The Surgeon's Daughter

THE SURGEON’S DAUGHTER is the second historical novel in the Nora Beady series by Audrey Blake and it continues the story of the talented but home schooled healthcare provider Eleanor Beady.

Despite the fact that it is illegal for women to be practicing surgeons in 1840s London, Nora is desperate to further her studies. She is offered the opportunity to study at the prestigious University of Bologna in Italy, where women CAN earn a medical degree. Of course, that doesn’t mean there is no discrimination against female students. But Nora, already well trained by her quirky but brilliant adoptive father Dr. Horace Croft, feels she will be able to keep up, even as she struggles to understand a new language.

Meanwhile Dr. Daniel Gibson show more remains in London, expanding his own knowledge and helping Dr. Croft expand and advance their joint practice, though that expansion is getting Dr. Croft deeper and deeper into debt.

As I watched Nora navigate her medical school studies I found I was getting angrier and angrier. As expected, there are male students who ignore and gossip about her, predatory professors who refuse to give her opportunities to learn and discount the knowledge and experience she already has, and quite a few who believe Nora is there only because of undeserved favoritism. (Many of the same issues smart and successful women still face.) Fortunately Nora does find one prominent woman to mentor her and one fellow medical student to befriend her.

Will Nora be able to complete her studies in this hostile environment? If she does, what good will a medical degree do her in England? Can she and Daniel maintain their long distance attachment while she’s away? And what about aging Dr. Croft’s state of health and mounting debt? Will the jealous Dr. Vickery sabotage Dr. Croft again? There’s a lot to resolve.

THE SURGEON’S DAUGHTER is full of emotion (I cried twice) and suspense and a worthy sequel to THE GIRL IN HIS SHADOW. I loved continuing the stories of Nora and Daniel, Dr. Croft and Harry Trimble as they navigate the rapidly expanding medical world of 1840s. I’m hoping there will soon be a third novel in this series. show less

A compelling fusion of meticulous medical history and a defiant coming of age narrative.

The second in the series follows Nora Beady as she navigates the transition from a clandestine surgical prodigy, trained by the prominent man who took her into his home and made her his daughter, to a formal medical student at the University of Bologna in Italy in 1840. In a time where women are not welcome in roles of doctor and surgeon in most countries, Nora has to leave her home in England to study there. She comes under the tutelage of a brilliant surgeon, Dr. Magdalena Morenco, who helps her prove her worth in a field designed to exclude her. As Nora becomes more proficient in delivery of ether anesthetic and in surgical techniques, especially show more the C-Section, there are those who wish to see her fail. Meanwhile, her foster father, Dr. Horace Croft, is beset with financial woes along with his worsening health. Nora’s romantic interest, Dr. Daniel Gibson, who works with Horace, is experiencing heartbreak treating the children dying of diphtheria.

I enjoyed all the historical details though also railing at the injustice of Nora’s situation of being held in a legal limbo as the establishment wants to deny her the opportunity and ability to practice. In a time where women were constrained by the opinions of laws of men, she had a lot to overcome. Their egos and belief in their own superiority were terribly frustrating and Nora had to navigate the situation very carefully. It was also interesting to read about the perception differences between England and Italy as far as women in the medical field. I loved the medical descriptions of the operations and the diseases and conditions of the patients. I can’t help but be amazed at how far advanced the treatment of care of patients evolved through research, trial, and error. The needless suffering and death that has been eradicated by procedures we now take for granted including antibiotics and surgical techniques. How lucky we are to be alive in these times. I am looking forward to the next installment.

