The Queen of Hearts
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4.1 • 127 Ratings
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
A debut novel set against a background of hospital rounds and life-or-death decisions that pulses with humor and empathy and explores the heart's capacity for forgiveness...
Zadie Anson and Emma Colley have been best friends since their early twenties, when they first began navigating serious romantic relationships amid the intensity of medical school. Now they're happily married wives and mothers with successful careers--Zadie as a pediatric cardiologist and Emma as a trauma surgeon. Their lives in Charlotte, North Carolina are chaotic but fulfilling, until the return of a former colleague unearths a secret one of them has been harboring for years.
As chief resident, Nick Xenokostas was the center of Zadie's life--both professionally and personally--throughout a tragic chain of events in her third year of medical school that she has long since put behind her. Nick's unexpected reappearance during a time of new professional crisis shocks both women into a deeper look at the difficult choices they made at the beginning of their careers. As it becomes evident that Emma must have known more than she revealed about circumstances that nearly derailed both their lives, Zadie starts to question everything she thought she knew about her closest friend.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Martin's debut novel is a medical drama about two friends facing the secrets of their past after the reappearance of the man who broke one of their hearts. Zadie Anson, a pediatric cardiologist, and Emma Colley, a surgeon, live in Charlotte, N.C., and have been friends since college, maintaining their relationship through the ups and downs of parenting young children and working in demanding careers. Nick Xenokostas, who was Zadie and Emma's chief resident when they were in medical school, moves to Charlotte and joins Emma's surgical practice. Flashbacks from their alternate points of view reveal events of the year when Zadie and Nick had a brief, tumultuous affair, including the secrets from that year that Emma has kept from Zadie, which could destroy their friendship. With Nick's reappearance, Emma fears that he might tell Zadie some disturbing truths. Meanwhile, she must weather professional angst when a difficult surgery ends badly, leaving her career in jeopardy. Emotional and difficult to put down, Martin's excellent story of friendship is shrewdly plotted and contains a cast of flawed, rich, believable characters. The realistic and vivid medical angle adds to the novel's appeal.
Customer Reviews
Incredibly over rated
I never really got a grasp on the characters. The story was shallow at best. The author seemed more interested in telling fleeting medical stories than offering any depth on the characters.