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Healer
From national bestselling author Carol Cassella comes the story of one doctor's struggle to hold her family together through a storm of broken trust and questioned ethics.
Claire is at the start of her medical career when she falls in love with Addison Boehning, a biochemist with blazing genius and big dreams. A complicated pregnancy deflects Claire's professional path, and she is forced to drop out of her residency. Soon thereafter Addison invents a simple blood test for ovarian cancer, and his biotech start-up lands a fortune. Overnight the Boehnings are catapulted into a financial and social tier they had never anticipated or sought: they move into a gracious Seattle home and buy an old ranch in the high desert mountains of eastern Washington, and Claire drifts away from medicine to become a full-time wife and mother.
Then Addison gambles everything on a cutting-edge cancer drug, and when the studies go awry, their comfortable life is swept away. Claire and her daughter, Jory, move to a dilapidated ranch house in rural Hallum, where Claire has to find a job until Addison can salvage his discredited lab. Her only offer for employment comes from a struggling public health clinic, but Claire gets more than a second chance at medicine when she meets Miguela, a bright Nicaraguan immigrant and orphan of the contra war who has come to the United States on a secret quest to find the family she has lost. As their friendship develops, a new mystery unfolds that threatens to destroy Claire's family and forces her to question what it truly means to heal.
Healer exposes the vulnerabilities of the American family, provoking questions of choice versus fate, desire versus need, and the duplicitous power of money.
Claire is at the start of her medical career when she falls in love with Addison Boehning, a biochemist with blazing genius and big dreams. A complicated pregnancy deflects Claire's professional path, and she is forced to drop out of her residency. Soon thereafter Addison invents a simple blood test for ovarian cancer, and his biotech start-up lands a fortune. Overnight the Boehnings are catapulted into a financial and social tier they had never anticipated or sought: they move into a gracious Seattle home and buy an old ranch in the high desert mountains of eastern Washington, and Claire drifts away from medicine to become a full-time wife and mother.
Then Addison gambles everything on a cutting-edge cancer drug, and when the studies go awry, their comfortable life is swept away. Claire and her daughter, Jory, move to a dilapidated ranch house in rural Hallum, where Claire has to find a job until Addison can salvage his discredited lab. Her only offer for employment comes from a struggling public health clinic, but Claire gets more than a second chance at medicine when she meets Miguela, a bright Nicaraguan immigrant and orphan of the contra war who has come to the United States on a secret quest to find the family she has lost. As their friendship develops, a new mystery unfolds that threatens to destroy Claire's family and forces her to question what it truly means to heal.
Healer exposes the vulnerabilities of the American family, provoking questions of choice versus fate, desire versus need, and the duplicitous power of money.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published July 13, 2010
82 people are currently reading
1549 people want to read
About the author
Carol Cassella
4 books251 followersCarol Cassella, M.D. is a practicing physician and national bestselling author of two novels, Oxygen (2008) and Healer (2010), both published by Simon & Schuster and translated into more than a dozen languages. She majored in English Literature at Duke University and attended Baylor College of Medicine. Carol is board certified in both internal medicine and anesthesiology, and practiced primary care with a focus on cross cultural and underserved populations before becoming an anesthesiologist. Prior to writing fiction she wrote for the Global Health division of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, covering their grant projects throughout the developing world. She is a Wall Street Journal Expert Panelist and Associate Editor of Mind to Mind, the literary section in Anesthesiology, the journal of the American Society of Anesthesiology. She is a founding member of Seattle7Writers, a non-profit supporting literacy and reading in the Pacific Northwest, and also serves on medical boards working in Nicaragua and Bhutan. Carol lives on Bainbridge Island, Washington with her husband and two sets of twins. She is the author of the novels Oxygen and Healer, both published by Simon & Schuster. Her third novel Gemini is scheduled for release in March, 2014.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 328 reviews
March 22, 2014
This story resonated with me. Claire Boehning and her family are catapulted back to the real world after her biochemist husband's brilliant but flawed cure for cancer is scrapped in the testing phase. They have become very used to all the trappings and privileges that go along with being very rich.Picking up the pieces of their lives and starting again is really the easy part.Letting go of past habits,forgiving and moving on from mistakes and secrets is the challenge.
Anyone who has been caught up in a financial mess, can empathize with Claire.One doesn't have to be rich to have dealt with this issue.Losing your financial security is like a death. And all the phases have to be worked through.
Granted she had more to fall back on then many people. She was a doctor, but had left her residency before she became board certified. So employment opportunities were scarce. And she had a vacation home to retreat to when they lost their McMansion, but one that was falling down around their ears for lack of attention and money.Bring a spoiled fourteen year girl into the equation and the scene is set for a long hard slog back to a new normal.
Along with Claire's story the author brought an interesting subplot into the mix,highlighting the plight of the thousands of migrant workers that live in the shadows of our society.Workers who pick the fruits and vegetables that grace our tables, but who labor without financial security of any kind. No insurance, disability, and little if any recourse when they are wronged or abused by their employers.
And I liked the ending, though some may say it was a bit contrived.I love it when people find a way to make life work. We are a country of second chances. I like happy endings.
Anyone who has been caught up in a financial mess, can empathize with Claire.One doesn't have to be rich to have dealt with this issue.Losing your financial security is like a death. And all the phases have to be worked through.
Granted she had more to fall back on then many people. She was a doctor, but had left her residency before she became board certified. So employment opportunities were scarce. And she had a vacation home to retreat to when they lost their McMansion, but one that was falling down around their ears for lack of attention and money.Bring a spoiled fourteen year girl into the equation and the scene is set for a long hard slog back to a new normal.
Along with Claire's story the author brought an interesting subplot into the mix,highlighting the plight of the thousands of migrant workers that live in the shadows of our society.Workers who pick the fruits and vegetables that grace our tables, but who labor without financial security of any kind. No insurance, disability, and little if any recourse when they are wronged or abused by their employers.
And I liked the ending, though some may say it was a bit contrived.I love it when people find a way to make life work. We are a country of second chances. I like happy endings.
