In mid-nineteenth century society, how did health practitioners deal with the psyche? The male protagonist in this novel, young Dr. Lacey, echoes the view of Florence Nightingale-that sometimes what the nurse gave the patient was more important than what the doctor had to give. Teaming up with a Nightingale nurse, they create a charity hospital for children living in the poorest neighbourhood of London. Dr. Lacey will save her from utter economic destitution, but she will save him from his debilitating sense of guilt and malaise. She becomes his emotional and psychological healer using her compassion, concern, and deep understanding. Their small Whitechapel hospital alas never existed, but the ideas, both social and medical, were certainly in the air.
This is the year 1860, fourteen years before the London School of Medicine for Women was founded.
Joyce Myerson taught for many years in Italian Studies at McGill University in Montreal and is now a professional translator from Italian of articles and academic books (medieval history, psychoanalysis, and art history). She has also translated a book of medieval Tuscan poetry (2013). Her translation of the novel,
The Caravaggio Syndrome,
by Alessandro Giardino was published in March 2024 by Rutgers University. Her short stories have appeared in various literary journals in the U.S. and Canada.