Book description
A Silent Spring for the human body, this wide-ranging, genre-crossing literary mystery interweaves the author’s quest to understand the source of her own condition with her telling of the story of the chronically ill 19th-century diarist Alice James—ultimately uncovering the many hidden health hazards of life in America.
When Jennifer…
Why read it?
1 author picked American Breakdown as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
I don’t usually read non-fiction: I prefer characters, plots, and being drawn into another universe. But glowing reviews and the fact that a literary figure, Alice James, was involved: I decided to make an exception.
In short, dear reader, I was blown away. Lunden is not only a fine writer, she has a gripping story to tell, not only of her own struggles with a profit-driven medical system, but also how being a woman makes everything even harder.
Lunden puts the “breakdown” of a caring profession (like medicine) into sharp focus. But thankfully (since I really prefer happy endings), she…
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These Blue Mountains
A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.
German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…
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