Where the Light Enters: A Novel by Sara Donati

Where the Light Enters: A Novel. Sara Donati. Penguin Publishing Group.  September 2019. hb, 672 pp.; ISBN: 9780425271827.

Dr. Sophie Savard and Dr. Anna Savard, Sophie’s cousin and best friend, want to start a medical school and hospital for disadvantaged women in the 1800s.  Both doctors are women of color and have had their past experiences of prejudice and suspicion.  Now, Dr. Sophie’s husband has died of tuberculosis in Europe and she has returned to New York.  She’s had plenty of condolences and her own memories in grief to now process.  But activities in the city quickly garner her interest and involvement. 

A number of deaths have occurred to women who were pregnant, went to a criminal doctor who punished them with surgery, infection and eventual death.  But now that doctor is gone and there are still problems.  The wife of a reputable banker has disappeared and another woman is found dead by very suspicious wounds which lead the investigators to believe the same type of murder has again occurred.  Dr. Anna’s husband, Detective-Sergeant Jack Mezzanotte, asks the cousins to consult on the investigation.  They agree to consult and gradually the story unfolds to show who the captors or kidnappers are and who has once again murdered.

This is a tough and tender story that will grip every reader who is interested in both medicine and crime.  The main characters are financially well-settled but still have enormous compassion for women who seek criminal doctors hoping to end pregnancies or illness.  Women who are mistreated have multiple reasons to seek illicit treatment and the Savard doctors believe education and compassion will change the horrific nature of these losses.  This is a timely subject as the nation is coping with the possibility of abortions becoming illegal as it was fifty years ago and earlier.  It is not too hard to realize that these dark days could become reality again and that there are even now numerous women, both health care professionals and regular women, who seriously are concerned about this issue.  Dr. Anna and her husband Jack, as well as Dr. Sophie stand for the protection of women’s rights.  This would be an excellent novel to use in a book club or to share in other contemporary issue discussions.

The topic is obviously well-research and is presented with all sides of the issues covered.  Sara Donati is a highly-skilled, creative and talented writer.  This, her latest novel, is highly recommended historical fiction!!! Enjoy the read!

The Gilded Hour: A Novel by Sara Donati

The Gilded Hour: A Novel.  Sara Donati. Penguin Group (USA). September 2015. 752 pp.  ISBN#: 9780425271810.

1883 – What’s it like to be a woman doctor, a female doctor of color, a defenseless orphan unable to speak English, a physician working with poor women who are unable to practice birth control and more?  The Gilded Hour… is a novel about individuals who are willing to do anything to guarantee justice, who will attempt the impossible in order to assure integrity and control for those least likely to possess or receive either. 

Dr. Anna Savard and Dr. Sophie Savard are adult survivors.  They were fortunate enough to be orphans who were cared for by strong-minded people who gave them unlimited opportunities.  But they are still fighting a system that would deny them practicing among the poor and disenfranchised female population of New York City.  Anna, a respected surgeon, is first moved to care about the plight of Italian immigrant children when she visits children who need to be vaccinated in order to be granted entry into America, who are separated from each other by a system that seeks to profit from children who have no one to protect their best interests.  Rosa is the child who haunts Anna for Rosa will not be cajoled into silence about her missing brothers.

Sophie, a practicing obstetrician and gynecologist, refuses to marry Cap, a tubercular patient in the latter stages of the disease. Initially he rejects her because he does not wish to spread his contagious disease and she rejects him as she does not want her eventual children to be scorned as children of color. Eventually, however, when Cap receives the opportunity for experimental treatment, they will both reconsider their options, only to be thwarted initially by formidable circumstances. 

Anna begins to care about Jack but is extremely hesitant to allow herself to care and perhaps have a different future because of her own past history.  Their search for the missing Italian boys and then search for justice during a medical trial offers them both a chance to control their own destinies rather than be bound by inner lies. 

It’s fascinating to see how organizations operated and manipulated the medical community by making birth control, abortion, etc. criminal acts that could not only guarantee jail time for said physicians but ruin bright, caring careers.

The Gilded Hour: A Novel is fascinating reading about a very volatile historical period as well as a fine, engaging read, with a little romance added as a quietly but poignant touch! Nicely done, again, Sara Donati!