Happy Tuesday all!
This was such an authentic Story. A perfect blend of culture and drama.🩺
My Thoughts
A compelling story of personal, familial, and cultural expectations. Madi Sinha is a practicing physician, she really brought an authentic feel to the story and yet it was still extremely accessible. This is the story of Nora and her first year of residency at a prestigious hospital in Philadelphia. We watch Nora deal with the stress, the rigor, the sleepless nights, and the politics of her year as the intern. This is definitely not sugarcoated. It is a year of being judged, humiliated, humbled, shamed, and rarely complemented. All I could think while I was reading this is, why would anyone put themselves through this? And then I thought why do we need to put anyone through this? I really don’t understand why a sleep deprived doctor is ever a good idea it just seems like it’s a recipe for mistakes. BUT believe it or not… nobody asked me. On top of all this Nora is also dealing with familial and cultural expectations. Her mom is lonely, needy, and a hypochondriac. She is constantly making Nora feel guilty for her choices. Not to mention mom is constantly badgering Nora to find a man. Nora‘s brother Paul is at his wits end and tired of being the only one responsible for their mom, he wants Nora to share the load. But how can Nora do that when she’s working constantly not to mention she lives hours away.
Nora was a very likable and sympathetic character. She has spent her whole life working for this. Foregoing any type of romantic or social life to reach her dream of being a doctor. I felt for her and the struggle she had in balancing everything. Her mom‘s actions would frustrate me, but I did understand that her culture is different from my own. I love the part the Indian culture played in the book, especially the food! There is a small dose of romance in this book, but this is by no stretch of the imagination a romance or a romcom. I would classify this as a well done interesting women’s fiction story.
This book in emojis 🧑⚕️ 🩺 💉 🩹 🌡 📋
*** Big thank you to Berkley for my gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own. ***
About the Book
Grey’s Anatomy meets Scrubs in this brilliant debut novel about a young doctor’s struggle to survive residency, love, and life.
Having spent the last twenty-something years with her nose in a textbook, brilliant and driven Norah Kapadia has just landed the medical residency of her dreams. But after a disastrous first day, she’s ready to quit. Disgruntled patients, sleep deprivation, and her duty to be the “perfect Indian daughter” have her questioning her future as a doctor.
Enter chief resident Ethan Cantor. He’s everything Norah aspires to be: respected by the attendings, calm during emergencies, and charismatic with the patients. As he morphs from Norah’s mentor to something more, it seems her luck is finally changing.
When a fatal medical mistake is made, pulling Norah into a cover-up, she must decide how far she’s willing to go to protect the secret. What if “doing no harm” means risking her career and the future for which she’s worked so hard?
About the Author
Madi Sinha is a physician, and THE WHITE COAT DIARIES is her debut novel. She lives in New Jersey with her family. You can find her at madisinha.com.
Berit Talks Books 
I have this book. Now I can’t wait to read this. It sounds amazing. Great review!
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