Get Free Ebook The Book of Madness and Cures: A Novel, by Regina O'Melveny
As one of the home window to open up the brand-new globe, this The Book Of Madness And Cures: A Novel, By Regina O'Melveny supplies its impressive writing from the author. Published in one of the prominent publishers, this publication The Book Of Madness And Cures: A Novel, By Regina O'Melveny becomes one of one of the most ideal publications just recently. Really, the book will certainly not matter if that The Book Of Madness And Cures: A Novel, By Regina O'Melveny is a best seller or not. Every book will consistently provide ideal sources to get the user all finest.
The Book of Madness and Cures: A Novel, by Regina O'Melveny
Get Free Ebook The Book of Madness and Cures: A Novel, by Regina O'Melveny
Picture that you get such particular awesome encounter and also expertise by just checking out an e-book The Book Of Madness And Cures: A Novel, By Regina O'Melveny. How can? It seems to be greater when a book can be the best thing to find. Publications now will appear in printed as well as soft data collection. One of them is this e-book The Book Of Madness And Cures: A Novel, By Regina O'Melveny It is so typical with the printed books. Nonetheless, many individuals occasionally have no space to bring guide for them; this is why they cannot review guide any place they want.
This publication The Book Of Madness And Cures: A Novel, By Regina O'Melveny is anticipated to be one of the best vendor publication that will certainly make you really feel completely satisfied to acquire as well as review it for completed. As recognized could usual, every publication will have specific things that will make somebody interested so much. Even it comes from the writer, kind, material, or even the publisher. Nonetheless, lots of people likewise take the book The Book Of Madness And Cures: A Novel, By Regina O'Melveny based upon the motif and title that make them astonished in. and also here, this The Book Of Madness And Cures: A Novel, By Regina O'Melveny is quite advised for you because it has fascinating title and also motif to check out.
Are you truly a fan of this The Book Of Madness And Cures: A Novel, By Regina O'Melveny If that's so, why don't you take this publication currently? Be the first individual which like and lead this publication The Book Of Madness And Cures: A Novel, By Regina O'Melveny, so you can get the factor and also messages from this publication. Don't bother to be confused where to get it. As the other, we share the connect to visit and also download and install the soft file ebook The Book Of Madness And Cures: A Novel, By Regina O'Melveny So, you might not lug the printed publication The Book Of Madness And Cures: A Novel, By Regina O'Melveny anywhere.
The presence of the on the internet publication or soft documents of the The Book Of Madness And Cures: A Novel, By Regina O'Melveny will certainly reduce individuals to obtain guide. It will also conserve even more time to just search the title or writer or author to get up until your publication The Book Of Madness And Cures: A Novel, By Regina O'Melveny is revealed. Then, you can visit the web link download to go to that is given by this website. So, this will be a great time to start appreciating this book The Book Of Madness And Cures: A Novel, By Regina O'Melveny to check out. Always good time with book The Book Of Madness And Cures: A Novel, By Regina O'Melveny, consistently good time with cash to spend!
A brilliant debut about a woman doctor in Renaissance Venice, forced to cross Europe in search of her father.
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 her at every turn. Then her father disappears and Gabriella faces a crisis: she is no longer permitted to treat her patients without her father's patronage. She sets out across Europe to find where-and why-he has gone. Following clues from his occasional enigmatic letters, Gabriella crosses border after border, probing the mystery of her father's flight, and opening new mysteries of her own. Not just mysteries of ailments and treatments, but ultimate mysteries of mortality, love, and the timeless human spirit.
Filled with medical lore and sensuous, vivid details of Renaissance life, THE BOOK OF MADNESS AND CURES is an intoxicating and unforgettable debut.
