The Doctors Wife, Elizabeth Brundage
The Doctors Wife, Elizabeth Brundage
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The Doctor's Wife

Author: Elizabeth Brundage

Narrator: Robert Petkoff, Ellen Archer

Unabridged: 12 hr 50 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Published: 11/29/2005


Synopsis

So begins The Doctor’s Wife, a stunning debut novel about four people and the cataclysmic intersection of their lives. Michael is a rising OB/GYN at a prominent private practice in Albany, New York; he also moonlights at a local women’s health clinic. But Annie, his wife, has become tired of her workaholic husband’s absences, and the soccer-mom lifestyle has worn thin. She begins a passionate love affair with bad-boy, fading celebrity painter Simon Haas—an affair that quickly goes awry when Simon’s wife Lydia, who is also the model upon whom he built his career, discovers the truth. Abortion, local evangelism, marital disenchantment, and the rifts of social class: Brundage takes on the fault lines of our era with a deft hand.

About The Author

Elizabeth Brundage graduated from Hampshire College, attended NYU film school, was a screenwriting fellow at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles, and received an MFA as well as a James Michener Award from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Her works include The Doctor’s Wife, Somebody Else’s Daughter, A Stranger Like You, and All Things Cease to Appear. She has taught at a variety of colleges and universities, most recently at Skidmore College, where she was visiting writer in residence. She lives near Albany in upstate New York.Robert Petkoff is an award-winning actor of stage, film, and television. He is also an accomplished narrator who has more than 100 audiobooks to his credit, and has received Audie and Earphones awards for his narration. He lives in New York City with his wife. Ellen Archer has recorded nearly 175 audiobooks. She is a 2007 Audie Award winner for bio/memoir; 2008 Audie Finalist for religious fiction; 2011 Audie Finalist for multicast; and the winner of multiple Earphones and Publishers Weekly awards.


Reviews

AudiobooksNow review by Christine on 2010-07-24 12:41:54

This is a really good book

Goodreads review by Amy on March 14, 2008

This was a page turner. I enjoyed it. It was a cross between a love story and thriller/suspense story. It was a different kind of read for me and definitely brought me out of the serious dramas that I have been reading as of late. Well written for a debut novelist. I will certainly read the next one......more

Goodreads review by Sarah on March 12, 2008

After reading the reviews posted here I was worried that I was not going to like this book. So many people gave one or two stars, and didn't have much good to say about it. Needless to say, I loved it. I thought it was fantastic and did not want to put it down. I was sad when it was over and really......more

Goodreads review by Kayla on June 29, 2011

Contrary to what others may think, I thought this was a wonderfully written and suspenseful book. It really is hard to believe that this is Brundage's debut novel as it written like one of an experienced author. Thankfully I didn't read any of the reviews on here or I may not have read it as I think......more

Goodreads review by Michelle on August 29, 2007

I pulled this book off the library shelf because on the first page the main character was swearing up a storm. I mean, how often do you get to hear that? Especially followed by "I wanted him to be buried deep in the ground where no one would ever look... when I consider my unrelenting devotion to Je......more

Goodreads review by Cortney - on August 02, 2018

The Doctor's Wife wasn't the book I thought it was going to be... I think I was expecting more suspense, especially based the first line of the book "The memory starts here, in my apron pocket, with the gun." The four main characters were all deeply flawed, with no real redeeming qualities. Their st......more


Quotes

“Appearances are deceiving in this psychological thriller… a compelling read.”—The Boston Globe

“An examination of w hat happens when we are drawn to the very thing that promises to destroy us.”—Publisher’s Weekly

“Complex, cleverly constructed narrative provides a slow unfolding of the intricate relationship among the characters… This page-turner will appeal to a broad readership.” —Booklist

“From the very first paragraph of Elizabeth Brundage’s debut… it is evident things will not end neatly. No character inhabiting this story will escape unscathed from the choices they’ve made… a well-crafted work.” —Ms. Magazine

“A fine debut, full of psychological suspense, plot twists and turns, malice disguised as religion, the taint of incest, and cheating spouses.”—Library Journal

“Thrilling page-turner.”—Albany Times-Union

“A page-turner that will linger in reader’s minds long after they finish the book.”—Connecticut Post

The Doctor’s Wife is certainly a tense and compelling psychological thriller, but it’s more than just a page-turner. In her dark depiction of small-town intolerance, Brundage invites us to question our moral assumptions, social responsibilities, in short, our engagement with the world.”—Ruth Ozeki, author of My Year of Meats and All Over Creation

“Elizabeth Brundage has exquisitely captured the tension that resides at the crossroads of self and society. The Doctor’s Wife encapsulates not only our uncertain, conflicted times but the maddening, endearing, fascinating contradictions of the American moral construct. This novel is as politically pertinent as it is a page-turner.”—Meghan Daum, author of The Quality of Life Report

“Elizabeth Brundage has written a deliciously dark, finely observed, and ultimately thrilling morality tale. The Doctor’s Wife is a full meal of sex, danger, and small-town paranoia which I greedily devoured.”—Laurie Fox, author of The Lost Girls

“Elizabeth Brundage’s prose reveals an honesty, clarity and grace uncommon for any novel, let alone a debut, and her insights consistently surprise and astonish. Even more impressively, she tackles a topic currently dividing the American spirit with feverish rancor and brings not just conviction but compassion to her portrayal. The Doctor’s Wife is a novel to savor, praise and share.”—David Corbett, author of The Devil’s Redhead and Done For A Dime