The Surgeon’s Daughter follows the journey of Nora Beady, a pioneering woman in the 19th-century medical field. Orphaned and raised by Dr. Horace Croft, Nora receives an unconventional education in medicine, leading to a deep passion for surgery. However, her path is filled with obstacles in a male-dominated society that views women as unfit for the operating room.

Nora’s journey takes her from England to Italy, where she becomes the only woman attending medical school. She faces both personal and professional challenges, including the prejudices of her colleagues and societal norms that limit her opportunities. Everything changes when she allies herself with Magdalena Morenco, the sole female doctor on staff. Together, they develop new techniques to improve a groundbreaking surgery: the Cesarean section.

The novel’s strengths lie in its rich historical detail and a strong female protagonist. The medical details are outstanding—I can’t imagine giving birth via c-section without anesthesia and pain medication—and limitations placed on women in the 19th century are well-researched. However, the pacing is uneven, with some parts dragging because of excessive medical jargon. Additionally, the supporting characters lack depth, and Nora's relationships, particularly her romance with Daniel, feel underdeveloped.

Overall, The Surgeon’s Daughter has its merits but may not captivate all readers. I liked it, but I didn’t love it. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

** Thanks to the publisher for a comp of this book. The opinions are my own.

This was an incredibly inspiring and captivating novel about the only woman attending medical school in Italy. Nora Beady, from the previous novel, “The Girl in His Shadow”, once again makes history by stepping out of the roles society has set for her so she could pursue a future in medicine, this time studying at a famous school in Bologna, Italy. Descriptions of Italy are beautifully done, and the sense of place for this story wraps around Nora’s discoveries and tensions with a masterful hand. A story that is as engaging as it is informative.

Thanks to Net Galley I received an ARC to read The Surgeon’s Daughter. This was a very interesting read and a very enjoyable one.

Nora Brady is faced with discrimination due to her sex in the 19th century. Italy was not so different as the rest of the world. Nora aligns herself with the only female doctor on staff. Together they seek to help women’s health in particular maternal health. They improve techniques on the Cesarian section surgery to save lives.. They face many difficulties educating their clients and also their fellow male doctors. We have come so far in medical advances but yet maternity health world wide is still abysmal with all the improvements.

An absolutely incredible historical fiction novel set in the late 1800's about a woman and her journey to be recognized as a doctor, focusing on c-section procedures. This book was simply fascinating from every standpoint. From the moment it began, I was enthralled and needed to keep listening. So many emotions are provoked throughout the book too, as a woman and as someone who has had a c-section.

As a forewarning, there are quite graphic descriptions of medical procedures, including c-section births. It definitely added another element to the story telling however. If you have any interest in women's history, the medical field, or women in the medical field, this book and The Girl In His Shadow (the first book in this series) are definitely ones to pick up!

I loved this book and just recently found out this is the second book in a series. The way the author wrote this book and carefully integrated snippets from the first book for context makes it easily a stand alone novel if need be. Rest assured I will be reading the first book! The characters are well defined and likeable, and it’s an easy read, despite the medical jargon.

I didn't know that this was the 2nd book in the series. However, I had enjoyed how I was able to connect with the characters. I also enjoyed the medical talks and and medical information that was in this historical fiction


Thank you NetGalley and publishers of Sourcebook Landmark for this ebook.

The Surgeon's Daughter is the historical fiction tale of Nora Beady who is the only female student at a medical school in Bologna, Italy. This is the 19th century and women were supposed to stay at home in the kitchen and have babies.

Because of these stuffy ideas by men, Nora has a difficult time, not learning to be a doctor but overcoming the male attitude. She is ridiculed wherever she goes in school. She wants to become a licensed physician so she can practice with her boyfriend in England. She was not allowed to attend medical school there.

She wants to graduate sooner than planned and is told that she needs to study under Magdalena Morenco the only female doctor on staff. With Magdalena's help, she learns about performing the c-section on women who are having a hard time delivering the normal way. Nora is also an expert on the use of ether.

This book focuses on the lengths that Nora will go to to be acknowledged as the fine doctor that she aspires to be.

We also learn of Nora's boyfriend, Daniel who is also a doctor and is having difficulties with the head of the hospital on how to treat diphtheria children. This story explores the times with the pressures on women to do what is expected of them.

I love a good story about strong women and this one is definitely that. How a young woman rises to the top of her class of skeptical men. I really enjoyed it.

I give it 4 stars.

Another great entry from this author! I enjoyed this book as much as I did its prequel, The Girl in His Shadow. I found this book to be very well written, atmospheric in both time and place, and moving. I loved Nora's independence and strength and intellect. I also really enjoyed the fact that her romance with whatshisname back at home was sweet but mostly on the back burner throughout the book. She's a woman on a mission. I learned a lot about medicine and C-sections, which was really fascinating and sometimes rather gross, as well as the struggle of early female medical students. I did find Nora's naivete and propensity to inspire undying love in every man she meets to be a little... you know. (annoying or avoidable or unbelievable?) But it's a small complaint in a book that I otherwise enjoyed very much. I hope to see a third installment in the series.

The sequel to The Girl in His Shadow, The Surgeon’s Daughter by Audrey Blake (a nom de plume used by the writing team of Regina Sirius and Jaima Fixsen) follows Eleanora Beady’s move to Italy to study medicine at the University of Bologna, having been refused the opportunity in England.

As the only woman in the class, Nora has few allies among her classmates and professors, but is determined to prove herself in an accelerated program and return to England with her medical license so that she can practice alongside her guardian, Dr Horace Croft, and her paramour, Dr Daniel Gibson. Nora is excited when she finds a mentor in Dr. Magdalena Morenco, whose study of caesarean birth procedures dovetails neatly with Nora’s interest in anaesthesia, though her goal is nearly thwarted by a jealous professor.

