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The Doctor and the Diva: A Novel ReviewTHE DOCTOR AND THE DIVA is Adrienne McDonnell's debut novel and in this reader's opinion, it is a very successful one. The book centers around an extremely talented woman, Erika Myrick, her wealthy and business-minded husband, Peter, and a successful obstetrician, Dr. Ravell. Erika and Peter have been trying to get pregnant for many years, but without any success. By the time they consult Dr. Ravell, Erika has given up any desire she may have had to become a mother and has resolved to finally go to Italy and pursue her dream of becoming an opera singer. Peter is almost desperate that his wife become pregnant, due to both his longing for a child and his need to bind Erika to him in what he assumes will be an irrevocable manner. Ravell is caught in the middle, torn between wanting to give the Myricks the child they've been hoping for, see Erika fulfill her dream, and do what he can to keep her near him. A spontaneous decision by one of these characters acts as a catalyst for all that follows, as their competing desires inexorably push them down a path of unintended consequences. This book explores the strange dynamic that emerges between a married couple and their doctor and how each of their choices and actions impact their own lives, as well as one another's.
McDonnell used her husband's family history as inspiration for this book: his great-grandmother left her husband and young son to pursue a singing career in Italy. The author says she felt conflicted about the idea of a woman abandoning her family for the sake of her art: "Did I admire her and want to applaud her courage? Or was it heartbreaking that she'd deserted her little boy?" (from the author's website). These conflicting emotions are at the root of the story and McDonnell does a superb job of arousing the same opposing feelings in the reader and leaving us torn between these two reactions.
The book spans the years 1903 to 1914 and travels between the privileged neighborhoods of Boston, a boat in the Atlantic Ocean, a coconut plantation in Trinidad, the jungles of Guiana, and the streets and opera houses of Italy. An added bonus is the fascinating information McDonnell provides about fertility and gynecology in the early 1900s. As she points out in her historical note at the end of the novel, many practices that are seen today as "modern" and "groundbreaking" are actually neither. Consider this: the first recorded case of successful artificial insemination was performed in 1785 by Scottish surgeon John Hunter!! Also interesting was the novel's exploration of the complex and intimate relationship that developed between male obstetricians and their (obviously female) patients, whose bodies they knew and understood in ways that often neither the women themselves, nor their husbands, did.
McDonnell's writing is both simple and rich; there is a softly poetic quality to it and every word and sentence seems to have been carefully chosen and crafted. The story and characters truly come to life within the book's pages and I couldn't help but feel myself emotionally involved and implicated as I read it. I am someone who cannot usually tolerate anything having to do with adultery - even if it's a completely fictional novel or film - so the fact that McDonnell had me feeling so engaged was both a surprise and a testament to her talent as a storyteller. The complex love triangle that makes up this story drew me in almost from the beginning (if it can be called that, because this "love triangle" doesn't really follow any type of normal pattern).
Although a lot of changes and life events take place, in the end it's a character-driven story and Erika, Peter, and Ravell are written well enough to pull it off. They are complex, interesting, passionate, and imperfect people. They are not always likable and sometimes their actions or decisions leave the reader feeling anger, dismay, repulsion, and/or pity. The three of them seem propelled down a murky path that you can't envision engendering anything but heartbreak and tragedy; it's almost like a car crash you can't look away from, however it's much, much subtler than that and often feels almost anti-climactic. All three are vividly portrayed and in the end these two men and one woman are much like real people: neither wholly good/right, nor wholly bad/wrong. Instead, they are essentially human, and we come to feel an affection and sympathy for them, however unwilling it may be at times.
The book is written in third-person, but all three have sections written from their point of view; this was something I appreciated as it gave me a degree of access to and insight into all of them. One thing I will note is that we never know Dr. Ravell's first name - he remains throughout either "Dr. Ravell," or "Ravell" to his friends. I only started to take note of this a little ways into the book, so although it's possible I missed this somewhere in the first few chapters, I know that that's the case for almost the entire book. This is interesting given the fact that Erika and Peter become "Erika" and "Peter" towards the beginning and are referred to as such from then on by the narrator and the other two main characters. Also, whenever Ravell and Erika are together without Peter, the story was always told from Erika's point of view. These may seem like minor things, but they shaped the tone of the story, albeit in subtle ways.
I only have a few specific criticisms. The character of Christopher, a young American accompanist who becomes much a part of Erika's life in the second half of the novel, pretty much disappears at the end and we don't know what happens to him - or his two friends. I also felt that when Erika finds out (a very important/shocking) something, her reaction was not at all what I would have expected; it was appropriate for about three lines and then she seems to almost completely dismiss the entire event. I think more could have - and definitely should have - been made out of this, especially considering the various things it puts in motion and the consequences it ends up having for all three characters. Finally, parts of the ending were a little too pat for me. Not everything is tied up with a neat little bow - how could it be?! - but the conclusion nonetheless seems to fall a little short; we thought we were slowly climbing to some jarring result or eye-opening hard truth, and instead we're thrown a loud side twist, while the central story is then quietly laid down at our feet. The "loud side twist" could have really worked if it had been altered a little and used to end the overall story. This would have left us with a very tragic ending, à la Anita Shreve, but it would have been an appropriate one and would have worked in a literary sense.
In conclusion, THE DOCTOR AND THE DIVA was an enjoyable read - an engaging novel centering around three original, compelling, and flawed characters. I would definitely recommend this book to lovers of historical fiction, opera enthusiasts, and most female readers. Additionally, it abounds with issues that could stimulate wonderful group discussion, so I think it would be a *superb* book club selection (especially if it's a coed book club - could lead to some very interesting conversations!).
[This review is of an advanced copy format of the book]
RECOMMENDATION: This novel reminded me very much of Catherine Texier's Victorine, an extremely wonderful book (4.5 stars) that I finished in one day, if I remember correctly. This novel also centers around a mysterious and intriguing woman from the author's ancestors and explores her struggle between responsibility and family duty, and her pursuit of passion and independence. In the case of VICTORINE, Texier's great-grandmother is the featured heroine - a French woman living at the end of the 19th century who leaves her husband and children to go to Indochina with her lover.
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