Historical fiction circa 1900 about a discredited American female doctor who finds that her only option is to join a traveling medicine show.
Tucia Hatherley, once the top student in her medical school class, killed a patient during surgery while the attending physician looked on, berating and humiliating her. She had been barely tolerated during her studies and this surgical mistake ended her hopes and career dreams. Suffering from a sort of post traumatic stress as well as trichotillomania (compulsive hair pulling), Tucia has few options for employment. Add in the fact that she has a young son with Down Syndrome, Tucia is in debt with no where to turn. Then, in desperation, she falls in with Hugh Horn (Huey) who is the dubious owner of a group of rag tag performers in a group called The Amazing Adolphus And his Traveling Medicine Company. They travel about the country doing their show, dispensing fake potions and tonics, and leave the area before they get caught hawking those dubious cures. Since Tucia has a medical license, Huey puts her to work as a quasi medical assistant, mind reader, and fortune teller. She longs to escape, but is indentured. Then, they make it to Galveston right before the great hurricane.
OK, this was all very interesting about the medicine shows and such, but it went on far too long only getting to Galveston and the natural disaster at about 80% in the book. I picked this novel because I wanted to hear about Tucia practicing medicine during the hurricane. Honestly, Tucia (where in the world did the author find that name?) was mostly an annoying mess with all her panic attacks and hair pulling that was just overdone. It was hard to believe she would ever get herself together and actually be productive. The other characters in the book were exactly the odd bunch that one imagines would be found in a circus - the giant, the Native American, the tinker, the cripple, etc. All with hearts of gold of course. Stereotypes. The description of the hurricane coming so far into the book was too little too late. I expected the neatly wrapped ending. But, overall, just disappointed as this was not the book I had expected.
I listened to the audiobook while also reading along in the e-book — both provided by the publishers. The narrator was OK but the accents and many different voices proved a bit much for a single person to voice. If you are looking for a novel about heroism during a historic natural disaster, this might not be the one to pick.
This is a standalone and is not part of any series.
Genre - historical fiction, women physician, Galveston Hurricane, Medicine Shows
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