With the compassion of Jodi Picoult and the medical realism of Atul
Gawande, "Oxygen" is a riveting new novel by a real-life
anesthesiologist, an intimate story of relationships and family that
collides with a high-stakes medical drama.
Dr. Marie Heaton is an
anesthesiologist at the height of her profession. She has worked, lived
and breathed her career since medical school, and she now practices at
a top Seattle hospital. Marie has carefully constructed and constricted
her life according to empirical truths, to the science and art of
medicine. But when her tried-and-true formula suddenly deserts her
during a routine surgery, she must explain the nightmarish operating
room disaster and face the resulting malpractice suit. Marie's best
friend, colleague and former lover, Dr. Joe Hillary, becomes her
closest confidante as she twists through depositions, accusations and a
remorseful preoccupation with the mother of the patient in question. As
she struggles to salvage her career and reputation, Marie must face
hard truths about the path she's chosen, the bridges she's burned and
the colleagues and superiors she's mistaken for friends.
A
quieter crisis is simultaneously unfolding within Marie's family. Her
aging father is losing his sight and approaching an awkward dependency
on Marie and her sister, Lori. But Lori has taken a more traditional
path than Marie and is busy raising a family. Although Marie has been
estranged from her Texas roots for decades, the ultimate responsibility
for their father's care is falling on her.
As her carefully
structured life begins to collapse, Marie confronts questions of love
and betrayal, family bonds and the price of her own choices. Set
against the natural splendor of Seattle, and inside the closed vaults
of hospital operating rooms, Oxygen climaxes in a final twist that is
as heartrending as it is redeeming.
During the fragile moments of surgery, Seattle anesthesiologist and writer Carol Cassella is not only aware of the scientific intricacies of the human body, but more importantly, understands the emotional complexities patients and doctors face when entering an operating room. Cassella’s debut Oxygen: A Novel, explores universal human hopes and frailties, and the murky boundary where science intersects with the soul. A blend of medical knowledge, the imperfection of humanity and science, suspense and the desire for vindication, it was widely received as a National Bestseller and a July ’08 Indie Next list pick.