- Sales Rank: #463457 in Books
- Published on: 2013-06-18
- Released on: 2013-06-18
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.25" h x 1.00" w x 5.50" l, .70 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 352 pages
Review
"Regina O'Melveny's debut novel, The Book of Madness and Cures, is a marvelous, inventive story of a singular courageous woman on a quest to find her missing father. Set in the Renaissance, it explores the wonders, and dangers, of Europe and Asia Minor and recreates a world--exotic and familiar, sensuous and beguiling--where a defiant woman, practicing the ancient healing arts, is believed to be contrary to the laws of God and Man."―Kathleen Kent, author of The Traitor's Wife and The Heretic's Daughter
"....[A]n elegant portrait of a resolute woman who practices medicine in 16th-century Venice...The writing is superb, particularly when the author describes..exotic locales and ancient superstitions. The book will especially attract readers who enjoy female centered historical novels whose plots are not driven by romance."―Lucy Roehrig, Library Journal
"[Gabriella Mondini's] journey is conveyed with earthy and sensual brio [and] clearly well-researched evocations of time and place, and...poetical description....You will love this adventure."―Elle Magazine
"Poet O'Melveny's debut fiction is like a lyrical composite creature-part father/daughter epistolary novel, part aristocratic diary, part adventurer's travelogue, and part compendium of allegorical diseases...Readers will be delighted by O'Melveny's whimsical embellishments."―Publisher's Weekly
"[A] picaresque fiction debut...a provocative window into early medical pronouncements on everything from depression to claustrophobia..."―Jan Stuart, The Boston Globe
"O'Melveny's writing is smooth and evocative. Gabriella proves a likeable traveling companion, and her first-person narration keeps things moving along....Readers will find much to enjoy in this colorful, picaresque tale."―David Maine, Popmatters
"Gorgeously written, and filled with details about science and medicine, this is an unforgettable debut novel."―Tara Quinn, Cleveland Plain Dealer
"Infused with the sensuous places and metaphorical natural world that recur in [O'Melveny's] poetry..."―Anne Gray Fischer, Ploughshares
"Intriguing.... Every new chapter brings a new adventure and a new piece of the puzzle."―Claire Rivero, The Washington Independent Review of Books
"Reminiscent of The Red Tent, Anita Diamant's book-club favorite..."―Susannah Meadows, The New York Times
"[A] darkly whimsical first novel..."―Kirkus Reviews
About the Author
Regina O'Melveny's poetry has been published widely in literary journals, garnering several prizes. She grew up at the edge of pungent chaparral in La Mesa, California, and chose to enroll at Callison College--a school of International Studies at the University of the Pacific--almost solely based upon the fact that the second year would be spent in India. Thus began her many extended travels that would later inspire The Book of Madness and Cures, her first novel. She lives in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.
Most helpful customer reviews
33 of 35 people found the following review helpful.
A Slow Historical Awakening
By Ethan
Gender equality has always been an important issue. Even with today's increased opportunities, the fact remains that women are not always afforded the same chances that men receive. This longstanding struggle was even more common in the 16th century, where author Regina O'Melveny sets her debut novel.
Dr. Gabriella Mondini is a rarity in Venice. While most women live more common lives, she has been afforded the chance to study medicine with her father, who is a well-respected doctor in is own right. Even though the guild of medicine is comprised entirely of men, her father has always done everything possible to ensure that his daughter becomes the best doctor she can be. When her father leaves the home to research maladies and cures to be published in his massive medical resource, The Book of Diseases, he leaves Gabriella to continue the family's medical practice.
Years later, Gabriella is still home, facing mounting disapproval from the medical guild, while her father continues his mysterious journey, sending letters that leave minimal clues to his activities or whereabouts. When, one day, she receives a letter from her father stating that he plans to continue his research with no intentions of ever returning home, Gabriella, despite her mother's warnings, sets out to find her father and convince him to return.
I have mixed feelings about this novel. Certain aspects worked extremely well. O'Melveny paints an accurate portrait of a young woman's struggle to reach her true potential. Set in the late 1500's the medical details, historical contexts, and character interactions are all fantastic. At times, however, I felt that the language of the novel got in the way of an otherwise intriguing story. The sections meant to portray the entries in the ongoing Book of Diseases seemed to be inserted in the middle of the plot, making the story a bit choppy. Overall, I think fans of historical fiction, mysteries and strong female lead characters will really enjoy this novel. Despite its setbacks, the story is strong enough to make this worth the read.
25 of 26 people found the following review helpful.
