BLOG TOUR - At Least You Have Your Health

 

Title:   At Least You Have Your Health

Author:  Madi Sinha

Publisher:  Berkley Books

Genre:   Women's Fiction

Format:  Kindle ARC

No. of Pages:   384 

Date of Publication:   April 5, 2022

My Rating:   4 Stars

DESCRIPTION:

Dr. Maya Rao built her career as a gynecologist to serve, educate, and empower women. In addition to her demanding job, she juggles care for her three small children and copes with the trauma of a mistake buried deep in her professional past. One day, the stress becomes too much for Maya to handle – and Maya is forced to walk away from her job at the hospital.

Despondent and scrambling for a new opportunity, Maya is thrilled when a fellow mom at her daughter’s school approaches her with an offer. Amelia DeGilles, well-to-do entrepreneur and socialite, has founded Eunoia Women’s Health: a concierge wellness clinic that specializes in house calls for its elite clientele in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Amelia has been searching for a gynecologist to make her business complete – it’s the perfect remedy for both women.

No vitamin infusion or healing crystal is too expensive for Eunoia’s patients, and despite her years of medical training and expertise, Maya finds herself catering to every whim with flashy, unproven treatments – odd birthing ceremonies and curative mind journeys included. As Maya forms a friendship with the beautiful, successful Amelia, she may be overlooking the scandalous secrets at the heart of the very organization she’s been working for – and putting at risk the lives of the women she so desperately aims to help.

Link to purchase the book:

MY THOUGHTS:

Dr. Maya Rao has it all - a loving and supportive husband, three beautiful children, a long career as a gynecologist. But is she happy? In fact, Maya is stressed and feeling pressure in ways she has been hiding for years. One day at work she insults a patient and ends up having to carve a new career path. She had previously been offered a job as an exclusive concierge service where she can further utilize her talents.

However, as Maya's story evolves, this book addresses some very serious issues. These issues include sexism, racism and classism. With traditional Indian parents a lot was expected of Maya when she was growing up. These expectations have bled into her adult life, her job, and even her family. 

Meanwhile, the deeper Maya gets into her new job, she more she realizes how different things are now, and this includes feeling comfortable with alternative medicine and treatments.  

I enjoyed the serious nature of this book. The only issue that I found would be the writing style seemed a bit inconsistent. However, that paled in comparison to the excellence contained in this book when it came to the challenges that Maya faced on a daily basis. As Madi Sinha is a new author for me I did truly feel honored to read this book. 

Please also enjoy my YouTube video review - 

Many thanks to Berkely Books and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

As a practicing physician herself, Sinha’s upcoming novel comments on the need for improved women’s healthcare and education, and she encourages readers to take a closer look at the good and the bad of the wellness trends that are so prevalent in our society. AT LEAST YOU HAVE YOUR HEALTH offers a compelling take on the way we think about well-being and self-care, posing the question: when does our fascination with wellness become toxic? Sinha tackles such critical subject matter while also touching on ideas of race, class, beauty standards, and “perfect” motherhood.

Elevator pitch: Sinha’s second novel, after The White Coat Diaries (2020), is a thrill ride that comments on our fascination with the wellness industry, as one doctor uncovers the dangerous secrets lurking beneath the facade of a women’s health and wellness clinic. AT LEAST YOU HAVE YOUR HEALTH follows an Indian-American gynecologist who stumbles into the world of concierge medicine, where wealthy and powerful women dictate their own healthcare regimens with fancy vitamins, alternative medicine, and other outlandish remedies that aren’t based on science. It’s not long before this doctor discovers that the practice, along with the high-end supplements and deep cleanses she’s been prescribing, may be more dangerous than any cure these women are seeking.