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Book Summary and Reviews of Dirty Work by Gabriel Weston

Dirty Work by Gabriel Weston

Dirty Work

by Gabriel Weston

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  • Published:
  • Aug 2014, 192 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

Nancy Mullion, an obstetrician-gynecologist whose botched surgery has put a patient in a life-threatening coma, must face a medical tribunal to determine if she can continue to practice medicine. Nancy's fears about both her patient's chances for survival and whether she will be "undoctored" are made palpable to the reader. Throughout four weeks of intense questioning and accusations, this physician directly confronts for the first time her work as an abortion provider - how it helps the lives of others but takes a heavy toll on her own.

Interweaving memories of Nancy's English and American childhood and adolescence, Dirty Work creates an emotionally charged portrait of one woman's life; the telling of seemingly untellable stories sets her free, as it can all women. Gabriel Weston has given us a truly original, courageous, and meaningful novel.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Starred Review. A medical and moral tour de force." - Publishers Weekly

"Weston writes with an ease that belies the complexity of the message within, without being overly preachy or political." - Booklist

"[Weston]has written a courageous, incisive debut novel that offers a reflective and compassionate view of the medical work and human dimensions surrounding the surgery to end pregnancies" - Library Journal

"Weston has an unwavering passion for the truth as well as the courage to tell it." - The Telegraph (UK)

"Perfectly measured doses of compassion, respect for human dignity and straight-talking attention to detail....A gripping read." - Observer (UK)

"Making Nancy self-aware allows Weston to explore a doctor's feelings in a way that is nuanced and affecting." - Times (UK)

"A lot of books are called 'brave,' and they aren't. Dirty Work is." - Lionel Shriver, author of We Need to Talk About Kevin

This information about Dirty Work was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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Author Information

Gabriel Weston

Gabriel Weston is an ear, nose, and throat surgical specialist. Her memoir, Direct Red: A Surgeon's View of Her Life-or-Death Profession, was named a Best Book of the Year in 2009 by The Economist and The Telegraph, long-listed for the Guardian First Book Award, and received the PEN/Ackerley Prize for Autobiography. She lives in London with her physician husband and their children.

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