{book review} 'The Doctor's Lady', by Jody Hedlund - Hard to put down

I love historical fiction and truth be told, I'd rather read it than contemporary romances if given the choice.  There's just something about the past that's so foreign and new, as odd as that may seem.  Perhaps I enjoy historical fiction so much because I love history in general and love to imagine how life would be back then before smart phones, electricity, and indoor plumbing.  Recently, Bethany House Publishers sent a list of books that were available to review and Jody Hedlund's The Doctor's Lady jumped right out at me.  I was pleased as punch when it arrived late last week and packed it to take with me on an overnight trip, leaving another book I was reading languishing instead.

I read the bulk of The Doctor's Lady on a lazy Sunday afternoon, curled up in my bed with my heating pad and an achy back.  It was a cozy read and one that I felt immediately drawn into.  The story begins with the heroine, Priscilla White, waiting on news from the Mission Board because she desperately wanted to go to India to spread the Gospel as a missionary.  Unfortunately, the Mission Board refused her request because she is unmarried.  Due to a medical condition, she has chosen not to marry, and is devastated to be denied her dream of being a missionary.

Enter our hero, a doctor, Eli Ernest, who wants to be a missionary too and is also denied due to his marital status.  He doesn't want to marry either, but the two decide on a marriage of convenience so that they can both fulfill their dreams of being a missionary.  They then begin a long, arduous journey to Oregon to minister to the Indians there.  Throughout the book, they face many dangers together and find themselves not minding each others' company after all.  What will it take to finally make these two break down and agree that they were meant to live as a normal husband and wife?

I connected with the characters in this book.  I can only hope I would have been as strong as Priscilla was with all that she faced on her journey west. 

My thanks to Bethany House Publishers for providing a review copy of Jody Hedlund's The Doctor's Lady at no cost to me for the purpose of review.  No compensation was provided to me for making this blog post.


Note:  This post does contain an Amazon Affiliate link (the image) and shopping through that link may benefit me.  This book sells for approximately $10 on Amazon.com.