432 pages Berkley Publisher February 21,2023 publish date.
About The Book
She gave up everything — and changed the world.
A riveting novel based on the true story of the woman who stopped a pandemic, from the bestselling author of Mrs. Poe.
In 1940s and ’50s America, polio is as dreaded as the atomic bomb. No one’s life is untouched by this disease that kills or paralyzes its victims, particularly children. Outbreaks of the virus across the country regularly put American cities in lockdown. Some of the world’s best minds are engaged in the race to find a vaccine. The man who succeeds will be a god.
But Dorothy Horstmann is not focused on beating her colleagues to the vaccine. She just wants the world to have a cure. Applying the same determination that lifted her from a humble background as the daughter of immigrants, to becoming a doctor –often the only woman in the room–she hunts down the monster where it lurks: in the blood.
This discovery of hers, and an error by a competitor, catapults her closest colleague to a lead in the race. When his chance to win comes on a worldwide scale, she is asked to sink or validate his vaccine—and to decide what is forgivable, and how much should be sacrificed, in pursuit of the cure.
Grab A Copy Here
My Thoughts
Reading historical fiction based on fact has always fascinated me. I love what I can learn from reading it. Historical fiction has definitely improved in that aspect. The writing gets more realistic and filled with facts all the time.
In the 40’s and 50’s polio was a dreaded disease so many people got it, many becoming paralyzed and some spending their time in an iron lung. In the 50’s and sixties there were several scientists and researchers, several listed in the book who were in a race against the clock to formulate the vaccination for polio before another outbreak that killed many. The book focuses on several of these developers of the vaccination including a woman by the name of Dorothy Horstman. She tirelessly worked, not getting the acclaim she deserved for her discoveries. Dorothy had a theory, that if listened to by the male scientists could have saved many lives but it went against the theory the scientific community thought at the time was correct. It took over ten years and much more painstaking research for her hypothesis to be proven correct and she had to share the credit with a man, David Bodian who came up with this information years after she did.
Back in those days women were not expected to be researchers or scientists.
I am so thankful for the advances in the medical field even though we have a long way to go still especially in advances in the brain and the treatments of Alzheimer’s.
I enjoy reading books that show the strength of women and how they are empowered. My hats off to the developments women have contributed to the medical field.
Pub Date 21 Feb 2023
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.
About The Author
National bestselling author Lynn Cullen grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Her novel, MRS. POE was named a Book of the Week by People Magazine, a Target Book Club Pick, an NPR 2013 Great Read, an Indie Next List selection. the book of the month at Costco, an Oprah Book of the Week, and Best of 2013 by Atlanta Magazine. TWAIN’S END was a People Magazine Book of the Week, a Townsend Prize finalist, an Indie Next selection, and named a Book All Georgians Should Read by the Georgia Center for the Book. Her novels have been translated into seventeen languages and she has appeared on PBS American Masters. Her newest novel, THE SISTERS OF SUMMIT AVENUE, will be released September 2019 and is available for pre-order. She lives in Atlanta with her large family when not on the road researching her next book.
Thank you for visiting today. Have a wonderful day.
Vegan Book Blogger 