September 14, 2010
I found the family in this book difficult to like. The father, a brilliant biochemist, has struck it rich and then struck out, as in out of money, homes, or even a $200 diamond necklace for the whiney kid Jory, who doesn't get it. And why should she get it, that her family is horribly, astoundingly broke overnight? It didn't happen overnight, of course, but the husband/father Addison has finally broken the news to Claire, that they now have nothing and have to sell everything else. Claire, an unpracticing doctor who did not finish her residency nor take her boards, gets a job for the first time since her marriage: she becomes a doctor at a clinic for the poor. This situation leaves everyone insecure. Will Claire forgive her husband for betting all their personal assets on his new discovery without even telling her first? Will Addison ever find the molecules he craves to cure cancer and make his family rich again? Will anyone tell Jory the whole truth so she can understand her plight and start being a good kid again? Will this family stay together? If Addison ever discovers a new drug, will he go for a Utility Patent the instant he gets a Provisional?
I found the wealthy times of this family hard to imagine. I found it hard to accept that Claire, who becomes so dedicated at the clinic, could have been so frivolous or inconsequential as a rich man's wife. I hope that Jory gets back in toe shoes ASAP so that she can live her dreams and enjoy the pain.
I found the wealthy times of this family hard to imagine. I found it hard to accept that Claire, who becomes so dedicated at the clinic, could have been so frivolous or inconsequential as a rich man's wife. I hope that Jory gets back in toe shoes ASAP so that she can live her dreams and enjoy the pain.
October 11, 2010
Healer, Carol Cassella's sophomore novel, is a solid family drama with an original storyline that is very in tune with today. Claire and Addison Boehning were one of Seattle's golden couples who went from struggling to rich almost overnight when Addison, a biochemist, discovered a way to test for ovarian cancer in its very early stages. They have one daughter, Jory, who is fourteen. When the book opens, Addison has invested and lost the family's home and savings in a new project that developed problems in initial testing. The family has been forced to sell their home in Seattle and move into their unrenovated vacation home located in the mountains of eastern Washington. Claire is hunting for a job as a family physician, a profession she has never actually practiced as she was 3 months shy of completing her residency when Jory arrived prematurely. Unable to have any other children, Claire chose to stay at home with her one child rather than return to complete her residency and board certification. Unfortunately, that choice has left her with few options for locating a position from which to launch her medical career. She eventually takes the only position offered her as a doctor in nonprofit clinic for migrant laborers where the hours are long and the pay extremely low. Meanwhile, Addison is trying to drum up new investors so he can continue work on his project that already has cost him almost everything he owns.
As a practicing anesthesiologist, Cassella uses her professional knowledge and experience with the medical community to craft a very original plot that explores the way medical research is done in the United States. At the same time as Addison finds a wealthy investor who seems eager to provide new funding for Addison's project, Claire has discovered that some patients at her clinic, immigrant migrant workers, have been enrolled in clinical trials for another drug. Through these two situations, Cassella exposes some little known loopholes in clinical drug testing, as well as drawing a grim picture of the life of the migrant workers who pick the nation's crops. The author provides some aesthetic release to these clinical tensions with her lyrical portrayals of the rugged landscape.
While the medical plot proved sufficient to carry the novel, I sometimes found myself tiring of Claire's constant inner dialogue about her relationships with Addison and Jory and her constant flashbacks to Jory's infancy and childhood. The economic aspects of the family's situation produced the biggest weakness in the story as the parents seemed to have or not have money to pay for things based on whether or not it allowed the characters to do what the author wanted and not what their economic situation would dictate. I found these moments jarringly unrealistic and they left me unable to take Claire's character seriously. However, despite these flaws, Healer is an interesting novel which I recommend for fiction readers who enjoy medical and/or family drama.
As a practicing anesthesiologist, Cassella uses her professional knowledge and experience with the medical community to craft a very original plot that explores the way medical research is done in the United States. At the same time as Addison finds a wealthy investor who seems eager to provide new funding for Addison's project, Claire has discovered that some patients at her clinic, immigrant migrant workers, have been enrolled in clinical trials for another drug. Through these two situations, Cassella exposes some little known loopholes in clinical drug testing, as well as drawing a grim picture of the life of the migrant workers who pick the nation's crops. The author provides some aesthetic release to these clinical tensions with her lyrical portrayals of the rugged landscape.
While the medical plot proved sufficient to carry the novel, I sometimes found myself tiring of Claire's constant inner dialogue about her relationships with Addison and Jory and her constant flashbacks to Jory's infancy and childhood. The economic aspects of the family's situation produced the biggest weakness in the story as the parents seemed to have or not have money to pay for things based on whether or not it allowed the characters to do what the author wanted and not what their economic situation would dictate. I found these moments jarringly unrealistic and they left me unable to take Claire's character seriously. However, despite these flaws, Healer is an interesting novel which I recommend for fiction readers who enjoy medical and/or family drama.
October 14, 2010
I have mixed emotions about this book. I enjoyed the storylines between Claire and Addison, and the parent/child -- even when she goes looking for a job after losing all their money that Addison gambled away on their future with his new drug to help cure cancer, without her knowing it I might add! I mean who wouldn't enjoy a book like that.
However the family frustrated me because even when they didn't have money to spend, they spent it!
My main complaint is I really enjoyed the book until the end. It fell really flat for me at the end. That is all she is going to give me I guess -- just left it like there wasn't a good ending to give it?
I will pick up other books by this author however. She has a talent for writing, if down the line that becomes a bit more refined!
However the family frustrated me because even when they didn't have money to spend, they spent it!
My main complaint is I really enjoyed the book until the end. It fell really flat for me at the end. That is all she is going to give me I guess -- just left it like there wasn't a good ending to give it?
I will pick up other books by this author however. She has a talent for writing, if down the line that becomes a bit more refined!
July 14, 2015
This book started out on a good track. It seemed to jump right into the plot and was a good storyline. However, it seemed like Cassella stalled out on her story and lost track of where she wanted to go with the plot. It started jumping around all over the place dealing with too many issues at once, when I think it would have been better to stay focused on what she started out with. By the end things were confusing and mixed up and I got the feeling that the author just lost her footing. The ending was anti-climactic and a general let down. Nothing was really resolved. I have loved this authors works, both nonfiction and fiction, in the past but this just isn't her best work. This only gets 3 stars.
