Of Flesh and Blood … a review
May 11, 2010
I’ve always been a fan of a good medical drama. Long ago, Arthur Hailey’s “Strong Medicine” was a favourite as was Nina Hermann’s “Go Out in Joy”, a hospital chaplain’s memoir. As those were classics of the ’80s it’s clearly been a while! Were it not for a Grey’s Anatomy habit I might find myself seriously in withdrawal.
Fear not! I have just enjoyed a healthy dose of great hospital-based drama and entertainment in the novel “Of Flesh and Blood” by Daniel Kalla. Not only did this story bring me back to a world of enticing patient and practitioner tales but it also reminded me of those great “long-weekender” family sagas of yore like Master of the Game by Sidney Sheldon, Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer, or A Woman of Substance by Barbara Taylor Bradford. I spent the days I had Of Flesh and Blood in tow behaving quite graciously, gratefully even, when the kids dawdled coming out of school or the dentist was unreasonably off his schedule. I was engrossed in the timely issues and traumas and frankly, having fun with intriguing characters engaged in angst, sabotage, naughtiness, pain, and euphoria. There was even a little sass too in the form of the perpetually pickled senior, “Dot”, in her leopard skin leggings. There’s a long weekend ahead and I’ll be here when you feel compelled to stage whisper to a stranger, “Did you know “Blank” was “blank”?!”
Learn more about author Dan Kalla, a fellow Vancouverite, here.
If you are more of a thriller fan than saga lover turn to Dan’s previous books: Pandemic, Rage Therapy, Blood Lies, Resistance and Cold Plague.
You might remember the gorgeous cover from a previous post.
