The Surgeon's Daughter - Audrey Blake

Author: Audrey Blake

Narrator: Susan Lyons

Genre: Historical Fiction.

Rating: 3.5 stars.

In a Nutshell: I liked it, I didn’t love it. The medical details are excellent. The characters failed to make an impression. Why isn’t it revealed anywhere that this is a sequel?!?!?!!? Grrrrrr!!!!

Story:

Nora Beady has arrived at the famed medical school in Bologna to study medicine as her native England doesn’t allow women to become licensed surgeons. She is very clear that on completion of her studies, she will return to her country and practise along with her mentor Dr. Horace Croft. Though the Italian college has opened its doors to women, the biases still remain. Nora has to work harder to show that she is as capable (maybe, even more) to handle surgery, especially in the field of obstetrics, where she is learning the new technique of the Caesarean section under the only female doctor on staff, Dr. Magdalena Morenco.

The story is written in a limited third person point of view of Nora and Dr. Daniel Gibson, her beau who is facing his own problems back in England.

First things first. I had no idea that this was a sequel to ‘The Girl in His Shadow: A Novel’. There is no indication of this on Goodreads, or NetGalley, or even on the book’s cover. The story very clearly continues from the events of the book one. So to put it quite bluntly, I feel cheated.

Second. A book MAY not be advertised as a sequel if it can be read as a standalone. While this story is complete by itself, there are many references to events that happened in the first book. (Please note, only reference, no details.) Most of the characters are from the first book, so there is not much background info on them in this novel. It is assumed that you know them well and hence will understand their behaviour without much elaboration required. I repeat, I feel cheated.

(Just in case my irritation hasn’t made itself evident, let me clarify further. I am a series freak and I avoid reading books out of series order. There are exceptions, of course, but this is when I know that the book is a part of a series and I am aware of the break in the order when I make my choice. This title didn’t award me that knowledge.)

Where the book worked for me:

👌 The medical details are outstanding. Whether it is about the Caesarean section or the other ailments peppered regularly in the story, the doctors’ busy lives and their attempts to learn more using corpses, everything connected to the medical world is enlightening. (It might be better to read the book while you aren’t eating. Some of the procedures will make you queasy!)

👌 The book casts light on the limitations placed on women not just in medical school but also in general society. While we are already aware of the struggles of the women of the past whose battles have allowed us a much better life in the 21st century, it is still good to know more on this topic.

Where the book could have worked better for me:

☠ Ahem… If I had known that it was a continuation and not a standalone as I was led to believe.

☠ If the character backstories had been provided in greater detail so as to not inconvenience those readers who pick this book without reading the first one. All the returning characters felt flat because of this writing choice.

☠ I don’t think the cover suits the book AT ALL! (Actually, even the title left me confused for a long time. It took me almost half the book to understand that the surgeon’s daughter referred to Nora and not Magdalena.)

☠ The book should have established its time period clearly right at the start. Only at the 70% mark is it revealed that the story is set in 1847. (Not sure if I missed an earlier reference in the audiobook.) So until that time, I wasn’t sure where to place the story, though I knew it was in some historical period.

The audiobook experience:

The audiobook, clocking at 13.5 hrs, is narrated by Susan Lyons. Her narration was good, not outstanding but not bad as well. Actually, her reading felt more like a general reading than a performance. No separate accents, no nuanced distinctions between characters. While all this isn’t a must, it does help enhance the listening experience if well done. Still, it is a decent audiobook and would definitely work for audio newbies as well as regulars.

All in all, I certainly would have enjoyed the story a lot more had I had the chance to know the characters better through the first book. I liked the story but couldn’t establish a connection with a single character, which is quite sad considering there were two strong female characters - Dr. Nora Beady and Dr. Magdalena Morenco.

Recommended to those who have read and loved ‘The Girl in His Shadow’.

My thanks to RB Media and NetGalley for the ALC of “The Surgeon's Daughter”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the audiobook.