was silly; one important plot device made no sense and the ending was anti-climatic. I rated 3 out of 5 stars because I wanted to keep picking the book up each day, in fact I think a young girl who’s considering a medical career would find this book compelling.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

What I liked was the plain language and the dramatic pull of the plot. The Heart Specialist was believably Victorian. The view point character, Agnes, was likeable. Her very quiet romance with Jacob provided enough suspense to keep things going even though it was a little hard to believe anyone so bright as Agnes, could be so blind for so long to her subordinate's feelings. It was also disappointing that while the author did a grand job of exposing the prejudice of McGill toward prospective female med students, she seemed to overlook completely any examination of the hardships a woman doctor might experience in securing and sustaining a practice once certified. There is little or nothing about the state of medical science and technique at the turn of the century. Agnes attains some distinction as a research assistant and curator of a medical museum, but the book chooses to focus almost exclusively on her quests for the affections of a prominent doctor and a reunion with the father that deserted her. Maybe it isn't fair to bemoan the book's missed opportunities when it handles so well the subjects it sets out to explore. Or maybe it is.

[Juliana Philippa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars | Grade: B-

I looked briefly up from my notes. I was surrounded by hearts, sectioned and preserved. Hearts with holes. Hearts with leaking valves or thickened walls. Hearts with narrow or transposed aortas. I closed my eyes.

Summary. The Heart Specialist is the story of Agnes White, a young woman who becomes one of the first female doctors in Canada in the early 1900s. It's inspired by Maude Abbott's career, who was in fact one of Canada's first female physicians. The book follows Agnes from her childhood in the 1870s to after the end of World War I in 1919. Agnes's father was a highly esteemed doctor who, because of a scandal, left his family in the middle of the night and disappeared when Agnes was only 5. Her mother was pregnant with her younger sister, Laure, and died not long after giving birth, leaving Agness and Laure to be raised by their maternal grandmother.

Agnes's life is shaped by the ghost of her father and she follows his footsteps into the field of medicine. She has a passion for it and is a brilliant student, but it is difficult gaining access to the appropriate education, let alone respect once she manages to get there. Throughout it all, the absence of her father is deeply felt and when she meets Dr. Howlett, an esteemed physician whom her father mentored, she latches on to this last connection she has to him.

As the years pass, Agnes is slowly recognized for her work and she repeatedly shows herself to be an excellent doctor and student of the human body. She has a profound understanding of the heart in particular and while the organ has been the focus of her studies, its metaphorical counterpart seems to remain almost a complete mystery to her up until the end.

Reaction. The tone of this novel is bittersweet. We do see Agnes advance in her career and eventually gain the respect she deserves, but her path to that end is littered with difficulties, many having to do with her relationships (or lack thereof) with others. There is such an overwhelming sense of missed opportunity in this novel and of wasted time; not only with Agnes, but with many of the characters—Laure, Jakob, Miss Skerry, and others. Though as Miss Skerry wisely points out:

"You must have learned by now, Agnes, that it's not possible to judge a life from the outside," she said. Her voice had an edge. "One inevitably gets it wrong."

As our main character and narrator, we feel this the most strongly though with Agnes. The book covers such a broad period of her life and in the end, while she has found her place professionally and has just begun to finally find her footing emotionally in her personal life, the entirety of it has a sense of tragedy or lacking to it. There is so much loneliness over the years and her focus often blinded her to all else.

Though Agnes herself expresses much the same sentiment, she does so at a relatively early point in her journey, on page 100, a couple of years after having graduated from medical school:

I had achieved my dream, but what had it brought? Wealth? I glanced at my dress, worn too many days now without washing, and at the patched cloak bunched under my arm. Renown? I'd been a celebrity in my student days, but since then I might as well have died. Happiness? My eyes pricked with tears. The day I received my degree I thought my life would be completely altered. I had entered the forbidden land of my father. Nothing would ever be the same. But in truth nothing happened. I remained plain old Agnes White, no richer or more famous or happier than before.

For the most part I found Agnes to be a strong narrator and I liked her voice in the story, but her attachment and worship of Dr. Howlett became difficult to bear as she grows older, and it made me think less of her at times. We do clearly see what he represents in her life though, and Rothman does a good job of making us feel her desperation, her passionate desire for some type of connection to her father, a man who has become larger than life in her mind and whose absence has more of an effect that I'm sure his presence ever would have.

