Medical Historical Fiction

A finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award with In the Time of Butterflies, author Julia Alvarez is a beloved voice in modern fiction and poetry. In Saving the World, she weaves the stories of two courageous women—separated by two centuries—into a breathtaking novel of love and idealism in an increasingly troubled world.

The Last Town on Earth centers on the inhabitants of a small logging town in Washington and what happens when they take drastic measures (quarantine) to try and protect themselves from the virulent and deadly flu epidemic of 1918. When a deserting WWI soldier demands sanctuary, events are set in motion that change the town forever.

Connie Byrne, a nurse in London's East End working alongside Millie Sullivan from Call Nurse Millie, is planning her wedding to Charlie Ross, set to take place as soon as he returns from the war. But when she meets him off the train at London Bridge, she finds that his homecoming isn't going to go according to plan. Connie's busy professional life, and the larger-than-life patients in the district, offer a welcome distraction, but for how long?

An emotional portrayal of the lives of four women as Valentine’s day approaches, in 1941 wartime London ‘Life brought enough problems and upsets for young hearts, especially young female hearts, without them having to carry the added burden of the war….’ Tilly is passionately in love with the dashing American journalist, Drew. But he is harbouring a secret that threatens their burgeoning love.

The daughter of a fallen woman, Mattie Armstrong’s life should have ended in poverty and failure. But at 14, Mattie escaped her gossiping neighbors and her loneliness, and went to work for Dr. Dinsmore. There, she began to nurture a dream that would take her to the Nebraska prairies as the state’s first woman doctor. This novel breathes life into the Old West, leaving the listener feeling as if Mattie is close by sharing her insights into life in the prairie towns.

Baltimore, 1919: After graduating in the top of her psychology major at Vassar, Rosalie Rayner accepts a coveted position in the lab of Dr. John B. Watson, the infamous father of American behaviorism, at Johns Hopkins University. The two begin a passionate affair that will cost Rosalie her PhD candidacy, her prominent Jewish family's good name, her dreams of her own career, and ultimately her sanity.

Commissioned by the Amsterdam Surgeons’ Guild, The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp was the first major Rembrandt work to catapult the young painter to international fame. Taking this painting as its inspiration, Nina Siegal’s novel The Anatomy Lesson opens on the morning of the medical dissection and follows several characters as they prepare for the evening’s big event:

Gabriella Mondini is a rarity in 16th-century Venice: a woman who practices medicine. Her father, a renowned physician, has provided her entrée to this all-male profession, and inspired in her a shared mission to understand the secrets of the human body. Then her father disappears, and Gabriella faces a crisis: She is no longer permitted to treat her patients, women who need her desperately, without her father's patronage. She sets out across Europe to find where - and why - he has gone.

In the fourteenth century, opportunities for women are limited to the home. But spirited young Madlen finds her calling as assistant to the city's trusted midwife, Clara. Working alongside Clara, Madlen develops a surprisingly soothing technique and quickly becomes a talented healer. After Clara's tragic death, Madlen alone rushes to assist the birth of a local nobleman's child. But rather than the joy of birth, Madlen walks into an accusation of murder and witchcraft because of her extraordinary gifts. Forced to flee her own town, she establishes a new identity in the home of her aunt.

Busy putting in stitches and bandaging lumberjacks' injuries, young Dr. Thomas Parks has no idea that his worst enemy is lurking in the sleepy village of Port McKinney in the spring of 1892. When one of the working girls at the Clarissa Hotel is brought to the Clinic desperately ill, Thomas's newly arrived associate wastes no time in making the diagnosis: Asian Cholera has somehow found this back water near Puget Sound. The cholera strikes viciously and kills in days, sometimes even hours....

British-born nurse Celia Davies runs a free medical clinic to assist the poor women of San Francisco. She has earned the trust and friendship of many of the city's downtrodden, including a young orphan named Owen. Owen works for a real estate company and discovered a dead body in the office's basement. Celia turns to Detective Nick Greaves for help, only to learn that one of the main suspects - the husband of Celia's dearest friend - is an old enemy of Nick's.