October 8, 2025
I love this author so much and wish she would write more!!! Her book Oxygen is one of my most favorite of all time and this one was not far behind that. It still has a medical theme, but not too much where you feel like you’re reading a text book. The theme of family drama, teenagers, money, and doing the right thing kept my attention - I did not want to stop reading. Dr. Cassella, PLEASE , I am begging you ~ publish more books!
October 5, 2010
The Boehnings were a family who at one time had it all. A lakefront McMansion in Washington State, a vacation getaway in the mountains, and all the other material things that go hand in hand with success. Addison was a brilliant Bio Chemist, and his company made it big when he discovered a simple blood test to detect ovarian cancer. As the novel opens, Claire is moving into the Hallum, Washington vacation home which is in desperate need of updating, along with the couple's fourteen year old daughter Jory. Her husband, Addison, without Claire's knowledge, gambled their life savings and even their home on an experimental cancer drug, whose trial testings go badly.
How could Claire have been so blind? A bright woman in her own right, Claire was in her residency in medical school when a difficult pregnancy forced her to end her residency early. She spent the last fourteen years as a stay-at-home mom. Now she finds herself searching for work in the medical field. The only position she can find, without being board-certified, is a job at an understaffed clinic that serves primarily the indigent and the migrant worker population. Rusty in both skills, and Spanish, Claire works long hours to keep her family afloat while Addison searches for other backers in business.
Claire befriends a woman from Nicaragua who develops a bond with daughter Jory. The woman is not completely honest with Claire, and Claire soon learns a secret about what happened to the woman's daughter. The revelation brings up medical ethics issues, and this subplot becomes significant within the story.
I liked this story, but not quite as much as her first novel, Oxygen, which I loved. I felt angry at Addison for being secretive about family finances. While he was off traveling and trying to rebuild his career, Claire was left to deal with the aftermath. She had all the pressure and demands placed on her as a result of his bad decisions. Claire kept her cool and did what she needed to do to keep things as harmonious as possible given the circumstances. I doubt I would have acted in a similar manner. The title is significant, and, in my opinion, Claire was the true Healer in this story: herself, her family and others in need, in the process.
The author practices anesthesiology in Seattle, and her writing style reflects her knowledge in the field of medicine. The novel gives you much to think about regarding ethical issues, the ups and downs of a marriage, and child rearing. If you enjoy stories with a strong and sympathetic female protagonist, then this might be just the novel for you. RECOMMENDED
How could Claire have been so blind? A bright woman in her own right, Claire was in her residency in medical school when a difficult pregnancy forced her to end her residency early. She spent the last fourteen years as a stay-at-home mom. Now she finds herself searching for work in the medical field. The only position she can find, without being board-certified, is a job at an understaffed clinic that serves primarily the indigent and the migrant worker population. Rusty in both skills, and Spanish, Claire works long hours to keep her family afloat while Addison searches for other backers in business.
Claire befriends a woman from Nicaragua who develops a bond with daughter Jory. The woman is not completely honest with Claire, and Claire soon learns a secret about what happened to the woman's daughter. The revelation brings up medical ethics issues, and this subplot becomes significant within the story.
I liked this story, but not quite as much as her first novel, Oxygen, which I loved. I felt angry at Addison for being secretive about family finances. While he was off traveling and trying to rebuild his career, Claire was left to deal with the aftermath. She had all the pressure and demands placed on her as a result of his bad decisions. Claire kept her cool and did what she needed to do to keep things as harmonious as possible given the circumstances. I doubt I would have acted in a similar manner. The title is significant, and, in my opinion, Claire was the true Healer in this story: herself, her family and others in need, in the process.
The author practices anesthesiology in Seattle, and her writing style reflects her knowledge in the field of medicine. The novel gives you much to think about regarding ethical issues, the ups and downs of a marriage, and child rearing. If you enjoy stories with a strong and sympathetic female protagonist, then this might be just the novel for you. RECOMMENDED
July 16, 2010
This is a novel following her first book,Oxygen. The author, Carol Cassella is an anesthesiologist in Seattle, WA and understands both medicine and the health care system.
The Healer of the title is Claire Addison. She is a doctor who hasn't practiced medicine in over 14 years. She has been wife to Addison and mother to now teen Jory. Addison is a biochemist. His invention of a blood test for ovarian cancer gives him fame and fortune. He risks it all on the development of another cancer drug. When the rats being tested have liver complications the study is halted and his cushy life is ruined. While he tries to put things back together, Claire and their daughter Jory move to their summer home in rural Hallum. Claire gets a job in a public health clinic treating third world patients, many from the orchards. There she forms a bond with Miguela, a Nicaraguan immigrant who forges a special connection with Jory.
I enjoyed the story, the characters and the medical problems. This book will make you think about immigration, public health care and the ethics of medical testing. This would make a great book club read as there is so many issues to discuss.
The Healer of the title is Claire Addison. She is a doctor who hasn't practiced medicine in over 14 years. She has been wife to Addison and mother to now teen Jory. Addison is a biochemist. His invention of a blood test for ovarian cancer gives him fame and fortune. He risks it all on the development of another cancer drug. When the rats being tested have liver complications the study is halted and his cushy life is ruined. While he tries to put things back together, Claire and their daughter Jory move to their summer home in rural Hallum. Claire gets a job in a public health clinic treating third world patients, many from the orchards. There she forms a bond with Miguela, a Nicaraguan immigrant who forges a special connection with Jory.
I enjoyed the story, the characters and the medical problems. This book will make you think about immigration, public health care and the ethics of medical testing. This would make a great book club read as there is so many issues to discuss.
July 17, 2011
Claire is truly a healer, beginning with her own family. When her husband loses everything, keeping her in the dark about most of it, she and her daughter move to their second home in a remote area of Washington. This move is from a lavish, pretty much over the top lifestyle into a house that is barely heated. Claire goes back to work as a doctor in a health clinic, even though she has never really worked as a doctor, having left the profession when her daughter was born over fourteen years ago. Claire's husband is still trying to salvage what is left of his breakthrough medical discovery, but Claire is practical enough to know that someone has to make money to at least buy food, and that someone will have to be her. Finding herself becoming more involved with the clinic and the patients who need her, Claire realizes that there are much more important things in life than money and prestige. This was a beautiful lesson about understanding what is important in life. This book has some great insights into what it means to love and trust, not only the people within your own family, but strangers who can touch your heart and open your eyes.
