The Woman With the Cure, a historical fiction novel that dives into the world of science and medicine, much like Lessons in Chemistry, which I adored. The story of Dorothy Horstmann, a trailblazing woman in STEM, will resonate with me especially given my appreciation for The Women, which highlighted the experiences of women in challenging times. With its themes of perseverance, sacrifice, and the pursuit of a cure, The Woman With the Cure was a compelling and emotional read .

Super cool read about a women in history that was never given true credit~! I enjoyed the perspective changes, though some felt unnecessary, but it included other perspectives I would not have considered!

At its peak in the 1940s and 1950s, polio paralyzed or killed over half a million people worldwide every year.

The Woman with the Cure delves into the intense race to find a cure for the disease. Jonas Salk gets the credit for the polio vaccine, but there was a team of medical researchers around the globe racing to find a cure. Dorothy Horstmann was one of them. An American epidemiologist, virologist, and pediatrician and the first woman appointed as a professor at the Yale School of Medicine, her research showed how the poliovirus circulated in the body, setting the stage for the development of the vaccine.

Jonas Salk and a team of researchers at the University of Pittsburgh developed one of the first successful polio vaccines, which was finally declared to be safe and effective in 1955. Salk became an instant hero. For his work, he was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Despite her groundbreaking work, Dr. Horstmann won no prestigious awards, nor was she credited with her life-saving vaccine. But she persisted because her primary goal was saving the lives of children.

While Dorothy’s story fascinated me, the book wasn’t without its flaws. I struggled to keep up with all the intertwined storylines, and certain parts dragged on, leaving me a bit bored. The constant emphasis on Dorothy’s height and the repetitive mentions of “Moonlight Sonata” grew tiresome.

But don’t let those minor gripes deter you. The Woman with the Cure sheds light on an important chapter in medical history and the fight for funding to combat a devastating disease. Dorothy Horstmann is a hero worth rooting for. If you’re a fan of historical fiction, especially during Women’s History Month, this book is a must-read. I’m giving it 4 stars.

** Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a review copy of this book. The opinions expressed are my own.

I found this book fascinating!
Well written and interesting!
Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Sometimes we forget about the events that occurred when we were little children, and such is the case with polio. Author Lynn Cullen provides the historical context of scientists, medical breakthroughs, and international collaborations during the 1950s and 60s. The March of Dimes organization began with the fight against polio, and the reader learns about the disagreements and the competition to win the funding needed to seek a cure. Research was a male-dominated field, and suggestions from female scientists were often disregarded. “The Woman with the Cure” focuses on Dr. Dorothy Horstmann as she struggles to complete her research, share her results, and become accepted in the polio fight. Few colleagues recognized her contributions, and more than a few asked her to get them coffee! The prospect of a female scientist in a pool of men causes jealousy, suspicion, and innuendo from wives and secretaries. Dorothy tries to balance a professional demeanor and a personal life.

This historical fiction book is ideal for a book discussion, as people can share their recollections. The Baby Boomers have stories to tell about closed swimming pools, friends in wheelchairs, and isolation in the summer during the height of polio season. They know about Polio Pioneers. They recall entire neighborhoods lined up for vaccination shots or sugar cubes distributed on Sundays at public school buildings. And they can contrast that with the recent Covid pandemic and the mistrust of vaccinations and health proclamations from the government. Others can learn about the recent eradication of a disease, and the collaboration it takes for a worldwide cure.

I enjoyed this book; historical fiction usually isn't my favorite (I'd rather watch movies or tv shows about historical eras), however this was a pretty good read. This book tells the story of Dorothy Horstmann and how she helped create the polio vaccine in the 1940s and 1950s. Seeing how Dorothy faced discrimination as a woman in that time period and profession was at times very similar to how women are still being brushed off today.

Utterly fascinating look at the woman who changed the world at the onset of the Polio pandemic. The beginning of this book felt horrifyingly reminiscent of the pandemic shut down. She writes how they drove past the pool so the kids would believe it was actually closed. How true this was so many times during the pandemic with kids. Most simply could not grasp that everything was truly shut down.
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I honestly did not know much about the Polio outbreak and soon the country’s finest doctors are in a race against time to find a cure or vaccine….sound familiar? Anyway, Dr. Dorothy Hortsmann was often the only woman in the room. This is a historical fiction tale of what is given up and sacrificed in the name of medicine. When I was done I did a deep dive into the real Dr and truly fascinating.
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Huge thank you to @berkleypub @berittalksbooks @thephdivabooks @dg_reads and @netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Any work of historical fiction that has you researching to find out what parts of the book were fiction and what were factual is a good book. This was a fascinating read - while I read it about 6 months ago and my recollection of the details is foggy, I still recall how impressed I was with this entire story.

