A History of Present Illness

A revelation. The New York TimesBrutal and brave, DeForest's novel is one of the best in the making of a doctor genre. And its plucky protagonist, casualty and hero, roars a universal truth, We all hurt. Booklist, starred reviewA Lit Hub Most Anticipated Book of 2022A Publishers Weekly Writer to Watch A young woman puts on a white coat for her first day as a student doctor. So begins this powerful debut, which follows our unnamed narrator through cadaver dissection, surgical rotation, difficult births, sudden deaths, and a budding relationship with a seminarian. In the troubled world of the hospital, where the language of blood tests and organ systems so often hides the heart of the matter, she works her way from one bed to another, from a man dying of substance use and tuberculosis, to a child in pain crisis,...