The Care of Strangers

Physician Michaelson’s subtle, touching debut tracks the daily life of an orderly at a rundown Brooklyn hospital in the 1980s. Sima, who emigrated from Poland as a child with her mother because of the pervasive anti-Semitism there, has been working at the hospital for four years and, as a white woman, feels like an outsider among the nurses and aides from the West Indies. Sima takes college courses in premed, but her fears that her mother won’t support her plans makes her put off completing her requirements. Slowly, Sima strikes up a friendship with intern Mindy Kahn, a psych rotator trying to learn the ropes. It takes Mindy longer than Sima to see how much the two have in common, as fellow Jewish women struggling with self-determination, but gradually they form a bond. Mindy, whose professional life is often a mess, tends to be more engaging than Sima, but Sima’s smaller battles also gain narrative traction. Meanwhile, brief chapters introduce the struggles of a number of repeat patients at the hospital and a formidable, resourceful nurse. While the plot is more episodic than propulsive, the novel has heart. It’s a slight but affecting glimpse into the evolution of friendship between women facing difficult odds. (Nov.)