February 17, 2011
I've added Carol Cassella to my favorite authors list. I had read and loved Cassella's debut novel, Oxygen and hoped that this book would live up to the first. I am pleased to say if anything, Healer is better. Cassella is a practicing anesthesiologist. This gives her a lot of insight to the medical world and health care issues. These are blended throughout Healer in a way that draws the reader in. Her characters are interesting studies of people who seem so real that you might know them. Her exploration of love, marriage and family facing financial ruin is compelling. Additional themes of immigration, drug testing and class, make for one great read. A medical novel for those wanting something less frightening and more thought provoking than the usual medical thriller.
Add it to your pile!
Add it to your pile!
November 17, 2010
As I get closer to (possible) retirement, my fondness for books about smug, well-off people who end up poor because of unwise financial decisions is starting to wane. I used to love these books in a totally mean, schadenfreudy way, but now they make me uneasy. This book is about a woman whose husband's pharma-based wealth vanishes, forcing her to move with her daughter to a decaying old house in the wilds of Washington and work at a rundown medical clinic (where, of course, she finds her true calling). I enjoyed it as a good, well-plotted novel (interesting info about how new drugs are developed and marketed), but I didn't experience that hand-rubbing, Suck It Rich People! delight of a few years ago. Perhaps I am growing as a human? Nah.
December 12, 2010
If you want to read a book that repeats, repeats and repeats the same story line over and over and over again - this is your book. I was bored to tears reading this book. You know how you are watching a bad movie and you keep waiting for it to get better, that is how I felt with this book and it just never got there. I finished reading only because I gave up on my last book I read, and couldn't do it again.
December 10, 2010
Claire Boehning is dealing with a lot these days. After a disastrous complication with her husband Addison's new drug research, Claire and her small family are left financially destitute. This is a severe change, as in the days leading up to the disaster, Claire, Addison and their teenage daughter Jory lived a very expensive lifestyle. Now the family has sold their beautiful and spacious home in Seattle and moved to a small farmhouse in rural Washington. Addison is not deterred by these complications and continues to seek funding for his new drug, flying to cities all over the country to meet with entrepreneurs who might be interested in backing him. This leaves Claire to struggle alone at the farmhouse with Jory during a blisteringly cold winter, a winter in which she cannot afford to purchase propane to heat the house. As Claire struggles to make ends meet, she hatches a plan to seek employment as a doctor in the nearby small town. But having given up her schooling after Jory's birth, Claire has not actually been certified as a doctor, and as such can only find work caring for the sick in an underfunded clinic that mainly treats migrant farm workers. Meanwhile, the relationship between Claire and Addison is deteriorating rapidly due to the anger and resentment Claire feels about Addison's financial mismanagement. In addition, issues begin to crop up with Jory, who is not only lonely in her new surroundings, but acting out as she sees her parents' marriage crumbling. In this timely and realistic tale, Cassella shows us the life of one family struggling under the financial burdens that so many today are facing.
Lately I've been avoiding the news and similar outlets where the financial crisis plays itself out day after day for public consumption. It's a hard time for everyone and I don't think I know one person who hasn't felt the crunch in one way or the other. I certainly know that our family has taken some major hits in the last two years, and like many, we haven't fully recovered. You would think that having this mindset, I wouldn't enjoy reading a story about a couple who has to watch it all slip away. In fact, I think Cassella does some very interesting things with this story that keep it not only right on target, but make it very easy to relate to, and sometimes just slides shyly away from making this story too uncomfortable for her readers.
First off, I think that there was something about Claire that made her very easy to understand emotionally for me. Though she wants to be kind and supportive of her husband and daughter, she's burning the candle at both ends and finds herself emotionally raw and frustrated much of the time. I could really relate to that, and though it's sad to say that money can cause this kind of devastation in a marriage, it is ultimately believable, especially the way Cassella portrays it. Part of the problem is that Addison hasn't been transparent when it comes to what has happened to his family's money. He's used their nest egg to bail out his fledgling company and didn't tell Claire what he was doing. This understandably upsets and frightens Claire, and although she loves her husband, there's a deep wound between them that continues to fester throughout the story. I can completely understand where she's coming from. To be blindsided and lose everything without a clue must have been maddening for her, and just what is she supposed to do about her teenage daughter? I felt a lot of anger toward Addison in this story. Although he's a likable enough fellow, I felt he betrayed his family to a startling degree, and couldn't imagine having to be in Claire's position. To forgive him would have been murderously hard for me.
Another main aspect of this story has to do with Claire's work at the clinic. Though she is qualified for the work, it's been many years since she's seen a patient and the language barrier is not the only problem she has when treating them. Many of them are almost destitute and live seasonally at farms across America, harvesting the fruits and vegetables that we see in the grocery store everyday. They're not only underprivileged but have to constantly worry about the border patrol that comes hunting for them. There's no safe place for them and they often go a startlingly long time without medical care. Claire's clinic is always overpopulated and understaffed, and finding a way to treat these people who seem to have no home base or ties to the community is almost impossible. Cassella does a great job of highlighting the problems that immigrants face in America today. It's not a black and white issue, but one with a lot of gradations and hues, and it's an issue that seems to be on the minds of many Americans right now. Cassella is sensitive to the immigrant population as a whole and paints a picture that most people don't think about when they seek to speak on immigration.
I think the part of the book that resonated most deeply with me was the financial struggle Claire and her family was going through, and what it ultimately did to the family relationships. Where Claire was almost irate and scared for the future, plowing ahead determinedly, Addison had his head buried in the sand and refused to see the consequences of his actions. Jory, on the other hand, begins to steal and lie to her parents. These are all very different reactions to the same stimuli but all very believable coping mechanisms. Each is trying to get by in a world that's been changed under them and each can't understand the reaction of the others. This creates confusion among them and the lack of communication between them only heightens this effect. Though I wanted to castigate some of them for the things they were doing, I ultimately realized that they were coping with a trauma, and like a trauma victim, there was no prescribed set of actions and reactions that I could pin them down to. Yes, there was passive-aggressiveness, there was open hostility, and there was secretiveness, but there was also a lot of compassion and understanding when things began to boil down to their basic elements. It was amazing to see the heartache and reconciliation between these three, but for me, the most startling thing to realize was that these people could be any of us. They didn't seem like creations to me but rather like fictional versions of people I might know.