Dr. Dorothy M. Horstmann was an epidemiologist who contributed to the polio vaccine. The Woman with the Cure attempts to shed light on this little known woman who helped pave the way for great endeavors. The polio outbreak has spread throughout the country and has put America into lockdown. It had paralyzed and killed its victims, in particular children. Dorothy wishes to find a cure to heal these victims. She becomes a participant in the pursuit of a vaccine. However, Dorothy learns that she must make sacrifices in order to find a cure.

I had never heard of Dr. Dorothy M. Horstmann before. Thus, I was eager to learn about her story. However, Dorothy was a flat character. She felt emotionally distant, and I did not feel connected to her anyway. I think this book should have been told in first person rather than third. Instead, I am told of her emotions rather than showing her emotions on the page. Therefore, she was not an engaging character. Still, I admired her compassion and her willingness to help others. I wished she was a better written character because she seemed like an intelligent and good person.

Overall, this novel is about ambitions, sacrifices, and choices. The other characters, especially the men, seemed to be very one-dimensional. The love triangle was underwhelming. Despite these flaws, I did like Mrs. Cullen's writing style as well as the setting that Dorothy has visited. I also like how even though the novel was set in the 1940s and 1950s, it was very reminiscent of today with COVID-19 pandemic. The Woman with the Cure illuminates the life of a significant but largely overlooked woman! It has inspired me to do more research on her! I recommend this novel for fans of The Only Woman in the Room, The Invincible Miss Cust, and Half Life!

4.5 stars!

THE WOMAN WITH THE CURE was such a fascinating story, and even more so with the recent Covid pandemic that feels eerily similar to the polio vaccine race.

I love Historical Fiction, and am always drawn to a story like this that features such strong, courageous women in a time when it was very much a male dominant world.

*many thanks to Berkley and Netgalley for the gifted copy

The Woman With the Cure is inspiring historical fiction based on race to find the cure for polio and a female doctor who dedicated her life to fight against polio and had been the backbone to the discovery of the polio vaccine.

Before starting this book I never heard about Dr. Dorothy Horstmann and only two names pop up when we search about Polio Vaccine, Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin. There is no mention of Dorothy Horstmann who discovered how Polio travels from blood to the nervous system that causes paralysis which has been most important to make vaccines.

It’s sad to see Bodin’s name for the same discovery even though he and Dorothy presented their research at the same time but it’s Bodin who gets the name and fame for what was initially Dorothy’s ideas who couldn’t work on her theory earlier as male-dominated field refused to fund her theory and research.

Spanning from 1940 to 1960 The Woman With the Cure covers– the beginning of the Polio outbreak in the U.S. that kept worsening over time until the vaccine was discovered, how Dorothy entered in the medical field, did her residency in Nashville where she first met Dr. Sabin, how she got fellowship at Yale where her actual fight against Poliovirus began along with her struggle at every step of her life and how long it took her to climb ladders in a male-dominated scientific field that took too long to appreciate her mind and knowledge and still not to fullest.

While the personal life of all real-life characters was fictional, it was easy to root for Dorothy, feel her struggle and emotions that she didn’t show on her face. It was truly inspiring to see her constantly work against disease and for people, never letting ego and race of men affect her goal and nature. Dorothy’s life journey shows what it’s like to be an immigrant in the country, women’s positions and situations in 40s-60s, gender inequality in medical field of the era, what it’s like to work in male-dominated field, males often trying to cross coworker boundaries, and how some made gossips out of a good teamwork, how much women has to sacrifice for passion and dream, go through struggle to maintain life-work balance while men could have it all.

It was amazing how the author included all geniuses of the medical field and all the discoveries made in this time period. What I loved most is, while this story focused on Dorothy it also includes women from many walks of life, mothers, nurses, doctors, wives of scientists, women scientists, assistants, and statisticians… who all played important role, showed tremendous courage and strength in their own way… like the author said it easily could be “Women with the Cure”.

Why 4 stars-

As much as I enjoyed the scientific aspect, the race to discover the Polio vaccine, and other fictionalized stories, I also felt the personal life stories of all characters dragged the story making it slow-paced.

Overall, The Woman With the Cure is well-written, inspiring, and motivating historical fiction on a woman who found the base of the cure for Polio.

