A Fortunate Woman

pick

This impressive book manages to acknowledge the enduring weight of Berger's writing. Morland uses her year with an NHS GP to communicate powerful things about healthcare through the life and choices of a family doctor in rural England.

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charl08

A Fortunate Woman | Polly Morland

No more cinema nights at the village hall, or Pilates With Debs on a Tuesday. No impromptu encounters in the doctor's waiting room or over cider and peanuts at the pub. No Saturday market selling curries and jams, no parent and toddler group at the swings, no Open Mic Comedy or Notable Tree Walks or Weaving With Waste or Ecstatic Awakening Dance. No annual raft race, no spring fayres, no village cricket, no bonfire night, no Santa Fun Run.

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charl08

A Fortunate Woman | Polly Morland

She sometimes says to fellow bookworms (who she knows will find the analogy resonant) that her job is like picking your way through some wonderful library with extraordinary tales on every shelf. Reduce any one of your patients to their affliction, the tumorous breast, incompetent heart valve or lazy pancreas, and it's akin to regarding a book as nothing more than paper and ink.

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rockpools

A Fortunate Woman | Polly Morland

Another excellent read from @Mitch ‘s #AuldLangSpine list.

Morland finds a copy of Berger‘s A Fortunate Man, the life of a rural doctor and his patients - and discovers it‘s set in the valley in which she lives. She approaches the current GP, to see if she‘d be interested in working with her on a modern-day version… and here it is.

monalyisha

rockpools I don‘t tend to go for medically books, so I wouldn‘t have picked this up on my own, but I very much appreciated it. The patients‘ stories are told with compassion, the doctor‘s belief in knowing her patients, and above all giving them time, and the conflict with the modern health system, all shine through. And then we reach the pandemic…

This was a really interesting, different look at life as a GP, what we value and what we risk losing. 2y

rockpools Using this for #NonFiction2023 Harper Valley PTA (because it‘s set in The Valley), and #UKRoadTrip #Gloucestershire - which really surprised me. I thought it was Cumbria or somewhere! @Riveted_Reader_Melissa @jenniferw88 2y

Mitch Glad you liked it. It‘s the first book ‘pandemic‘ book I‘ve read and I was worried about that section. But the strength of hope and humanity just shines through. It caught me off guard and really touched my heart 2y

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Mitch

A Fortunate Woman | Polly Morland

pick

The doctors commitment to understanding her patients & building long term relationships is the foundation of her practice. It oozes of respect & humility, of humanity & hope. It‘s the first book I‘ve read that shows the human scale horror & fear of COVID, it was incredibly sad, so be ready for that! Moreland is a gifted writer she spends 95% of the book immersing us in a vision for General Practice- ends articulating that vision for each of us.

rockpools Love your review. 2y

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Mitch

A Fortunate Woman | Polly Morland