I loved this book for its stark honesty with character creation and for the fact that it highlighted so beautifully one facet of today's economic disaster. In its quest to be relevant, it was also touching and believable in a way that not many other books on this subject have been to me. The book has a lot to say about many different issues and utilizes a great plausibility of character and situation in which to frame this often-told and familiar story. I think this book would appeal to many for various reasons and have to say I'm glad I got to spend the time with these very human characters. Recommended.
Lately I've been avoiding the news and similar outlets where the financial crisis plays itself out day after day for public consumption. It's a hard time for everyone and I don't think I know one person who hasn't felt the crunch in one way or the other. I certainly know that our family has taken some major hits in the last two years, and like many, we haven't fully recovered. You would think that having this mindset, I wouldn't enjoy reading a story about a couple who has to watch it all slip away. In fact, I think Cassella does some very interesting things with this story that keep it not only right on target, but make it very easy to relate to, and sometimes just slides shyly away from making this story too uncomfortable for her readers.
First off, I think that there was something about Claire that made her very easy to understand emotionally for me. Though she wants to be kind and supportive of her husband and daughter, she's burning the candle at both ends and finds herself emotionally raw and frustrated much of the time. I could really relate to that, and though it's sad to say that money can cause this kind of devastation in a marriage, it is ultimately believable, especially the way Cassella portrays it. Part of the problem is that Addison hasn't been transparent when it comes to what has happened to his family's money. He's used their nest egg to bail out his fledgling company and didn't tell Claire what he was doing. This understandably upsets and frightens Claire, and although she loves her husband, there's a deep wound between them that continues to fester throughout the story. I can completely understand where she's coming from. To be blindsided and lose everything without a clue must have been maddening for her, and just what is she supposed to do about her teenage daughter? I felt a lot of anger toward Addison in this story. Although he's a likable enough fellow, I felt he betrayed his family to a startling degree, and couldn't imagine having to be in Claire's position. To forgive him would have been murderously hard for me.
Another main aspect of this story has to do with Claire's work at the clinic. Though she is qualified for the work, it's been many years since she's seen a patient and the language barrier is not the only problem she has when treating them. Many of them are almost destitute and live seasonally at farms across America, harvesting the fruits and vegetables that we see in the grocery store everyday. They're not only underprivileged but have to constantly worry about the border patrol that comes hunting for them. There's no safe place for them and they often go a startlingly long time without medical care. Claire's clinic is always overpopulated and understaffed, and finding a way to treat these people who seem to have no home base or ties to the community is almost impossible. Cassella does a great job of highlighting the problems that immigrants face in America today. It's not a black and white issue, but one with a lot of gradations and hues, and it's an issue that seems to be on the minds of many Americans right now. Cassella is sensitive to the immigrant population as a whole and paints a picture that most people don't think about when they seek to speak on immigration.
I think the part of the book that resonated most deeply with me was the financial struggle Claire and her family was going through, and what it ultimately did to the family relationships. Where Claire was almost irate and scared for the future, plowing ahead determinedly, Addison had his head buried in the sand and refused to see the consequences of his actions. Jory, on the other hand, begins to steal and lie to her parents. These are all very different reactions to the same stimuli but all very believable coping mechanisms. Each is trying to get by in a world that's been changed under them and each can't understand the reaction of the others. This creates confusion among them and the lack of communication between them only heightens this effect. Though I wanted to castigate some of them for the things they were doing, I ultimately realized that they were coping with a trauma, and like a trauma victim, there was no prescribed set of actions and reactions that I could pin them down to. Yes, there was passive-aggressiveness, there was open hostility, and there was secretiveness, but there was also a lot of compassion and understanding when things began to boil down to their basic elements. It was amazing to see the heartache and reconciliation between these three, but for me, the most startling thing to realize was that these people could be any of us. They didn't seem like creations to me but rather like fictional versions of people I might know.
I loved this book for its stark honesty with character creation and for the fact that it highlighted so beautifully one facet of today's economic disaster. In its quest to be relevant, it was also touching and believable in a way that not many other books on this subject have been to me. The book has a lot to say about many different issues and utilizes a great plausibility of character and situation in which to frame this often-told and familiar story. I think this book would appeal to many for various reasons and have to say I'm glad I got to spend the time with these very human characters. Recommended.
February 2, 2021
What a stupid, inane book.
The Boehning family go from mega wealth to having to sell all their valuables. Their daughter is an absolute shitstain and for some reason the mother not only allows this, but rewards it?
The main character's one of those insufferable martyr/saints who can do no wrong and everyone loves, despite having no personality of her own (Lest this imply anyone else in the book have a personality, I assure you, they do not. There's only the daughter, if being a rude and entitled little bitch counts as a personality).
The Boehning family go from mega wealth to having to sell all their valuables. Their daughter is an absolute shitstain and for some reason the mother not only allows this, but rewards it?
The main character's one of those insufferable martyr/saints who can do no wrong and everyone loves, despite having no personality of her own (Lest this imply anyone else in the book have a personality, I assure you, they do not. There's only the daughter, if being a rude and entitled little bitch counts as a personality).
February 11, 2025
My second book by Carol Cassella and I’ve added another favorite author. This is another medical story about a clinic that is short on help with a heavy patient load. 12 hour days, majority of patents are immigrants without insurance that relocate as seasons change. The suspense is a cancer drug that one of the main characters is attempting to get to human clinical trials, and a marriage on the rocks. Looking forward to the next book.
September 10, 2017
Another absolutely excellent read from one of my favorite authors. An in-depth look at marriage, family, work, social responsibility, professionalism, love, and compassion.
January 30, 2019
Pretty good story, but poorly written. Too many irrelevant details and bad flow.
August 29, 2019
Unusual story involving the pharmaceutical industry, illegal immigration, and how one family deals with sudden financial reverses. I liked the characters and settings and it was interesting to learn about the processes and complications of drug trials and approval.
October 3, 2025
Really enjoyed this book . I read her other book Oxygen and enjoyed that too . The writing style is fluent and a pleasure to read
June 26, 2011
4.0 out of 5 stars What's left when you've lost it all?
