Read any good books lately?

When I meet with friends, this question always comes up: read any good books lately? I am always interested in what other people are reading. There are those whose reading interests match my own, but I also get pushed by some to venture out in search of undiscovered treasures.

My first adult book review for this blog is one such treasure. Cutting for stone by Abraham Verghese, is set in Ethiopia and New York City and follows the lives of twins, Shiva and Marion, who become doctors on two different continents. How the brothers evolve from being orphaned and adopted by Indian doctors on staff at the Missing Hospital in Addis Ababa, to finding their way through political turmoil and personal loss into adulthood, is at the heart of the book. Written by a doctor who grew up in Ethiopia, this work of fiction has compelling characters (the parents of the twins have a saga of their own) and an absorbing plot. Most intriguing to me was the way in which the medical procedures were described so that I could experience being an observer and not feel like I needed a surgical textbook to understand what is transpiring.

The fact that my daughter-in-law, Hannah, (who is a medical school intern) and my son, Andrew, were in Ethiopia last summer made reading this book even more interesting. Hannah shadowed for a week at a hospital dedicated to addressing a critical medical condition, common among women in this developing country, termed obstetric fistula. Imagine my surprise when I read about how the one brother in the novel, who stays behind in Ethiopia, develops an interest in the fistula repair procedure.

Follow this link if you are interested in learning more about the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital: http://www.hamlinfistula.org/our-hospital.html

More about the author, Abraham Verghese, at:  http://www.abrahamverghese.com