The most aching and bittersweet regret I felt was most definitely over her relationship with Jakob, her assistant. While she was utterly blind, he let so much time slip away instead of being direct and forcing her to realize what was right in front of her. There is such starkness to the story, though there were also times with of angst and complications. It is what I would call a quiet story, but it is nonetheless engaging and I read the last hundred pages or so in one sitting even though I had meant to put the book down and finish it later.

We are given a sense of closure at the end of The Heart Specialist, for which I was grateful, but I was also impressed by how the end also in many ways felt like a beginning to something else. Much happens in the final section—it is something of an emotional whirlwind—but we're then given a chance to catch our breath and see the new landscape and where things have now settled. We're with Agnes for only her first few steps as she moves forward, but this gives the ending a feeling of promise, of a new direction for her. In many ways, it's happier than any other part of the book; I felt like finally—finally—Agnes had woken up to so many things, and instead of starting on a new page, she's about to start on a whole new book.

One of My Favorite Quotes:

Happiness is a strange thing. It is something I tend to recognize only after it has passed, when I realize I miss it.

This review is of an ARC provided by the Amazon Vine Program.
Reviewed on Fiction Vixen Book Reviews on October 23, 2011.

[Bikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of Agnes White - an orphan raised by her grandmother who is determined to follow in the footsteps of her father (a renowned doctor who left her as a child after being accused of murder) even though medical schools are closed to women. The book follows the story of Agnes through the years and shows her hardships and successes as she continues looking for her father - the one missing piece in her life.

I really enjoyed this book. I fell in love with Agnes and her story from the first few pages and stayed up late to finish it. I thought the author did a wonderful job of painting Agnes and showing us both her strengths and weaknesses in a way that made sense. Overall a really delightful read.

[Wendy Darling · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed the beginning of this book, which is inspired by the true story of one of Canada's first female physicians. The descriptions of Agnes dissecting squirrels in a barn and such were pretty intriguing, especially if you're at all interested in biology or forensics. It was also interesting to read about the obstacles placed in the way of female education during the 19th century, even at well-respected universities, and I really liked much of the writing, which felt unexpectedly nuanced and contemplative in many places.

I squinted into the sunlight, blurring the governess's small, oval face against the backdrop of leaves until her grin, like that of Lewis Carroll's cat, was the only thing I could see.

About halfway through the novel, however, things began to lose a little bit of steam and the story no longer engaged me as much as it did earlier. It began to feel a little less intimate and involved, and more like a dry biography rather than a really good work of historical fiction. I was surprised by change, since until that point I was very much enjoying the story.

Still, for those who are interested in Canadian history, women's history, or medicine, this could prove to be a rewarding look at this period in history.

An advance copy was provided by the publisher for this review.

[Serena.. Sery-ously? · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peccato si perde un po' nell'ultima parte, è frettoloso e secondo me non mantiene le promesse fatte sul tipo di storia, ma è comunque un'ottima ed interessante lettura che mi sento di consigliare!

Popsugar Reading challenge: A book set in Victorian times

Around the year in 52 books: 2 books with the same word in the title - Book 1

The 52 books club challenge: A book based on a real person

[Merrill Matthews · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a nice, easy read. The flow of it was really good. I was a bit underwhelmed by it but it had my attention throughout. I’d be curious to see more of this author’s work, and I did enjoy very much how it was set in Montreal in the 19th century.

