Dr. Norton's Wife - by Mildred Walker (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Dr. Norton's Wife was praised for its quiet honesty and artistic integrity when it was first published in 1938. It stands up firmly as a portrait of a marriage subjected to the strain of unexpected invalidism. As a doctor's wife, Sue Norton is no stranger to matters of life and death. But medical shoptalk screens her from the realities of illness until she is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Never clinical, Walker, herself the wife of a doctor, accurately describes the disease's progress and the adjustments necessary to cope with it. The result is a tender story of "the marriage of true minds."

From the Back Cover

Dr. Norton's Wife was praised for its quiet honesty and artistic integrity when it was first published in 1938. It stands up firmly as a portrait of a marriage subjected to the strain of unexpected invalidism. As a doctor's wife, Sue Norton is no stranger to matters of life and death. But medical shoptalk screens her from the realities of illness until she is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Never clinical, Walker, herself the wife of a doctor, accurately describes the disease's progress and the adjustments necessary to cope with it. The result is a tender story of "the marriage of true minds".

Review Quotes

"[A] disturbing book. . . . For those who are interested in the world of unuttered thoughts, Dr. Norton's Wife will prove an absorbing study."--New York Times

"An honest, straightforward little novel. . . . The author has a precise feeling for the atmosphere, the personalities, and the intrigues of a small medical college."--New Yorker

About the Author

David Budbill lives in Vermont, as Mildred Walker did for some years. His Judevine: The Complete Poems was singled out by Booklist as one of the three best books of poems published in 1991.