Though Nora ultimately returns to London triumphant, she discovers Croft and Gibson are under pressure due to the actions of a vindictive colleague, ill-health, and financial stress. With the viability of their Great Queen Street clinic in question, when Nora is asked by a heavily pregnant Lady Woodbine to perform a caesarean, she is all too aware that failure to save both mother and baby could end not only her own fledgling career, and the careers of those she loves, but also the future of women in medicine.

The Surgeon’s Daughter is a reminder of how primitive surgical treatment was in the mid 19th century, with the survival of patients often due more to good luck than good management. Drawing on medical case studies from the era, Blake offers vivid descriptions of injuries and illnesses, and the often barbaric processes used to treat them. It was difficult to read about children suffocating from Diphtheria, and as someone who gave birth via an emergency caesarean section, the thought of enduring the surgery, and recovery, without anaesthetic and pain management is horrifying, and the only alternatives then available to save mother or child (rarely both), no less so.

Naturally, Blake explores the barriers women faced in pursuit of higher learning in a period when their role in society was very narrowly defined by marriage, and motherhood. Only a handful of European institutions would accept women who wanted to study medicine, and even then they were rarely welcome. Nora’s experience of exclusion, sexism and misogyny was common (and barely improved for a century), and England’s first female doctors all gained their licence to practice from overseas institutions, as they were refused entry in England.

I wanted to understand more about Nora’s student experience though, other than just being a target of misogyny, and perhaps see some character change, or growth. I thought the pace of Nora’s narrative was uneven, and some crucial elements, particularly the period where she was under the tutelage of Moreno, felt underdeveloped. Though I was engaged by the action and tension in Croft and Gibson’s chapters, I also felt that it pulled too much focus from Nora’s story.

As a well researched piece of historical fiction, I found The Surgeon’s Daughter to be interesting and enjoyable.

Excellent sequel to The Girl in his Shadow. Excellent medical research and very enjoyable storytelling. Characters were likeable and true to life. Thank you for the opportunity to read this book!

I read this immediately following The Girl in His Shadow, and it worked beautifully. The first book does such a nice job of telling a whole story, I was afraid I would feel like I was being drug along in this second installment, but that was not at ALL the case. A brand new setting brings whole new relationships, and new sides to existing relationships from the previous book, and I really enjoyed watching Nora come in to her own here. Excellent follow up. Interesting and rich historical detail. Beautifully drawn setting.

This was a very well plotted book.. I liked the whole premise of it and it was written quite well!! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher!

This book did not have a fair chance with me since I had not read the prequel. A forewarning that is was a follow-up to a previous book or better summaries woven into the account would have helped. With this background, I do not feel qualified to give an accurate review.

Wow, do I ever feel more knowledgeable about the medical field in the 19th century now! I thoroughly enjoyed following Nora through her journey to become a surgeon.

My one complaint is that this book is not marketed as a sequel when it definitely is one. I paused my reading at 10% and went and read The Girl in His Shadow (which I loved and gave 5 stars) and then came back to finish this one after things made so much more sense.

The descriptions of 19th century surgeries where very descriptive, I imagine some people struggling with that if they are squeamish but I found them fascinating (with a few making even me feel the need to skim a paragraph or two), the research that went into writing this book is evident.

I eagerly await when the duo that makes up Audrey Blake releases another book!

This book was a great follow up to the previous book in the series. I do think you should read them in order to fully understand Nora’s journey. It wrapped things up nicely and I was so happy to see Nora evolve as a doctor and as an independent woman. I received a free copy of this book from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

The Surgeon's Daughter by Audrey Blake. Pub Date: May 10, 2022. Rating: 3 stars. What to say about this novel? I wanted to enjoy it so much because I love female leads in historical fiction, especially trailblazers who are "out of the norm" for the time period. But, this one just did not do it for me. I felt it was too "medically" and not enough emotion and demonstration of the main character Nora and her unique situation of being the only female student in her medical school class. There were scenes of pure medical situations that I thought could have been toned down, but then again the novel is about the medical profession. I really wanted to love this one, but it fell short for me. Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review. #thesurgeonsdaughter #netgalley #sourcebookslandmark

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the early read/listen. The characters were all likable. Narrator did a great job telling the story and giving each character their own voice. Will recommend.

I really enjoyed this book! The main character Nora was a fascinating woman who pushed herself and pushed boundaries. I loved her relationships with her adoptive father, her fiance, her peers, her mentors and her patients. The struggles she experienced trying to excel and that other female characters experienced are unfortunately still present today. The historical medical information was extremely Interesting and accurate. Great historical fiction.

#netgalley #thesurgeon'sdaughter
This book is brilliant, I enjoyed the first The girl in his shadow and this one I absolutely adored, I love reading medical fiction and this one is also historical so it is very different to these days in the medical field. Also about Nora and how back then women really had to work hard to become doctors. Historical, medical, romance, suspense and beautifully written 5/5 stars

Even better than book 1 (The Girl in His Shadow)!
Nora is now attending the University of Bologna to become a surgeon. Daniel stayed in London with Horace. All through the novel, we follow all three of them, one chapter devoted to Daniel and Horace, one chapter to Nora. I found this very interesting as I could follow Nora's education as well as Daniel and Horace 's work in London focused on diphtheria.
The University of Bologna accepts women as students: is Nora fully accepted as a student though, or is she again impeded by her gender? Will she go on having the courage to practice surgery knowing that the patients risk their lives under her knife? This is indeed a harsh decision surgeons had to live with daily aware of the deadly risk of infections. This was very well rendered by the authors (there are 2 of them). Full of suspense, tension, this novel was so completely absorbing that I read it in two days.

I received a digital ARC of this novel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.