The Book of Madness and Cures

A Novel

By: Regina O'Melveny

Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren

Dr. Gabriella Mondini, a strong-willed, young Venetian woman, has followed her father in the path of medicine. She possesses a singleminded passion for the art of physick, even though, in 1590, the male-dominated establishment is reluctant to accept a woman doctor. So when her father disappears on a mysterious journey, Gabriella's own status in the Venetian medical society is threatened. Her father has left clues -- beautiful, thoughtful, sometimes torrid, and often enigmatic letters from his travels as he researches his vast encyclopedia, The Book of Diseases.

After ten years of missing his kindness, insight, and guidance, Gabriella decides to set off on a quest to find him -- a daunting journey that will take her through great university cities, centers of medicine, and remote villages across Europe. Despite setbacks, wary strangers, and the menaces of the road, the young doctor bravely follows the clues to her lost father, all while taking notes on maladies and treating the ill to supplement her own work.

Gorgeous and brilliantly written, and filled with details about science, medicine, food, and madness, The Book of Madness and Cures is an unforgettable debut.

Reconciling the past and the present!

Gabriella, the main character, earned my admiration with her plucky courage and determination as she followed an adventurous and sometimes dangerous journey in pursuit of her missing father. I was envious of the devotion of her maid and manservant,as well as her new friend, Hamisch. Who will endear themselves to readers. And, her inability to see herself and her own situation as clearly as she sees the maladies of others was at times comical and at others frustrating. The glimpses of the historical perspective of illness and cures was fascinating and any writings on plants and their uses always interest me! Thank you, Regina O'Melveny, for this fascinating literary offering.

Rambling

While I appreciated the descriptions of place and people, I found myself bored on several occasions. The story rambled on with very little to keep my attention. My favorite genre is historical fiction, but this one just didn’t hit the mark for me.

A true disappointment

I was expecting this book to be great! It had a great hook and progressed well until about 3/4 of the way through where it began to get lazy. The author seemed to "and then" the rest of the book. The ending was disappointing at best and left me feeling as if I had wasted my time and an audible credit. It had such promise!

Interesting but maybe too strange for me

Ever author has something in mind when they write a story. Every reader gets something from that story. For me, the story about the main characters in the 1500's was really interesting, but the rest of the story read like 'ONE FLEW OVER THE COOCOE'S NEST' for me. Psychotic or schizophrenic ramblings with mythical cures. Eat from the wall and disappear---dream about something and end up someplace else----butterflies doing ?what?. Think I'm too literal about medical and psychological issues to really appreciate those parts of the book.

Not Motivated to Finish

I was really excited to listen to this book as I'm going to Italy on vacation, and really liked the plot synopsis. But, after two hours, I gave up. The writing was very good, but it felt like more of a report than a novel. She went here. She went there. This happened. That happened. And, the main character seemed to have no personality. I hate it when a credit is wasted!