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Stories of hospitals, the doctors and nurses who inhabit them, plus the patients who wind up in their examining, operating, and emergency rooms, have long been a staple source for literature, films, and television. There is a deep well of drama to draw from in the circumstances that send people to these institutions, and there is also fertile ground to be ploughed in the emotions that can be masked, but never completely hidden behind uniforms, lab coats, and scrubs. When it comes to her examination of St. Louis City Hospital, Applewhite prescribes not only drama and emotion in large dosages, but also humor and humanity to be taken as needed.
The majority of the novel is written via first-person narration from Tom, a medical student performing his first-year internship. From time to time however, the author moves from Tom’s hindsight to real-time dramatization. Such narrative jujitsu can be tricky in less confident hands, but Applewhite has a firm grasp on the story she wants to tell and the way she wants to tell it.
The story unfolds within an aging charity hospital that time, plus wear and tear, has not treated kindly. The young man is soon thrust into a world that tests his mettle to the utmost. It is a world populated by an assemblage of inherently interesting characters. There is the nurse who dispenses helpful hints and homilies and takes no guff from anyone. There is the doctor with a big mouth, a roving eye, and a narcotics addiction he does his best to keep hidden. There is a young wife dying of cancer and her husband who is barely keeping himself together while simultaneously cavorting with an unrepentant floozy. Hovering just a catastrophe or two away, there is also the nurse’s school-age daughter who is twice pregnant, the mentor who doles out life lessons along with assignments, and a leggy police officer who, where Tom is concerned, has more on her mind than simply law and order.
To reveal the chain of cascading events that befall the aforementioned characters would take away from the well-mapped twists, turns, and surprises Applewhite has weaved into her tale. Readers can rest assured that what is in store for the people on the pages covers the gamut of suspense, sacrifice, truth, treachery, life, and death.
Stylistically, the author shows a deft hand when turning a phrase to make a point about human nature. Such as, "When a woman is on the verge of tears, never ask her if she is all right." Perhaps the answer is too obvious. Applewhite’s dialogue is recognizably authentic. Characters speak in a way that seems true to their status, seniority, or education level. She has a sharp ear for dialects and makes it easy for the reader to actually here the voices as well as see the words. Nurse Potts’s grammatically challenged yet sincerely felt retorts and rhetoric ring with genuineness.
Not simply a medical yarn, this is a story about overcoming immense obstacles and eventually accepting the fact that no matter how hard one tries, life rather than man often makes the final decisions. Well-written and entertaining as well as involving, this is a good tale well told.