Health & Medicine

The Health & Medicine Collection showcases hand-picked fiction and nonfiction titles that focus on the physical and mental health of the human body. This diverse Collection represents the breadth of literature examining human health throughout history, from nonfiction accounts of historical epidemics to novels whose protagonists face mental health conditions.

Left Neglected

by Lisa Genova

Publication year 2011

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Forgiveness, Family

Tags Modern Classic Fiction, Psychology, Psychology, Health

Lisa Genova’s second novel, Left Neglected (2011), is the fictional story of Sarah Nickerson, a high-powered executive whose life changes forever when she is in a serious car accident. Genova is the New York Times bestselling author of several novels, each dealing with a different neurological condition. She graduated from Bates College with a degree in biopsychology and from Harvard University with a doctorate in neuroscience, a background that influences her writing. Other works by... Read Left Neglected Summary

Living Downstream

by Sandra Steingraber

Publication year 1997

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Environment, Animals, Food, Place, Politics & Government, Economics, Education, War, Nation

Tags Science & Nature, Health, Politics & Government, Social Justice, Education, Education, Gender & Feminism

... Read Living Downstream Summary

Medical Apartheid

by Harriet A. Washington

Publication year 2007

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Tags Race & Racism, Science & Nature, World History, Social Justice, Health

In the 2007 nonfiction book Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present, medical researcher Harriet A. Washington describes the long history of American medical experiments on Black Americans. Although some of these abuses are well-known, such as the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, the book presents a comprehensive history that describes the long-standing pattern of exploitative practices. By uncovering how American medicine has been built upon the... Read Medical Apartheid Summary

Mercy

by Jodi Picoult

Publication year 1996

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Family, Mental Health, Equality, Love, Conflict

Tags Realistic Fiction, Romance, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Health, Modern Classic Fiction, Dramatic Literature

... Read Mercy Summary

Midwives

by Chris Bohjalian

Publication year 1997

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Coming of Age, Science & Technology, Truth & Lies

Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Historical Fiction, Health

Midwives (1997) by Chris Bohjalian is a literary novel that blends courtroom drama with a coming-of-age narrative, exploring the moral and legal ambiguities surrounding home birth and medical responsibility. Told retrospectively by the daughter of a midwife who is on trial for involuntary manslaughter, the novel examines themes such as The Debate Between Alternative and Institutionalized Medicine, Growing Up in the Shadow of a Family Scandal, and The Legal System’s Power to Define the Truth.This... Read Midwives Summary

Moloka'i

by Alan Brennert

Publication year 2003

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Perseverance, Nation, Disability

Tags Historical Fiction, Coming of Age, Health, Grief & Death, World History, Arts & Culture

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Mountains Beyond Mountains

by Tracy Kidder

Publication year 2003

Genre Biography, Nonfiction

Themes Equality, Social Class, Economics

Tags Health, Science & Nature, Social Justice, World History, Biography

Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World is a 2003 nonfiction book by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tracy Kidder. It is an expansion of “The Good Doctor,” a 2000 article for The New Yorker and the winner of the 2004 Lettre Ulysses Award for the Art of Reportage. The book profiles Dr. Paul Edward Farmer, co-founder of Partners in Health, as he treats patients in Haiti and... Read Mountains Beyond Mountains Summary

My Sister's Keeper

by Jodi Picoult

Publication year 2004

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Family, Good & Evil, Grief, Guilt, Perseverance, Childhood & Youth, Death, Disability

Tags Dramatic Literature, Health, Disability, Grief & Death, Parenting

My Sister’s Keeper is a 2004 novel by bestselling author Jodi Picoult centered on the controversy of savior siblings. In the novel, Anna Fitzgerald fights for medical emancipation in order to have a choice in whether or not she will donate a kidney to her sister, Kate, who has leukemia. In 2009, the novel was adapted into a feature film released by New Line Cinema. The movie was directed by Nick Cassavetes and starred Cameron... Read My Sister's Keeper Summary

No Apparent Distress

by Rachel Pearson

Publication year 2017

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Tags US History, Health, Poverty, Science & Nature, Biography

No Apparent Distress: A Doctor’s Coming of Age on the Front Lines of American Medicine is author Rachel Pearson’s 2017 account of her intensive medical education and the initial years of her career as a physician. She focuses on stories that illustrate her themes of medical ethics, regret, depression, bias against the poor, and racism. Rather than bogging the reader down in medical jargon, Pearson uses anecdotes to convey her experiences to a layman audience.Pearson... Read No Apparent Distress Summary

Notes on Nursing

by Florence Nightingale

Publication year 1860

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Death, Teamwork, Perseverance, Trust & Doubt, Equality, Community, Education

Tags Health, Psychology, Relationships, Science & Nature, World History, Classic Fiction

Florence Nightingale was an English nurse commonly known as the founder of modern nursing practices. Born in Italy, she became an experienced nurse and formed many of her opinions while serving in the Crimean War, enrolling in nursing school at age 24 in Germany. She penned Notes on Nursing: What It Is, and What it Is Not in 1859, just a few years after serving in the war, and the work was first published in... Read Notes on Nursing Summary