REVIEW + GIVEAWAY: The Book of Madness and Cures by Regina O'Melveny

Synopsis (from Amazon): 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. 

My Thoughts: Gabriella Mondini shares the same passion for medicine and the cataloguing of diseases and cures as her father.  That is why it was heartbreaking for her when ten years ago, he decided to travel Europe to work on his magnum opus on this topic.  Devastated by the loss of her father and frustrated that she is now unable to practice medicine in her own right due to not having a mentor (women doctors being frowned upon in the 16th Century), Gabriella decides to set off in search of her long lost father using his letters over the years as clues to his potential whereabouts.

In gathering my thoughts on The Book of Madness and Cures, I was having difficulty deciding how I should rate this one.  Overall I did like this book but there were also some parts that were a little rough for me as well.  First, I liked Regina O'Melveny's writing style.  Having written poetry before tossing her hat in the historical fiction arena, her writing has a wonderfully lyrical quality to it.  The letters from Gabriella's father and Gabriella's entries for different forms of madness (and their cures of course!) were one of my favorite parts of the novel. Second, the premise of a female doctor in 16th Century Venice definitely piqued my interest and I did like the character of Gabriella quite a bit. I also like the cast of supporting characters including her devoted nanny Olmina and Olmina's husband Lorenzo who sees Gabriella as a daughter to him.

As the journey unfolds the book does an excellent job of touching upon the various historically significant events occurring in the different countries at the time (i.e the unrest in France due to the Revolution, the influence of the Inquisition...).  The problem for me though, also lies in the journey.  There was really no excitement factor throughout the whole novel.  It basically followed the pattern of journey to a country, talk to a colleague of her father, find out how out of it her father was at that particular stop, and then move on.  Also the entire time I was reading I kept wondering why she would start at the beginning with the very first letter he wrote her instead of starting the journey in the last suspected location of her father.  If I were searching for my long lost parent I would be less interested in tracing his steps and spiral towards madness and more interested in finding him as soon as possible.  Granted the book does state that some of the letters were lacking in locations and dates but not all of them so this just didn't make sense to me.  Also other than  intimations that Gabriella's father was going crazy, it is never really explained what exactly was wrong with him.  Our heroine is a Doctor so why wasn't this addressed?  She just seems to take the explanations of those he encountered on his travels at face value.

 I would put this book somewhere in the middle of the pack of books I've read this year.  I would also like to say that I may be in the minority with my thoughts on this novel because it has gotten great reviews elsewhere: Elle, Publisher's Weekly and Book Page to name a few.

 This book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Up for grabs: one hardcover copy of The Book of Madness and Cures!

Giveaway is open to: US

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Giveaway Ends: Midnight May 5th.  Winner will be announced on May 6th.