[Kymm · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Heart Specialist by Claire Holden Rothman is loosely based on a true life woman Maude Abbott, who became one of the first female doctors in Montreal, Canada. From the time she was a child she's always had a fascination with the odd, strange and mystifying world of anatomy. Even going so far as setting up her own lab, on the outskirts of the home where she lived with her grandmother. She practiced on small rodents and insects to learn what made them work. Her father, a renowned physician who found himself embroiled in controversy had left her when she was only four, but she always wanted to do what he'd done in the medical field. The story explains the difficulty she had trying to be taken seriously and even the lengths she went to to get into medical school, where in the late 1800's was not open to women. She is a woman on a mission and won't take no for an answer. She does finally get into school and becomes a force to be reckoned with. She out does all her male counterparts and soars to the top of the national and international stage with her work. However, throughout her esteemed career and notoriety she's always wondering what happened to her father and where he is now. In setting up her new lab she finds a heart that has serious anatomical problems and discovers this is a tie to her father. After many years of important work, speeches, books and world wide attention she just can't let go of her father and the impact he had on her young life. The story follows her life and the lengths she's gone to to become one of the top doctors in the world, while trying to solve the mystery of her father's disappearance and whereabouts. I found this to be an important read and I'm always up for reading a story about a real person, of course this is fiction, so it's not exactly her story, but close enough for me. I love reading about women in the medical field at the turn of the century and the lengths they went to to become recognized in medicine. Well, this woman sure left her mark. Very interesting, I couldn't put it down and after reading all she had to go through just to be accepted by her male counterparts makes me so thankful for all these pioneering women who've come before me. Where would we be without all their hard work and persistence? This was an important read for me and when I chose it I'd never heard of Maude Abbott or as she's named in the book Agnes White, but the topic piqued my interest and I'm so glad I read it. It's historical fiction, but it's so much more. It's open and honest, real and important and I think anyone with an interest in the early days of medicine or women who did what was necessary to be taken seriously would love it. I say read this one, it's great! Happy Reading!

[(P)Ila · Rating 5 out of 5]

Canada, 1800: ispirata alla vera storia di Maude Abbot, una delle prime dottoresse canadese, “La specialista del cuore” è entrato immediatamente tra le letture più belle di quest'anno.

E' un libro che ho divorato e letteralmente adorato, la storia è interessante già di per sé ma a renderla così coinvolgente dal mio punto di vista è stata la protagonista:
Agnes è una personaggio eccezionale: ha un carattere forte ma sotto sotto molto sensibile, ha costanza e intelligenza, è curiosa e tenace ed ha una forza di volontà incredibile che la porterà ad affrontare una società dura e spietata verso le donne “capaci” e vogliose di sapienza e indipendenza.

La sua è una storia curiosa e particolare che andremo a scoprire piano piano in ogni sua fase: la conosciamo all'età di cinque anni, la sera che viene abbandonata dal padre, la vediamo crescere con la nonna materna e appassionarsi alla natura e al mondo animale trovando un appoggio sicuro nell'amorevole governante, la vediamo riuscire negli studi e avere la possibilità di entrate all'università, la vediamo incuriosirsi vero quell'organo umano senza cui non potremmo mai vivere e che l'aiuterà a cercare quel padre diventato ormai famoso per uno scandalo...mi fermo qui perchè dovete leggerlo per scoprire tutto il resto!

A parte la protagonista che mi ha colpita particolarmente c'è da dire che la parte sentimentale mi ha del tutto coinvolta: non potete capire Jakob e Agnes che coppia! Ho adorato l'orso burbero e chiuso di Jakob appena è entrato in scena, ho tifato per loro dall'inizio percependo da subito la loro attrazione fisica e mentale! Davvero adorabili e soprattutto per niente mielosi!

Non mi resta che consigliarvelo caldamente, sono sicura che appassionerà ognuno di voi sapere di questa grande donna che ha avuto il coraggio di sfidare la società e crearsi da sola il suo destino.

[Sharron · Rating 3 out of 5]

The was a good read, just not what I expected. I thought I was going to get historical fiction and instead, more an examination of loss and obsession. Certainly there were historical details, and you get a glimpse into the battle for women to become doctor's in the late 1800s in Canada, just not enough. Still a good story.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a well-written book with a great storyline and a fast pace. I loved the main character, Agnes. But, I didn't love the ending. With all the build up of the situation with the father, I found the end to be somewhat disappointing.

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this story about Agnes White who was one of the first woman doctors in Canada. The story starts in the late 1800's and includes history of World War I and the Spanish Flu as well as women trying to take a place in a man's world.

[Sebaloo · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Jennifer Holmes · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fictional story inspired by Dr. Maude Elizabeth Seymour Abbott, one of Montreal’s first female physicians.