I was able to listen to the audio book while also following along in the e-book. The narrator, Susan Lyons, did an excellent job voicing the characters with her masterful command of languages and accents. Her ability to differentiate voices made the listening experience such an immersive experience. show less

.4.5 stars rounded up to 5

Before starting my review I want to make it clear that this is the 2nd in the Nora Beady series, The Girl in His Shadow being the first. I point this out because I had no idea! Due to Ms. Audrey Blake’s excellent writing skills Nora’s past is seamlessly woven into the narrative. I never felt like I was missing a piece of the story!
I loved this novel. The story, the strong female protagonist and the descriptions of early medical practices combined into an engrossing tale that had me hooked from the very beginning!
It’s the mid 19th century. It’s a time when gently raised young women,ie wealthy or upper middle class, were expected to be demure and submissive to the will of first their fathers and then show more their husbands. Their role is to be mere adornments for the men. The activities they were permitted to pursue were the genteel arts of watercolors, painting, knitting and all forms of needlework. Definitely NOT anatomical dissection and drawing from corpses and the pursuit of medicine or surgery as a career! Of course in real life there were a handful of courageous and impressive women who did just that and succeeded! It is these women that Ms Blake honors with her book.
We meet Miss Eleanora Beady (Nora for short) in Bologna,Italy. She is from England and is in her second year studying medicine and surgery at the prestigious University of Bologna. A degree from them just might help her practice in England where the guilds block women from joining. She has given up a lot to come here. Mainly leaving 2 men behind that are important to her for three years while she studies. The first is the famous Dr. Horace Croft, Nora’s guardian and mentor. He took her in at a young age when her parents died and introduced her to and induced in her a love of medicine. The second is Dr. Crofts’ young associate Dr. Daniel Gibson her boyfriend and hopefully future husband.
It does not come as a surprise when Nora faces bigotry and discrimination from most of her professors and fellow students. Though more knowledgeable and talented than most, she is seldom selected for procedures and often derided when she advocates for herself. This begins to change when Dr. Magdalena Morenco, returns from a trip to Cairo. Dr. Morenco is a pioneer of Caesarian sections. This procedure so common and safe today was at that time considered barbaric and gruesome. It also had a low success rate. Dr. Morenco plans to change that. Soon Nora is working with her and has found in her a mentor.
Though it sounds like I have given away the whole story in truth I’ve only scratched the surface. It’s a wonderful historical fiction with some romance and even some suspense replete with a villain.
I do have to place a caution here though. The subject matter contains many descriptions of medical procedures that today are seen as brutal. But remember the medical field truly was in it’s infancy. Doctors were just beginning to use Ether as an anesthesia, prior to this, as described in the book, nothing was used. Pain management wasn’t even thought about let alone practiced. And the use of sterile technique was years away from discovery as was the knowledge that microorganisms caused disease and infection. The book describes much of this and though I personally found it all fascinating not all will.
Though I cannot praise the writing skill enough I do have one small complaint about some of the terminology used. For example, the book describes a late term abortion of a fetus to save the mothers life as a craniotomy I can find no such reference in my personal library of medical history books or on the internet. I believe the proper term is cranioclast. It is for this and several other inconsistencies that I have dropped a half a star.
I do not know if this will be an ongoing series but if so I will definitely continue. I will also be reading the first book and will probably reread this one after.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher, RB Media and NetGalley. This fact in no way influenced my review. show less

Nora has struggled to become a doctor. She is the only female at her medical school. She has fought against so much unfairness but her strength and her intelligence always shows through. She and Dr. Morenco, the only female doctor on staff, develop the Cesarean section. And, as you can guess…there is so much resistance in the use of the profound procedure.

Now, if you read any of my reviews you know I LOVE strong women characters. I mean…where would we be if some of these women had not gone before us. This book has one of the best!

Being in the medical field myself, I found this novel fascinating. I love Nora and the medicine. Talk about well researched! This book may not be for everyone, like I said, it has a good bit of science and show more medicine. But, I was hooked from the very beginning. The struggles women have gone through to have proper medical care and to achieve their goals is all in this book!

Need a fantastic historical fiction…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today!

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review. show less

I thoroughly enjoyed the historical nature of this book and loved the two very strong female characters, Nora and Dr. Marenco. The story is set in 1847 when Nora is struggling to study medicine in England, which was prohibited for women in those times. She leaves her mentor, boyfriend, and home in England to travel to Bologna, Italy where she’s been accepted at a prestigious medical school. Her plan is to get her medical license and then return to England and join her mentor’s medical practice. Upon her arrival in Italy, while her presence in the medical school is accepted, she is shunned and treated with open hostility.

