A Review of The Surgeon's Daughter by Audrey Blake

Rating 4.8/5 stars

As the only female at a prestigious medical school in Bologna, Italy, Nora Beady is an oddity. Due to this, Nora’s unconventional and ambitious goal to become a licensed surgeon offends the men who are Nora’s fellow students, doctors and professors. After all, in the 1840’s, women are expected to stay home and become homemakers. Though, sitting idle is not something that Nora has ever done, having been raised by renowned London surgeon, Dr. Croft. 

Much changes when Nora allies herself with Magdelena Morenco, the only female doctor on staff. Initially unimpressed by Nora, Dr. Morenco soon becomes Nora’s mentor and close friend. Together, the two women develop new techniques on the groundbreaking but yet highly dangerous and frowned upon cesarean section. 

In Italy, Nora gruels to complete her medical degree as quickly as possible as she misses Dr. Croft- the man who raised her, but also her partner, Dr. Daniel Gibson. However, tragedy strikes, causing Nora to take her examination weeks earlier than expected so she is able to return to London, hoping her small family is intact. 

Upon returning to London, Nora is shaken by a wealthy patient who needs her assistance or both the woman and child will die. Her success depends on not only her livelihood, but also the livelihood on Croft and Gibson, and the future of women and the role they could play in the medical field. 

Goodness goodness, oh goodness. I wish that I had recorded some notes whilst listening to The Surgeon’s Daughter by Audrey Blake. There is so much to unpack here, so many raw emotions. Of loss, tragedy, anger, and growth. Nora Beady went through it all in the 19+ hour long audiobook copy narrated by Susan Lyons. 

Whilst in Bologna, Nora faces inequality and much more as she works to become a practicing surgeon. After being driven out of London, Nora knows that her future depends on her success in Bologna. But is success an option when the men around her do nothing but scorn her?

Driven by strong females, The Surgeon’s Daughter is a story I found myself enraptured with. When I wasn’t actively listening to it, I was thinking about it (When my head wasn’t full of Fullmetal Alchemist). The medical details are precise, especially for its time but not gorey nor too difficult to understand. Though, I could probably credit that to the fact that I was obsessed with medical dramas as a teenager and had lofty dreams to become a surgeon before I found out that education was my calling. 

There is also a lot of growth in the book. Though, by the end of it all, Nora is still quite naive, she definitely grows as a woman and a surgeon, having been exposed to the death of her patients and failures of the cesarean sections. 

I found myself thoroughly enjoying this book and enjoyed not only Nora’s perspective, but also Daniel’s. It’s great that Blake included the latter, so readers weren’t left in the dark about the happenings in London while Beady was studying abroad. 

My only complaint though is the fact that I don’t think that Nora ever found any closure in Bologna. She left it quite quickly to get back home due to Croft’s deteriorating health. I feel that the young woman deserved closure. I would have also loved to learn more about Nora’s friendship with Magdelena and what became of that. 

Overall, I found the book enjoyable and rate it a solid 4.8/5 stars. Kudos to Blake for writing such a brilliant novel. 

Also, I had no clue that this book was the second book in a series(?) or duology(?). It was great as a standalone and not difficult to understand if one had not read the first one much like myself, but now I find that I have to go back in time to find out what happened before the events in The Surgeon’s Daughter.

I received this audiobook from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion and feedback. All opinions in this review are my own. 

As always, my book can be found on Goodreads here.

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