Wish I'd listened to the other reviewers.
By Zinnia
Previous reviewers noted that this book was slow with trudging, ponderous plot. But I was taken by the concept--an adventure during an exciting time in history and science from a female perspective. I kept waiting for the plot to pick up but--YAWN--it never did! Plod, plod, plod through Europe visiting her father's old friends and having a few flirtations on the way. Flirtations that result in unrealistic devotion: Both men follow her. One meets an oddly horrible end. Also, the heroine wasn't very likeable. I think she's supposed to be determined and perhaps a bit obsessed. But I found her lack of gratitude and concern for her family, servants, friends, and even animals annoying and tiring. Anyway, I came out of it with a new philosophy: Life is too short to plod through books I don't like!
32 of 36 people found the following review helpful.
Impressive novel debut from an award winning Poet!
By Noelle the Dreamer
How to describe this brilliant description of a 16th Century Venetian woman who happens to be a doctor? I have just finished reading Regina O'Melveny's intriguing debut in fiction writing and find myself at a loss for words!
There is earthly appeal in Gabriella Mondini, this unusual young woman who yearns to practice medicine at an epoch where women of similar social status were rarely seen even out of the home.
The human body study during the Renaissance was a fascinating subject, involving much debates in universities and physicians homes and often criticism (even persecution) as it involved the need for specimens.
The idea of a wealthy 16th Century Venetian woman, a full fledged physician forbidden to practice because of her sex, willing to leave the comforts of home in search of the father she has not heard of in ten years, solely armed with a medicine chest and accompanied by two loyal servants to venture into terra ignota captivates the imagination.
My ARC copy galvanized me to experience this intriguing book fully (I dropped everything else) and I can tell you I was mesmerized by the author's readers address . To be introduced to Regina's inspiration whilst she penned this novel was in itself a rare opportunity to understand the concept behind the story and I recommend readers to check it out before starting the first chapter!
Gabriella's journey to find her missing father will see her crossing Europe, taking her from Venice to lake Costentz, Leiden, Edenburg and to Algezer, Africa.
With infinite care Regina O'Melveny allows readers to visualize a world we have only perceived through the accounts of merchants such as Marco Polo. She does not loose readers in tedious details, allowing readers to fully concentrate on the protagonists.
Gabriella does not follow the well trodden commerce road we know as the Spice route. Instead she uses cues taken from cherished letters, some many years old, to find the man she calls Father, also a physician.
Perhaps most appealing of all are the medical lore and excerpts of the book of Diseases Gabriella strives to compile, with her father's notes as well as her observations. These are at times remarkably accurate, others will leave you chilled or perhaps bring a chuckle.
As we follow her footsteps to discover the whereabouts of her father we begin to grasp Gabriella's hope and despair, and her determination to find the reason for her father's long absence. Despite misgivings and losses she continues her journey.
One might observe that Regina intuitively knew how to describe the vivid details of this compelling story thanks to her own upbringing.
'...It began with a small cloth journal decorated with volutes of red roses, sent to me when I was ten by my Italian grandmother, whom I'd never met. It had a lock...' My favourite of all her quotes!
In the end, this is a story to be experienced with an open mind, not unlike a cup of tisane, made of newly gathered herbs from a sunny spot of one's garden. Each sip brings you a different taste...
Imagination will be your constant companion!
Excellent and well worth 5 stars!
I received this ARC free from the HACHETTE GROUP as part of their blogger review program.
I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC 16 CFR, Part 255 'Guides concerning the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising. I was not asked to write a positive review and all opinions expressed are entirely my own.
The Book of Madness and Cures: A Novel, by Regina O'Melveny PDF
The Book of Madness and Cures: A Novel, by Regina O'Melveny EPub
The Book of Madness and Cures: A Novel, by Regina O'Melveny Doc
The Book of Madness and Cures: A Novel, by Regina O'Melveny iBooks
The Book of Madness and Cures: A Novel, by Regina O'Melveny rtf
The Book of Madness and Cures: A Novel, by Regina O'Melveny Mobipocket
The Book of Madness and Cures: A Novel, by Regina O'Melveny Kindle
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar