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| About the Book |
THE BEAUTY DOCTOR: A NOVEL
Author: Elizabeth Hutchison Bernard
Publication Date: January 4,
2024
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
Page Length: 327
Genre: Historical Mystery Suspense
Audiobook narrator: Lisa Bozek
A Bone-Chilling Mystery-Suspense-Thriller Set in the Edwardian Era
Finalist, Eric Hoffer Book Award
"Beauty is power," Dr. Rome told her. "And with enough power, one can achieve anything."
Straightening noses, trimming eyelids, lifting jowls . . . In the year 1907, his revolutionary beauty surgery is considered daring, perhaps dangerous. Still, women want what Dr. Rome promises. Neither is his young assistant Abigail Platford immune to Dr. Rome's persuasive charm.
Abigail once dreamed of becoming a doctor, though of a much different sort. That dream ended with her father's tragic death from a medical error for which she holds herself responsible. Dr. Rome, who proudly displays his medical degree from Johns Hopkins, seems to believe in her. If he were willing to act as her mentor, might there still be a chance to realize her dream of someday becoming a doctor serving New York City's poor?
But something feels terribly wrong, as though an insidious evil is closing in. Broken promises, lies, and intrigues abound. The powerful are threatening to destroy the weak, and a doctor's sacred duty hangs in the balance. Abigail no longer knows who to believe; but with Dr. Rome now her mentor and her lover, she desperately wants to trust him.
Even when she discovers that one of their patients has mysteriously disappeared.
From bestselling author Elizabeth Hutchison Bernard, a suspenseful work of historical fiction grounded in the social and moral issues of the Edwardian era in America. Second Edition with Author's Preface.
This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.
Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/316BAr
ABOUT the AUTHOR
Elizabeth Hutchison Bernard is the author of bestselling historical novels. Her 2023 release, Sisters of Castle Leod, is an Amazon Kindle #1 Bestseller (Historical Biographical Fiction, Historical Literary Fiction), winner of the 2023 Maxy Award for Historical and Adventure Fiction, and an Editors’ Choice of the Historical Novel Society. Her biographical novel Temptation Rag (2018) was hailed by Publishers Weekly as a “resonant novel . . . about the birth and demise of ragtime . . . in which romance and creative passions abound.” Elizabeth’s 2017 historical mystery-suspense-thriller, The Beauty Doctor, was a finalist for the prestigious Eric Hoffer Book Award. The book’s re-release (Jan. 4, 2024) features a stunning new cover and an Author Preface with insights into social and moral issues of the Edwardian era that frame this shocking fictional story set in the early days of cosmetic surgery. Before becoming a full-time author, Elizabeth was executive editor of an international aesthetic surgery journal, and senior consultant to the National Cosmetic Network in conjunction with Johns Hopkins University’s plastic surgery educational program.
Learn more about Elizabeth and her books at www.EHBernard.com.
Twitter:
https://www.X.com/EHBernardAuthor
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/EHBernardAuthor
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/EHBernardAuthor
Amazon Author Page:
https://www.amazon.com/stores/Elizabeth-Hutchison-Bernard/author/B072N681MZ
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16953486.Elizabeth_Hutchison_Bernard
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| Read An Excerpt |
Excerpt from Chapter Twelve of THE BEAUTY DOCTOR
by Elizabeth Hutchison Bernard
Abigail
stared down at the injured girl. She was shivering, and her eyes were glazed
over. The little whining noise she made sounded like a frightened puppy.
“Aren’t
you going to do something?”
“Yes,
of course.” She tried to order her thoughts. The necessary sequence was
obvious: Stop the bleeding, clean the wound, sew it up. She mustn’t act
precipitously. The first part might be easy, but after that ...
“Keep
pressing hard on this towel.” She took the boy’s hand and placed it where hers
had been. Then she sprang into action, rolling up her sleeves on the way to the
metal sink, where she vigorously scrubbed her hands and arms with soap and
water. Next, she sterilized a small basin of water in the autoclave and went to
the medicine cabinet for a bottle of iodine.
Returning
to the table, she took over from the boy. A few more minutes of pressure halted
the bleeding. Once it had stopped, she washed out the wound with water and
iodine. Thankfully, the bite had missed the artery; still, the repair job would
be considerable. She had learned from watching Franklin how to close a wound
with finesse, running the stitches in such a way as to minimize the eventual
appearance of the scar. But even with her best efforts, the little girl would
be badly disfigured. She could only hope there would be no infection to
complicate matters further.
A
sudden thought gave her pause. What if the dog was rabid? She looked over at
the boy. He was leaning against the sink, his arms crossed over his chest, head
down.
“Was
it a stray dog?”
He
looked up with a start. “You won’t tell nobody, right?”
“Who
would I tell?”
“The
police maybe.”
“Why
would the police be interested?”
“They
wouldn’t,” he blurted. “But the dog—they might try to take him away. He didn’t
mean to do it. He’s a good dog. Really, he is.”
Abigail
heard the anguish in his voice, and her heart went out to him. She had always
wanted a dog; her mother had forbidden it. “He’s your dog?” she asked gently.
“Yes,
ma’am. I found him in the alley. Somebody’d beat him up pretty bad, left him
for dead. I took care of him ‘til he got better. My sister—she likes him.
Sometimes he licks her face. This time, though ... it was just an accident.”
“Things
like that happen sometimes,” she said, trying to reassure him. “You’re certain
the dog isn’t sick? Was he acting strangely before?”
“No,
ma’am. Not strange at all. Somebody came up behind him and made a loud noise,
that’s all. It scared him.”
“All
right then.” She could only hope he was telling the truth. “Why don’t you go
lie down on the bed in there,” she said, nodding toward the adjacent recovery
room. He shuffled off, and within a minute or two she heard him snoring.
So
far, her patient had stayed still and mostly quiet. Abigail wasn’t even sure
the child heard her soft reassurances. But despite the little girl’s compliance
up to now, Abigail would need her unconscious to complete the job; otherwise,
the pain of the needle would be intolerable. This was the decision she had
dreaded, though she’d already settled her mind on using chloroform. She had
observed Franklin administer it several times. But there were dangers.
Determining the proper dosage was critical. Too little would not have the
desired effect on the central nervous system. Too much could paralyze the
lungs, leading to death. In determining the dosage, she must consider that her
patient weighed less than fifty pounds.
Her
patient. Her responsibility. Was she truly ready? Was she right to take this
innocent life into her own hands—acting as a doctor without being one?
Plagued
by uncertainty, she went to fetch the chloroform and mask, a nose-shaped metal
cage with a hinged rim to hold a cloth in place. Stopping the bleeding,
cleaning the wound—those things were relatively simple. But anesthesia could be
deadly. What if she made a mistake?
She
went back to the table and stared down at the child. Such a beautiful little
angel entrusted now to her, alone. Suddenly, she was in her father’s office, on
that dreadful afternoon when she was called on to make a judgment that would
change everything, forever. Her father fell to the floor, hyperventilating, his
arms flailing, his body contorted. For a moment, she watched in horror, unable
to comprehend what was happening. He had no history of epilepsy. But she must
do something! She went to the cabinet, saw the grim reflection of her face in
the glass. Opened the door, searched for the bottle of potassium bromide,
reached for it ...
Abigail
squeezed her eyes shut, so tightly it hurt. Would she never forgive herself?
Would she never believe what the others had said—that even a doctor would
likely have made the same decision and treated him for epilepsy? There was no
way to have known it was his heart.
She
opened her eyes and, hands shaking, dripped a small amount of the
sweet-smelling liquid onto the cloth. “I’m going to put you to sleep for a
little while,” she said in a soft voice. “And when you wake up, you’ll be much
better.” She held the mask to the little girl’s nose and mouth. If done
properly, the effect should be gradual, possibly taking several minutes, during
which she must remain vigilant, focused on the child’s breathing, alert to any
irregularity, any sign of weakening.
The
seconds ticked by ... one minute, then two, three. The child’s breath stayed
steady. Finally, when she thought it must be long enough, she removed the mask.
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Hashtags: #historicalfiction #historicalmystery #cosmeticsurgeryhistory #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub
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Website: https://helenhollick.net/
Amazon Author Page: https://viewauthor.at/HelenHollick
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Thank you for hosting Elizabeth Hutchison Bernard today, with an excerpt from The Beauty Doctor.
ReplyDeleteTake care,
Cathie xx
The Coffee Pot Book Club
as always, my pleasure
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