This second novel by medical doctor Carol Cassella explores the answer to the question -- what is left when you've lost all your material possessions, your home, your reputation, and your previous world of friends and social interaction? The answer lies, for these characters, in the rustic, rural former vacation home they never renovated, in a small town in Hallum, Washington. What remains is simple: hard work and love.
Claire is a stay-at-home mom to teen-aged Jory (the only child she can have, born prematurely) when her husband Addison, a wildly successful biochemist who had made them rich by discovering a test to diagnose ovarian cancer early, gambles their entire financial portfolio on a new anti-cancer drug he's trying to bring to market. Almost ready for FDA approval, lab data from clinical trials is suspicious, and the fledgling research venture folds along with Addison's integrity. Gone is all the money they had received from Addison's former triumph, and they have to sell their house and possessions and relocate to Hallum while Addison goes begging at medical conventions for investors in the project he can't give up.
Meanwhile, Claire -- who was almost done with residency when Jory arrived early -- needs a job to feed herself and her daughter. Because she's not board certified, she takes the only job she's offered -- in a free clinic for migrant workers run by an aging physician, Dr. Dan Zalaya. The position pays little, and Claire is nervous and anxious about actually working as a doctor again and has also a little difficulty with translating the patients' complaints from Spanish since she doesn't speak the language. She is forced to be a single parent to Jory and works long hours in the barely funded clinic. This was the best part of the novel for me, watching Claire develop her confidence in the art of practicing medicine, being the "healer" as doctora to these migrant workers. I loved the interactions between her and the patients, and between her and the staff at the clinic. It painted a bleak picture of the life of the illegal immigrants and it felt to me that Claire was getting back some of her self esteem.
A constant irritant in the book was the teenage daughter Jory, whom I could not stand. I realize that many teenagers are self absorbed and narcissistic, but the amount of patience that Claire had to use to deal with her defied my tolerance level. I just couldn't stand Jory's character and in my view she never redeemed herself or grew up any in the book. Addison was shallow and also selfish -- forging ahead with his dream when he should have taken a bench lab job to provide for his family. I saw him, who had basically stolen away the family fortune without ever discussing it with his wife, as a complete failure as husband and father. I also couldn't understand where the money to buy the food and pay the other bills was coming from as they were buying jewelry and food and paying utilities on only Claire's meager salary. Despite these discordant notes, the narrative moved along hopefully as the family tiptoes around each other trying to work their way back to being a unit and the loving trio they once had been.
Then, for some reason, the last part of the book attempts to set up a mystery using a Nicaraguan refugee with a lost daughter. This part of the novel fell flat and seemed tacked on, but other than that - the story moves to a conclusion that is somewhat satisfying. There is redemption of a sort, and the restoration of trust -- though hard won -- and above all, there is love.
This second novel by medical doctor Carol Cassella explores the answer to the question -- what is left when you've lost all your material possessions, your home, your reputation, and your previous world of friends and social interaction? The answer lies, for these characters, in the rustic, rural former vacation home they never renovated, in a small town in Hallum, Washington. What remains is simple: hard work and love.
Claire is a stay-at-home mom to teen-aged Jory (the only child she can have, born prematurely) when her husband Addison, a wildly successful biochemist who had made them rich by discovering a test to diagnose ovarian cancer early, gambles their entire financial portfolio on a new anti-cancer drug he's trying to bring to market. Almost ready for FDA approval, lab data from clinical trials is suspicious, and the fledgling research venture folds along with Addison's integrity. Gone is all the money they had received from Addison's former triumph, and they have to sell their house and possessions and relocate to Hallum while Addison goes begging at medical conventions for investors in the project he can't give up.
Meanwhile, Claire -- who was almost done with residency when Jory arrived early -- needs a job to feed herself and her daughter. Because she's not board certified, she takes the only job she's offered -- in a free clinic for migrant workers run by an aging physician, Dr. Dan Zalaya. The position pays little, and Claire is nervous and anxious about actually working as a doctor again and has also a little difficulty with translating the patients' complaints from Spanish since she doesn't speak the language. She is forced to be a single parent to Jory and works long hours in the barely funded clinic. This was the best part of the novel for me, watching Claire develop her confidence in the art of practicing medicine, being the "healer" as doctora to these migrant workers. I loved the interactions between her and the patients, and between her and the staff at the clinic. It painted a bleak picture of the life of the illegal immigrants and it felt to me that Claire was getting back some of her self esteem.
A constant irritant in the book was the teenage daughter Jory, whom I could not stand. I realize that many teenagers are self absorbed and narcissistic, but the amount of patience that Claire had to use to deal with her defied my tolerance level. I just couldn't stand Jory's character and in my view she never redeemed herself or grew up any in the book. Addison was shallow and also selfish -- forging ahead with his dream when he should have taken a bench lab job to provide for his family. I saw him, who had basically stolen away the family fortune without ever discussing it with his wife, as a complete failure as husband and father. I also couldn't understand where the money to buy the food and pay the other bills was coming from as they were buying jewelry and food and paying utilities on only Claire's meager salary. Despite these discordant notes, the narrative moved along hopefully as the family tiptoes around each other trying to work their way back to being a unit and the loving trio they once had been.
Then, for some reason, the last part of the book attempts to set up a mystery using a Nicaraguan refugee with a lost daughter. This part of the novel fell flat and seemed tacked on, but other than that - the story moves to a conclusion that is somewhat satisfying. There is redemption of a sort, and the restoration of trust -- though hard won -- and above all, there is love.
February 6, 2011
Carol Boehning gave up her career as a doctor because her husband, Addison, was on the verge of having a cutting edge cancer drug approved. Money was no object due to the number of investors and they, and their daughter , Jory, were living the good life.
Just before the drug was to be approved for human study a problem was discovered in the animal study. Investors disppear and so does the money. Addison is unable to find anyone who will provide financing to continue the study.
They must move from their palatial home in Seattle and their luxury life style.
They move to Hallum, a small city that is home to migrant workers. Carol, knowing she must find a job to keep their lives together, finds that she cannot get hired as a doctor because she did not take her boards. She is able to find work in a public health clinic that almost exclusively handles migrant workers.