[Liam Nguyen · Rating 2 out of 5]

yeah no

[Holly Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the writing style and enjoyed the story. It’s almost hard to believe the conditions and hardships our female ancestors endured. It’s interesting to see how far we’ve come, and how far we still have to go, for gender quality.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loosely based on the life of Maude Abbott (1869 - 1940), one of Canada's first female doctors, The Heart Specialist is very well-written historical fiction. Rothman is a fine story-teller, and I found the subject matter fascinating: turn of the century medicine and how women's growing part in the field was facilitated by all of the males going off to war. I was thoroughly drawn into the story, and found the characters credible and well-developed. The growing field of cardiology was fueled by physicians' case studies, autopsies, and the study of hearts preserved and studied for their anomolies. Physicians observed correlations between heart sounds heard through their stethescopes and the defects discovered in these hearts after their patients died. At this point in time, their skills were primarily in diagnosis, as treatment was virtually non-existant. I enjoyed following Agnes White through her education and career as museum curator, instructor, and finally esteemed physician. The compromises and sacrifices she chose to make in this pursuit as well as her very survival in such difficult times made for a very satisfying read!

[Regina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the story line of her triumph as a woman doctor, cringed when she worked for little or no pay, and felt it was all done well in context of that time. However, the overall story had some gaps. It seemed like the longing for her father was played down in the middle of the book and surfaced without a building passion towards the end when she found him. I wanted to know more about Miss Kerry and what made her return. She was a hero in this story. I also enjoyed learning about Montreal and the surrounding area in Canada at that time in history, which was completely new to me. Overall it was a good book. If they gave half stars I would give it a 3.5. The writing was so fluid it pulled me along a not quite riveting, but indeed enjoyable story.

[Francesca (A tavola coi libri) · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://atavolacoilibri.wordpress.com...

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a well-researched story of a woman's struggle to become a doctor at the turn of the twentieth century in Canada. While it draws inspiration from the life of Maude Abbott, the story is fictional. It is also an account of a quest for the father who abandoned his family following a scandal. The mother dies soon afterwards and the two orphan girls are brought up by a strict grandmother. Thanks to the intervention of a sympathetic governess, who recognizes Agnes' talent, she gains an education and excels in science. She wants to be a doctor, like her father, but there is no way that McGill university will accept a female student, even when she manages to raise the funding they request. She does manage to go overseas, where there is less prejudice, and furthers her studies there. When she returns to Canada, she considers herself fortunate to be hired to look after the neglected medical museum at the university. Among other specimens, this hosts the infamous Howlett Heart, a monstrous specimen of an abnormal heart named after a student of Agnes' father who becomes her much-admired protector. Researching the specimens in her collection and elsewhere, Agnes becomes a heart specialist herself, but obviously does not get any chance to practice. She does manage to do some informal teaching and proves popular among the students.

One of the twists of the story is that although she may be a medical heart specialist, Agnes is ignorant of her own heart. She longs to find her father and becomes infatuated with Howlett, who, albeit supportive at times, pays her no special attention. World War I and the massive enrollment of young men provide unexpected opportunities for Agnes to lecture and attend conferences in the States but also tragedy with the death and destruction, ably conveyed through letters from the front. It also leads to news of her father, whose whereabouts Howlett had known but never revealed. Her final meetings with both Howlett, seriously ill in England, and her father, serve to disillusion her. She attains the object of her quest but there is no pot of gold at the foot of the rainbow, only ashes. The consolation is a final understanding of her own heart.

The pluck and determination of the stocky, unattractive Agnes are admirable. Her struggles to achieve a career are convincingly portrayed and we also appreciate her family situation. It is a little more difficult to understand her quest, not so much the fact that she longed to follow in her father's footsteps and find him, but rather that she never asked Howlett, whom she know to have been a favourite student of his, if he had any information about him. This is one of the things he reminds her about when she accuses him of lying to her: "An omission," he said finally. "You never asked." While the resources for finding missing persons that we have at our disposal in 2022 were not available over 100 years ago, it would certainly have been possible to enquire of people whom one knew to have been close to the missing person, particularly one with whom one was personally acquainted. But perhaps Agnes was just too infatuated with Howlett, believing that he would help her and not understanding either his obligation to her father or the perjury he had committed. Apart from this shortcoming, this is an interesting and enjoyable novel.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book about a woman, Agnes White, who became a doctor in Montreal in the late 1800s was enjoyable. The author writes believably about this setting, and about the courage and determination required to pursue higher education and establish a career at a time when this was not just uncommon, but opposed by most men who held the power to make decisions. I loved reading about Agnes' relationship in her youth with her governess, Miss Skerry, and the assistance Agnes received in unexpected places, like well off women of Montreal. Perhaps to make the book more gripping, Ms. Holden Rothman incorporates a family mystery, which ended in a way that I found disappointing and unsatisfactory. I did, however, appreciate the realism of this outcome, and the maturing effect it had on Agnes. Following upon this, however, the conclusion of the book struck me as a bit contrived for it has "a happy ending". At the same time, the ending is about unconventional people finding their way and so, in that was respect it was pleasing. There were also aspects of the plot in the book that didn't make sense to me like why "George" Skerry remained at the family homestead by herself once her work as a caregiver there ended, instead of seeking other work. I realized that I previously read "My October", also by the author, and enjoyed that very much.