She finds an advocate in one male professor and learns much from him but later finds his interest in her is more show more than academic. While initially dismissed as incompetent by the only female doctor (Marenco), Nora later develops a close relationship with her and is captivated by Dr. Marenco’s groundbreaking steps in performing Cesarean sections. And since Nora has her own expertise in using ether, she shares that knowledge with Dr. Marenco.

The medical procedure details and historical background were especially captivating and I love that much of the background (medical cases in particular) were based on real events.

I was not aware this was a sequel (although The Surgeon’s Daughter certainly stands alone) and wish I had read The Girl in His Shadow first. show less

THE SURGEON’S DAUGHTER is the second historical novel in the Nora Beady series by Audrey Blake and it continues the story of the talented but home schooled healthcare provider Eleanor Beady.

Despite the fact that it is illegal for women to be practicing surgeons in 1840s London, Nora is desperate to further her studies. She is offered the opportunity to study at the prestigious University of Bologna in Italy, where women CAN earn a medical degree. Of course, that doesn’t mean there is no discrimination against female students. But Nora, already well trained by her quirky but brilliant adoptive father Dr. Horace Croft, feels she will be able to keep up, even as she struggles to understand a new language.

Meanwhile Dr. Daniel Gibson show more remains in London, expanding his own knowledge and helping Dr. Croft expand and advance their joint practice, though that expansion is getting Dr. Croft deeper and deeper into debt.

As I watched Nora navigate her medical school studies I found I was getting angrier and angrier. As expected, there are male students who ignore and gossip about her, predatory professors who refuse to give her opportunities to learn and discount the knowledge and experience she already has, and quite a few who believe Nora is there only because of undeserved favoritism. (Many of the same issues smart and successful women still face.) Fortunately Nora does find one prominent woman to mentor her and one fellow medical student to befriend her.

Will Nora be able to complete her studies in this hostile environment? If she does, what good will a medical degree do her in England? Can she and Daniel maintain their long distance attachment while she’s away? And what about aging Dr. Croft’s state of health and mounting debt? Will the jealous Dr. Vickery sabotage Dr. Croft again? There’s a lot to resolve.

THE SURGEON’S DAUGHTER is full of emotion (I cried twice) and suspense and a worthy sequel to THE GIRL IN HIS SHADOW. I loved continuing the stories of Nora and Daniel, Dr. Croft and Harry Trimble as they navigate the rapidly expanding medical world of 1840s. I’m hoping there will soon be a third novel in this series. show less

In "The Surgeon's Daughter," by Jaima Fixsen and Regina Sirois (writing as Audrey Blake), twenty-five-year-old Eleanora (Nora) Beady is an orphan who was adopted by a respected British surgeon, Dr. Horace Croft. The doctor not only raised the child as if she were his own, but he also taught her the intricacies of anatomy and surgical techniques. Although Nora wants to practice medicine, the physicians in mid-nineteenth-century England banned females from joining their ranks. However, Croft arranges for Nora to attend medical school at the University of Bologna, Italy, where plans to obtain as much knowledge and practical experience as possible. In her spare time, she sends letters home to the man she loves, Dr. Daniel Gibson, who show more assists Dr. Croft and sees patients in St. Bart's Hospital.

Nora will have to overcome a number of obstacles if she hopes to obtain her medical degree. For example, the brilliant Dottoressa Magdalena Morenco, whom Nora admires and wants to emulate, initially treats Nora with disdain. Nevertheless, Dr. Morenco admits that Nora has a crucial skill that the older woman lacks—how to dispense ether to patients safely and effectively. Nora is intelligent, dedicated, and courageous, but she is also sensitive, filled with self-doubt, and frustrated at being the target of her colleagues' animosity.

In this dramatic and atmospheric book, we encounter distressing passages in which surgeons perform risky procedures on desperately ill and injured men, women, and children. Meanwhile, Daniel struggles to control a diphtheria outbreak and, at a particularly critical juncture, provides a beleaguered Horace with much-needed support. Although "The Surgeon's Daughter" meanders a bit and is not entirely free of sentimentality, its vivid cast of characters and thought-provoking themes arouse our sympathy and engage our curiosity. show less