It is at the clinic that she meets Miquela, a Nicaraguan, whose daughter was treated at the clinic and later died. Miguela wants to know the real reason for her daughter's death.
Carol, in trying to help Miguela, comes across a possible program that uses poor immigrant workers as test subjects for experimental medicine. This becomes a major problem, when it is discovered that the one person who may help Addison revive his drug study, may also be the owner of the company using the migrant workers.
This novel does not measure up to Cassells's first novel, "Oxygen", and probably will leave the reader disappointed, especially with the non-ending. Also, if anyone can stomach her daughter Jory, there are a better person than I.
Just before the drug was to be approved for human study a problem was discovered in the animal study. Investors disppear and so does the money. Addison is unable to find anyone who will provide financing to continue the study.
They must move from their palatial home in Seattle and their luxury life style.
They move to Hallum, a small city that is home to migrant workers. Carol, knowing she must find a job to keep their lives together, finds that she cannot get hired as a doctor because she did not take her boards. She is able to find work in a public health clinic that almost exclusively handles migrant workers.
It is at the clinic that she meets Miquela, a Nicaraguan, whose daughter was treated at the clinic and later died. Miguela wants to know the real reason for her daughter's death.
Carol, in trying to help Miguela, comes across a possible program that uses poor immigrant workers as test subjects for experimental medicine. This becomes a major problem, when it is discovered that the one person who may help Addison revive his drug study, may also be the owner of the company using the migrant workers.
This novel does not measure up to Cassells's first novel, "Oxygen", and probably will leave the reader disappointed, especially with the non-ending. Also, if anyone can stomach her daughter Jory, there are a better person than I.
January 11, 2015
Carol Cassella, the author of Healer, is a doctor who lives on an island in Puget Sound, practices in Seattle, and went to Duke as an undergraduate and majored in English. Her novels are a delight. Healer is about a woman whose husband made a lot of money in pharmaceuticals and who has now lost it. They sell their big house on Lake Washington and she and her daughter move to a small town on the eastern slope of the Cascades not far from Wenatchee where she finds a low-paying job in a free clinic for migrant orchard workers.
This is a book about health care but it doesn't preach. It points out that people who are in this country illegally are reluctant to visit hospitals when they need treatment and so rely on clinics like the one where Claire works. But the book is also about the problems of a single mother with a teenager. The protagonist, Claire Boehning, spends most of her time alone because her husband travels much of the time trying to get his career as a bio-engineer back on track.
It's also about life in a small town and the many and complex connections between the people who live there. It's about money and how people with a great deal of it, like the computer millionaires in Seattle and Claire's family before their recent financial troubles, begin to forget about it and to lose touch with what life is like for everybody else. And how people with very little of it become focused on it all the time.
This is a book about health care but it doesn't preach. It points out that people who are in this country illegally are reluctant to visit hospitals when they need treatment and so rely on clinics like the one where Claire works. But the book is also about the problems of a single mother with a teenager. The protagonist, Claire Boehning, spends most of her time alone because her husband travels much of the time trying to get his career as a bio-engineer back on track.
It's also about life in a small town and the many and complex connections between the people who live there. It's about money and how people with a great deal of it, like the computer millionaires in Seattle and Claire's family before their recent financial troubles, begin to forget about it and to lose touch with what life is like for everybody else. And how people with very little of it become focused on it all the time.
April 12, 2011
We live in a time when people who are making money live as if it will last forever. This story is an example of what can happen when the money disappears. Move to a smaller house? Luckily they had a second broken down house. Have the wife get a job? How fortunate that Claire had almost become a physician 14 years ago and could work at a clinic for the poor with a mentor Doctor. Learn what the poor have known about how to make it on less? Claire had to learn to shop in a thrifty manner and not buy everything she saw. Teenage daughters who are in the rebellious stage can make a friend and learn to communicate. A whole family can develop compassion. The story rolled along nicely until an abrupt end. I was left with questions. What happened next? Does the family stay at the cottage? Do they fix it up? Does the next drug trial happen and get successful? What will the daughter do as she gets older and now has a better relationship with her mother as well as her father. Does the "Healer", Claire, continue working?
Guess the author plans a 3rd novel with answers???
Guess the author plans a 3rd novel with answers???
October 29, 2010
I started out enjoying Healer, as I truly enjoyed Oxygen and was seeing some of Carol Cassella's same writing style and character formation. For me, however, the story didn't rivet me and make me want to stay up late to finish. I found I wasn't as concerned about the main family in the story, the Boehnings, as I liked the doctor Dan and his wife Evelyn. I felt them more pure, while it was a miracle the Boehnings stayed together with such frayed interests. (or perhaps, that was the point!) Regardless, Jory was annoyingly portrayed to me: such so-so regard for her mother, yet developed such a quick emotional attachment to Miguela--it didn't seem plausible. The story line, though timely, was forced. I am sure I will read Carol Cassella's next novel (I am assuming there will be one), in hopes of seeing more Oxygen and less Healer.
September 18, 2010
I picked this up this morning when I woke at 7:30am and couldn't leave my bed for the next four hours until I'd finished. I read Cassella's earlier novel and enjoyed it too. but this one grabbed me, perhaps as I reflected on my prior life in Washington, where this story takes place. The main character has to remake her life and rethink the story of her marriage after a change in financial and career fortunes for her husband. Such forced, unexpected structural changes in one's life are not easy to live through yet can bring much needed re-equilibrium, after the shocks reverberate through everyone. Compelling characters and well written by a physician/author.
March 17, 2014
Very well constructed smart page turner that takes on immigration & biotech ethic issues along with family and class. Cassella is a wonderful writer with a great ear for family life and marriage, and the book is set in one of my favorite places on earth. I only gave it 3 stars because the constant tension in the main character over the loss of the family fortune grated on me after the first quarter of the book. She came across as unlikable and immature because of her inability to forgive her husband and take responsibility for her own role in the loss. It marred this otherwise compelling book. Still, I read it in one day and enjoyed it very much.
June 23, 2011
I enjoyed this book about family. A mother trying to hold all the pieces together and having to figure out how to make everything work for family wellness. Protecting our children from the reality of life situations is often our first instict, but is not always the right one. There is a time, especially as they grow older, that they need to be included in family discussions and be included in the plans. Together they attempt to do the right thing for humanity, even though it will leave them "broke" and stumbling through their new lives for longer.
