Enjoyed this book immensely. All 534 pages of it. It was definitely a commitment--a relaxing sort of commitment, like committing to a mini-series with a cozy fire and a bowl of popcorn. One of my favorite quotes in the book (and there were more than a few):"Call me old-fashioned, but I've always believed that hard work pays off."
Thomas Stone is a surgeon working in an Ethiopian Mission Hospital. The story weaves through two generations and a likeable cast of characters who live and work there in times of peace and in times of civil unrest.
"Life: You live it forward but understand it backward."
This is a fitting quote that defines the plot of the story, as it unfolds.
I was fascinated by the medical aspect of this book. Borrowing from a book review by Mark Salzman, "This book has everything: nuns, conjoined twins, civil war and medicine. If Vikram Seth and Oliver Sacks were to collaborate on a four-hour episode of Grey's Anatomy set in Africa, they could only hope to come up with something this moving and entertaining."
I felt the author's love for his characters. Especially the ones we might find distasteful if we were to encounter them in our life's path. My take away:
"Make something beautiful of your life."
It was marvelous.
4 comments:
Please tell how you came to find this book? I loved your perspective.
I'll have to read this in secret - I think my husband will disown me if I pick up another book and appear to be more interested in it than him.
Jenny --
I really enjoy your book reviews; thank you!
And p.s. I have new buttons on my blog thanks to Macy's husband Neil. the Dare to Dream will be centered... HURRAY.
How in the world do you find time to do so much reading, do you sleep at night?
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