A History of Present Illness -- Anna DeForest - Hardcover

"Brutal 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 review
A Lit Hub Most Anticipated Book of 2022
A 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, to a young woman, fading from confusion to aphasia to death. The long hours and heartrending work begin to blur the lines between her new life as a physician and the lifelong traumas she has fled.

In brilliant, wry, and biting prose, A History of Present Illness is a boldly honest meditation on the body, the hope of healing in the face of total loss, and what it means to be alive.

Author: Anna DeForest
Publisher: Little Brown and Company
Published: 08/16/2022
Pages: 176
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.50lbs
Size: 7.20h x 4.90w x 0.90d
ISBN: 9780316381062

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal Prepub Alert 03/01/2022 pg. 15
Publishers Weekly 06/06/2022
Kirkus Reviews 06/15/2022
Library Journal 07/22/2022 pg. 1
Booklist 08/01/2022 pg. 20