London, 1937. Die Schwesternschülerinnen Dora und Lucy sind Rivalinnen seit ihrem ersten Jahr am Nightingale Hospital. Als ihre Abschlussprüfung näher rückt, müssen sie feststellen, dass sie eine gemeinsame Sorge verbindet: Beide hüten sie ein Geheimnis, das sie ihre berufliche Zukunft kosten kann. Auch das neue Dienstmädchen Jess sehnt sich nach einem Neubeginn. Sie kommt aus schwierigen Verhältnissen und will ihre Vergangenheit endlich hinter sich lassen. Doch es gibt Menschen, die das mit aller Macht zu verhindern suchen.

Berlin 1911: Die Schwestern Marlene und Emma Lindow können ihr Glück kaum fassen: Sie dürfen als Lernschwestern in der Kinderklinik Weißensee anfangen. Die forsche Marlene lernt schnell, die schüchterne Emma fühlt sich hingegen bald von ihrer Schwester zurückgesetzt. Denn Marlene hat sich gleich doppelt verliebt: in den vornehmen Assistenzarzt Doktor Maximilian von Weilert und in das noch junge Fachgebiet Kinderheilkunde. Sie ist fest entschlossen, selbst Kinderärztin zu werden. Doch der Weg nach oben ist steinig, der in Maximilians Familie erst recht.

Brussels, April 1915. A beautiful young woman finds herself on the run from the enemy. Also being pursued is Ned Scott, a British army major who has been badly injured. The pair find themselves at a hospital run by the famous Edith Cavell, who agrees to treat the major while offering them both refuge and a false identity - she names the young girl Anna.

No one knows who the lady pulled from a Venetian canal is. Even she doesn't seem to know, and the ball gown and period undergarments she was wearing give no clues. hitting her head and oxygen deprivation have left her with amnesia. Dr. Luca Viale is determined to find out her identity. The bruises on her body appear to come from different times, convincing him that her situation was no accident. Can he restore her memory before another attempt is made on her life?

London, 1938. England bereitet sich auf den Krieg vor, und das berühmte Nightingale Hospital steht kurz vor der Evakuierung. Während Oberschwester Kathleen den jungen Krankenschwestern Mut zuspricht, muss sie selbst um ihre eigene Zukunft fürchten. Auch Schwester Helen sehnt sich nach dem Tod ihres geliebten Charlie nach einer zweiten Chance. Diese scheint gekommen, als ein gutaussehender Fremder ihr Hoffnungen macht. Doch meint er es wirklich ernst mit Helen?

London 1936. Die Abschlussprüfungen am Nightingale Hospital stehen unmittelbar bevor, doch Helen, Millie und Dora plagen ganz andere Sorgen. Während Helen hin- und hergerissen ist zwischen den Erwartungen ihrer Mutter und ihrer Liebe zu Charlie, steckt Millie bis über beide Ohren in den Vorbereitungen für ihre Hochzeit, bis ein Ereignis sie plötzlich an ihrer Entscheidung zweifeln lässt. Derweil muss Dora mit ansehen, wie ihr geliebter Nick ihre beste Freundin Ruby heiratet. Doch Ruby hütet ein Geheimnis.

A Jewish widow and a mysterious stranger help her son Benjamin overcome polio, while refugees from Nazi death camps find safety, and spies threaten Galveston. As clouds of war gather, a man crashes his car into Sarah’s front yard and dies in her front yard. Almost at once, the young widow finds her life full of danger following that day. Sarah will learn that her crippled son has a secret - one that he believes must never be revealed.

Die drei Hebammen müssen sich in den schwierigen Kriegszeiten behaupten und versuchen, so gut es geht, Menschlichkeit in dieser unmenschlichen Zeit zu bewahren.

Struggling with guilt over her sister's death and the stress of her medical residency, Maya Radelis runs away to Scotland. A robin seems to lead her to an antique shop, where she finds a century-old engagement ring. But what is the ring’s history? She follows the slim paper trail, wondering if it is only coincidence that her dreams reveal the story of a Swiss woman physician who wore the ring during World War I. In Paris she meets fellow New Yorker David Fischer, a lawyer with family in Switzerland as well as America.