Emma Glass (1) (1987–)

A hauntingly original tale – I am deeply impressed by the talent of this author, Emma Glass. The story is told from the first person point of view, yet the style is so different from the usual book as Glass is masterful at describing things as you would experience them, as your brain tries to process what’s happening, rather than simply telling you the conclusion of what actually occurs.

*Thank you to Emma Glass, Bloomsbury USA, and NetGalley for providing a free Advance Reader Copy of the novel in exchange for this honest review.*

This novel is as close as you will ever come to experiencing what it’s like to be a night-shift nurse in a ward for critically ill children, unless you actually are one. The late nights, the exhaustion, the hands so cracked from repeated washings that they practically bleed. Laura is exhausted, with barely the energy to get home each day to sleep, try to remember to eat, and to get up the next night to do it all over again. You find yourself wondering how she keeps going, but her dedication to her job and the babies she’s helping to save keep her going, even as she is on the verge of collapse and certain hallucinations.

A moving novel, and one I’m so glad I got to experience. I’m rating it at four starts for “I really liked it” to recognize that I was supremely struck by the styling of this story, while at the same time I found the narrative a bit hard to follow in some moments, and the ending left me quite shocked – 1) That the book was over; and 2) in the choice to end the story the way it did.

I highly recommend the novel, however, especially if someone you know and/or love is in the medical field. It’s so easy to overlook their historically overlong shifts and lack of ability for self-care in the face of helping their patients.

#RestAndBeThankful
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#BloomsburyUSA
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