Dirty Work

A physician in crisis is at the heart of this intense debut novel from doctor and memoirist Weston (Direct Red). Nancy Mullion is a talented obstetrician-gynecologist, who, as the novel opens, blunders during surgery, leaving her patient in a coma. As a result, Nancy faces suspension and an inquiry into the incident. She spends the following weeks in front of review boards and is subjected to psychological evaluations. She%E2%80%99s left fighting for her career and questioning her commitment to her work. As Nancy begins to crack under the pressure, she dwells on her memories of childhood, adolescence, and her student days. She has suppressed her deep outrage at the medical system%E2%80%99s disregard for patients%E2%80%99 feelings, but over time has also lost her sense of self. Weston writes harrowing medical scenes (lots of blood in these pages), and manages to nail Nancy%E2%80%99s psychological state in a series of small moments depicting her atrophied inner life. Nancy is both a sympathetic and a frustrating character%E2%80%94a balance that becomes all the more precarious after certain details of her work are revealed. As Nancy observes: %E2%80%9CI am a brute and I have the evidence. But I am compassionate, too.%E2%80%9D While Weston%E2%80%99s ambitions for the book initially seem modest (i.e., plumbing the depths of a single surgical mistake and its aftermath), she raises profound questions by the conclusion. A medical and moral tour de force. (Aug.)