Bloodletting and miraculous cures

OVERALL RATING Excellent

STRENGTHS Well-written and gripping collection of medical fiction; a page-turner that takes you from student days to medical evacuations to severe acute respiratory syndrome

WEAKNESSES No cohesive theme to bind the stories; some chapters leave readers unsatisfied

AUDIENCE A medical and general literary audience

This book won Canada’s premier literary award, the Giller Prize. The author, Vincent Lam, is an emergency physician currently working in Toronto, Ont. His book is a collection of stories with characters whose lives crisscross over time. The title suggests readers will be able to peek behind the veil of medicine that has progressed beyond bloodletting and miraculous cures. The book discusses the thoughts and worries of people involved in medicine as they progress from premed to medical school to practice, but it does not provide insight into their trials and tribulations. These stories are about moral dilemmas, heartbreak, and devastation.

Lam can accelerate a story to a heart-pounding blur of events and slow it down to reveal the intimate details of an everyday medical event. He does this by bringing readers into the minds of the characters as they deal with these events. One of the best stories unwinds from a dawdling and distracted beginning with a pregnant woman in early labour. Lam introduces agonizing problems in quick succession. From cell phone conversations, the reader learns that the woman’s husband is in another city, and a snowstorm is hindering travel. Anesthesia is unavailable as the fetal heart rate drops. Readers will not put the book down until the story careens to the end.

Some events and characters are contemptible and unethical, which was unsettling. I was frustrated by a lack of a cohesive or redemptive theme, by the unsatisfying conclusions of some stories, and by certain dark story lines. Yet, Lam’s writing is so compelling and challenging that I strongly recommend this award-winning book. Just be prepared to be shocked.

• Copyright© the College of Family Physicians of Canada