The Antidote for Everything
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3.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
In this whip-smart and timely novel from acclaimed author Kimmery Martin, two doctors travel a surprising path when they must choose between treating their patients and keeping their jobs.
Georgia Brown’s profession as a urologist requires her to interact with plenty of naked men, but her romantic prospects have fizzled. The most important person in her life is her friend Jonah Tsukada, a funny, empathetic family medicine doctor who works at the same hospital in Charleston, South Carolina and who has become as close as family to her.
Just after Georgia leaves the country for a medical conference, Jonah shares startling news. The hospital is instructing doctors to stop providing medical care for transgender patients. Jonah, a gay man, is the first to be fired when he refuses to abandon his patients. Stunned by the predicament of her closest friend, Georgia’s natural instinct is to fight alongside him. But when her attempts to address the situation result in incalculable harm, both Georgia and Jonah find themselves facing the loss of much more than their careers.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Martin's solid sophomore effort (following 2018's Queen of Hearts) concerns Charleston urologist Georgia Brown, whose best friend and fellow doctor Jonah becomes the center of a controversy. Usually unlucky in love, Georgia has a meet-cute on an airplane when she saves Mark, a handsome businessman, from an excess of Benadryl and nausea patches. Mark and Georgia click immediately, though Georgia's thoughts often turn to Jonah; his patients have been leaving the clinic and searching out care elsewhere, and though he's an excellent doctor, the rumor mill claims that there have been issues with his care. Georgia and Jonah soon learn that the church-funded hospital has been pushing out trans and gay patients but spinning it to make it seem as if they're leaving because Jonah is a bad doctor. Since Georgia has many of the same patients, she's also a target of the framing and is kicked out of the hospital. The situation escalates as Jonah is fired and the story makes it into the press. Jonah, who's prone to depression, overdoses on Tylenol, shutting down his organs and putting him in a coma. Mark is there for Georgia through it all, though he discovers something about her that endangers their relationship. The two plotlines Georgia and Mark's relationship, and Jonah's possible transgressions don't fully gel into a cohesive whole, but Martin's medical know-how (she's an emergency medicine doctor) elevates the setting and provides authenticity. This will mostly appeal to readers who appreciate complex medical dramas.
