We can all thank The Good Doctor and Chicago Med for this week’s NovelTEA pick; the world of medicine, hospitals, painful surgeries and medical jargon is an uncomfortably familiar one for me, at least from the ‘patient’ side of things. But I find myself fascinated by the other side of the equation— the doctors, nurses, and hospital personnel all seem so far removed from a situation, handling things with efficiency and professionalism like the business of saving lives is an everyday thing. Well, I mean, it is for them— but as someone who possesses neither the biological wherewithal (my version of a late-night involves going to bed at exactly one minute past midnight because I was too engrossed in a book to put it down) nor the patience to attend med school and expend all the gruelling effort afterwards in residency (and all the steps in between, of which, I don’t know because I am not a doctor), dramatized TV versions are the closest thing I’m going to get to knowing what it’s like to be a doctor.
Thanks to Kimmery Martin’s debut fiction novel, The Queen of Hearts, I had another fictional offering to sink my teeth into.
The Queen of Hearts was a Christmas present this year, something that’s been on my wishlist since its release in 2018, but also a book that I was leery of spending money on because A) adult hardcovers are expensive af brand new, and B) the reviews are mixed, so I wasn’t sure if I could justify the expense. I could’ve gotten it on my Kindle, but something else always happened to pop up right when I was deciding which ebook to buy and… you know how it goes.
Anyway, serious props to my mom for getting me this book, because it is amazing.
The Queen of Hearts ping-pongs between the past and the present, chronicling the lives of Zadie Anson— a warm, irresistible pediatric cardiologist— and Emma Colley— a pedantic, socially-awkward trauma surgeon— who have been best friends for 20 years Now consummate professionals with growing families to look after, Zadie and Emma are still thick as thieves, their bond forged by the highs and lows of friendship, and the bones of a tragedy during their third year of residency that both women have steadfastly buried.
But when Nik Xenokostas— then: he was a sexy chief resident. Now: he’s a surgeon, and an unshakeable reminder of the sins of the past— swoops in to work at Emma’s hospital, the line between then and now blurs, forcing them to admit to the choices they made when they were just starting their careers.
I loved this book, there’s no way around it. I know some reviews spoke negatively of the overuse of medical terms and jargon, but I love that stuff. If not for short glimpses in fictional accounts like this— thanks to the dust jacket on the back of the book, readers will find out Martin is actually an emergency medicine doctor— this world would remain as elusive and mysterious to me as Area 51.
Martin’s writing style was both beautiful and easy, her witty sense of humour entrenched throughout the novel. It was the kind of book I was either reading or (when it wasn’t in my hands) thinking about reading.
I must also commend her on handling Zadie and Emma, whose personalities are so different, it’s like writing about a clownfish and a shark. I connected with both characters— Zadie more so. She was loveable even in her ungraceful, human moments. Especially then— and found myself invested in both their past and present, though the mystery of the novel is firmly wrapped up in the former.
The only thing that made me go “Wait . . . what?” was the ending, honestly. I know that sounds ominous, but it’s not. I am both paranoid (too many true crime shows) and fond of holding a grudge, so some actions and reactions on the part of the characters were foreign to me. I could not, for the last jarring section of this book understand the motivation of either women, and I can see why some people might dislike it based on this, but it didn’t ruin the whole novel for me, and was a surprising change of pace.
Martin’s voice is authentic, genuine, and hilarious, and I cannot wait for her next novel.
Rating: 5/5 stars
Recipe: Anatomical Heart Sugar Cookies
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