July 5, 2011
Claire's "high-life" in Seattle comes to a screeching halt thanks to her husband's gamble on a biotech venture. They had to move to a bare-bones ranch house with their 14 year old daughter. Clair had to find a job in order to support her family. She was a "drop-out" doctor who got her medical degree 14 years ago ... not board certified and did not finish her residency. This was a very uplifting book about a family going through tough times ... the bond of love keeps them together and makes them stronger. This was sent to me by First Reads ... thanks alot ... may not have read it otherwise.
March 17, 2017
I was disappointed with this choice. Although the story line was interesting it was very slow. I did hold on until the end but I'm not sure it was the ending I was looking for.
May 21, 2017
I started reading this book one year ago. College got really busy, so all I was reading were my biology/chemistry textbooks and doing homework. However, being interested in medicine, science, and biology, as soon as I saw the keywords "residency" "MD" "biochemist" "ovarian cancer" "blood tests," and "research," I was sold!
I started reading it and could not put it down! I loved learning about Claire and her path with medicine. One thing I am still confused about is that at one point she says she found out she was pregnant with Jory (her only daughter) during the OB/GYN rotation (that's medical school...), yet it is constantly mentioned in the book how she didn't finish residency (after medical school). I guess I should assume that from the moment she found out she was pregnant to when she gave birth, she went into residency. This still doesn't make much sense because Jory was born very prematurely. The books says that when Jory was born her head was the size of a tennis ball. That's seems insanely small to me.
I loved learning about the characters, Claire's journey in medicine, Addison's research, and the cool new house, which I picture as a summer house, lacking any insulation. I picture it as having shaky walls with lots of metal material and shaky windows that allow all the cold air in during the winter.
However, in the middle of the book, the story got so boring to me because it was the same thing that kept being repeated over and over: the constant arguments between Claire and Addison, the constant hiding of truths between everyone in the family, the 10000000 examples of the 14/turned 15 Jory being treated as if she is 9 and acting as if she is 9 y.o. (I actually picture her as a little little girl), and the lessening amount of description of Claire's work life, which was very interesting in the beginning.
However, towards the end, maybe the last 60 pages, GET SO GOOD!! At this point, the medical mystery begins!
The very very end was incredibly anti-climactic for me. We don't find out what happens with Claire and her work life, we don't find out what happens with the clinic, Addison, Jory, or even Dan! That was very hard for me because I had developed these relationships with these characters, especially since I stretched out the reading of this book over a year. I read the majority of the book within the past two days, however, the initial knowledge and interest I acquired about the characters came a year ago! Then to not really have any kind of resolution to the story was tough for me. There is a resolution to the medical mystery, but this is presented within the very last 60 pages.....
There were great lessons to be taken away from the book. First, Frida, who seemed to be offended or taken aback by how Claire is so used to having lots of money and depending on it for her happiness and for her relationship's stability. She tells Claire that even though she is in a poor financial situation, she does not realize what she has : a husband and a daughter!! She "shakes" Claire up by telling her about her life's tragedy, and then tells her that maybe the being in the middle of the financial classes isn't so bad if you are not alone...because again, she has Addison and Jory. However, this lesson is subjective. Many books and movies will talk about how it's not money that will make you happy, it's the relationships you form with other people. However, for some, it could be success, knowledge, health, etc. that makes them happy, rather than other people. Just my 2 am thoughts...
Another lesson is that relationships aren't easy: sometimes you hide, sometimes you put on a brave face, sometimes you don't lie...but you omit (so ... is that lying? depends on how you interpret it), and relationships get very complicated when you mix money and financial stability into them.
I started reading it and could not put it down! I loved learning about Claire and her path with medicine. One thing I am still confused about is that at one point she says she found out she was pregnant with Jory (her only daughter) during the OB/GYN rotation (that's medical school...), yet it is constantly mentioned in the book how she didn't finish residency (after medical school). I guess I should assume that from the moment she found out she was pregnant to when she gave birth, she went into residency. This still doesn't make much sense because Jory was born very prematurely. The books says that when Jory was born her head was the size of a tennis ball. That's seems insanely small to me.
I loved learning about the characters, Claire's journey in medicine, Addison's research, and the cool new house, which I picture as a summer house, lacking any insulation. I picture it as having shaky walls with lots of metal material and shaky windows that allow all the cold air in during the winter.
However, in the middle of the book, the story got so boring to me because it was the same thing that kept being repeated over and over: the constant arguments between Claire and Addison, the constant hiding of truths between everyone in the family, the 10000000 examples of the 14/turned 15 Jory being treated as if she is 9 and acting as if she is 9 y.o. (I actually picture her as a little little girl), and the lessening amount of description of Claire's work life, which was very interesting in the beginning.
However, towards the end, maybe the last 60 pages, GET SO GOOD!! At this point, the medical mystery begins!
The very very end was incredibly anti-climactic for me. We don't find out what happens with Claire and her work life, we don't find out what happens with the clinic, Addison, Jory, or even Dan! That was very hard for me because I had developed these relationships with these characters, especially since I stretched out the reading of this book over a year. I read the majority of the book within the past two days, however, the initial knowledge and interest I acquired about the characters came a year ago! Then to not really have any kind of resolution to the story was tough for me. There is a resolution to the medical mystery, but this is presented within the very last 60 pages.....
There were great lessons to be taken away from the book. First, Frida, who seemed to be offended or taken aback by how Claire is so used to having lots of money and depending on it for her happiness and for her relationship's stability. She tells Claire that even though she is in a poor financial situation, she does not realize what she has : a husband and a daughter!! She "shakes" Claire up by telling her about her life's tragedy, and then tells her that maybe the being in the middle of the financial classes isn't so bad if you are not alone...because again, she has Addison and Jory. However, this lesson is subjective. Many books and movies will talk about how it's not money that will make you happy, it's the relationships you form with other people. However, for some, it could be success, knowledge, health, etc. that makes them happy, rather than other people. Just my 2 am thoughts...
Another lesson is that relationships aren't easy: sometimes you hide, sometimes you put on a brave face, sometimes you don't lie...but you omit (so ... is that lying? depends on how you interpret it), and relationships get very complicated when you mix money and financial stability into them.
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