[Zainab Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hello, everyone. This novel might have just become one of my all-time favourites, partly because there is so much of me in the main character (so much it hurts), but mostly because it's very well-written. Its language and writing style were captivating. At some parts, especially those with descriptions of signs and symptoms of diseases, I felt like I was reading those old editions of medical books that I love so much because they're written in a literary way.

Anyway. If you must know, this is the story of an orphan girl's journey to become a doctor at the turn of the 20th century, a time when most medical schools did not accept women. It is inspired by the life of the Canadian physician and congenital heart disease specialist Maude Abbott (1869 - 1940).

[Zoom · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's about a woman doctor in Montreal in the late 1800s, back when woman doctors were considered not quite real doctors and not quite real women. She specialized in heart specimens - cataloguing, mounting, preserving them. She was a bit of a mess psychologically. She was smart and fiercely independent, but with daddy issues and abandonment issues. And she practically worshiped two men who weren't worthy of it. I really didn't like how she perceived women as vacuous and inferior to men, and how she rejected aspects of herself because they seemed too feminine.

I suppose as a product of her time she did the best she could with what she had, but I really didn't like her very much.

The book got off to a slow start, but improved towards the end.

[Rossetto e guai · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una lettura leggera e scorrevole se non si ha voglia di impegnare troppo il cervello.
Il romanzo si ispira a uno dei primi medici donna canadesi.
La storia è sicuramente interessante ma sono certa che tra un anno non ricorderò minimamente nulla della trama.
Non sono riuscita ad empatizzate con la protagonista inoltre non amo i lunghi salti temporali nei romanzi e questo libro ne è pieno. Anche tutti i personaggi “secondari” non hanno nessun spessore, è tutto molto inconsistente.
Anche se l’idea la trovo molto buona a monte poi però non mi sono appassionata alla storia a causa di come è stata scritta

[Dorothy Meyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Agnes was a fascinating character that knew so much about physical hearts however seemed to disregard the feelings of her own heart. She was abandoned by her own father at a young age but placed him on a pedestal, shaping her own life to be like him. Sadly he was not worth the efforts of her whole life. I loved this book even though it contained a good deal of medical terminology. It showed the attitudes of men of that day and the battle that Agnes experienced breaking into McGill. It was well written and a pleasure to read

[Anastasia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not really sure how I truly felt about this book. It did seem true to life. A young girl with the life of science that has to convince her family that it is good. A young woman who fights for the right to learn then practice medicine.

It stutters in the middle, with a woman who does not really reach her potential. This of course because it is an historical novel. One that stays true to its time. Because of this I am rating it 3 stars. It is not the novelists fault that the main character gets shuffled aside. It was the times.

[Tara Neville · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a wonderful read. It was long listed for the Giller. I thought it should have been short listed, if not the prize winner.

The character development was exquisite. I could picture every person in this story, good or bad, and Agnes herself stood out as clever, it not socially awkward personality.

My one regret with the book, (I’m a hopeless romantic) is that she never met her intellectual equal in love.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story of a female physician at the turn of the last century in Montreal. The misogyny she faces just trying to get an education and facing the boys club as she begrudgingly gets their respect working to build McGill’s first pathology museum for medical students.
A little repetitive at times but the writing shows great insight into disease pathology and paints a vivid portrait of Montreal in the early 1900’s.

[Holly C Stevens · Rating 5 out of 5]

An important read for those interested both in the history of women's rights and women in medicine. A well written journey of the many obstacles a woman has to overcome to pursue her dreams of becoming a Dr.