With mother’s day having just passed I find it important to highlight a book like this. This is a powerful example of a woman that even though she had a rough start to life she still gave up getting married and having children so that she could spend her life trying to make sure no other mother would have to watch a child she loves die. The author did a fantastic job of showing the rawness of the effects and loss of this disease while making sure the humanness of each victim was not lost, so that as a reader you connect with the victims and feel their pain and mourn their losses. This is an amazing story that i recommend for all to read, it will make you view life just a little bit differently.

Unfortunately This was a miss for me. Too many characters and the storyline was confusing. Overall the story has potential and some aspects were good but I didn’t love it.

Ever hear of Dr. Dorothy Horstmann? No? Did you know a woman is partially responsible for the medical discoveries that helped cure Polio? No?

This was yet another book that left me asking ‘why’? Why do we overshadow the accomplishments of women in history? Why are their stories just now becoming important enough to tell? I am amazed at every book like this one, where what I learned in school and what I know of historical events, is completely inaccurate.

The only thing I ever learned about polio, was that Jonas Salk was responsible for creating the vaccine that eradicated the disease. Well thanks to this fast paced and very interesting read, I found that the efforts of many others, contributed to the success of the vaccine.

Dorothy was a fearless individual, who dedicated her life to the efforts in curing this disease. She was one of the first to discover polio in the bloodstream, which allowed for Salk and Sabin to attack the disease accurately in the body.

I was fascinated by her having given up any semblance of a normal family life in exchange for a life dedicated to saving the children of the world. This was a very fast paced read, considering how many details and facts weee included. The author did a good job of maintaining the timeline, while holding my interest in the character herself. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for this early copy in exchange for my honest review.

Many thanks to my friends at @berkleypub and @prhaudio for the #gifted copies.

With history primarily focused on the impact of men, I’m always intrigued to learn about the women hidden behind the men’s shadows.

Epidemiologist Dorothy Hortsmann was smart, determined, and passionate about finding a cure for polio. With a nation in peril… many people dying or paralyzed by a disease running rampant… Dr. Hortsmann persistently sought a cure.

Based in research, the look at Dorothy’s resolve for science is worth attention. I was fascinated by the discoveries, the theories, and the surprising timeline (with its many interruptions). Coming out of the covid pandemic, the part of this story steeped in history felt eerily resonate.

Given that this is historical fiction, I expected liberties to be taken with Dorothy’s story. However, I found the fictitious additions, primarily the romantic ones, inauthentic to the time and person.

Given that, the spotlight on Dorothy’s worthy accomplishments felt dimmed and made the overall book less impactful.

This was an excellent historical fiction account of the struggles scientists went through to develop the Polio vaccine. It took decades! One of the biggest contributors was a woman who persevered in her studies and experiments despite the gender discriminations of the time. I highly recommend! #netgalley #thewomanwiththecure #lynncullen

In the gym a few weeks ago, I eavesdropped on two women discussing the immunization schedule of their babies. One woman had gotten the polio vaccine for her child but had balked at additional shots. The second woman eschewed them all, saying that children’s immune systems were strengthened by forgoing vaccines. It took all my willpower to keep my mouth shut. Where are new mothers getting their medical information these days? How can they possibly know so little about how the immune system works?

Historical fiction author Lynn Cullen’s latest novel, The Woman with the Cure, focuses on the scientific community’s fight to cure polio and specifically on Dr. Dorothy Horstmann, a researcher who devoted her life to sick children. Dr. Horstmann, who died of Alzheimer’s in 2001 at the age of 89, would have been horrified to learn about how lies about autism and “fake news” on the internet contributed to the trend of vaccine refusal.

For the complete review, click on the link below.

I bet most of us could answer the question of who developed the polio vaccine, but there was so much more to that whole process. Luckily, the vaccine was perfected and cases of polio have virtually been eliminated now.
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The Woman With the Cure by Lynn Cullen is the fictionalized story of a very real woman who played a major roll in the development of the polio vaccine (and rubella too), Dr. Dorothy Horstmann. At a time when women were supposed to happily stay at home with the kids and entertain their husband’s associates, Dr. Horstmann blazed her own path in medicine with little recognition and often little respect.
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This story fascinated me with details of what life was like for years and years of a polio pandemic. Parks and beaches closed, iron lungs, leg braces and wheelchairs were not at all unusual, and death was a real possibility. It took years to even figure out how polio worked in the body, how many strains there were, then to finally develop a vaccine. This book did throw a lot of science and details at me and I ate it up. In fact, I had to Google more information as soon as I finished the novel.
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This was remarkably well researched, based on real characters and real events that I felt were told in an entertaining way. It read a lot like a biography and I love biographies. I really wish women’s contributions in history were highlighted more in history classes throughout schools. I find them fascinating.
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[4.25 stars]

A traditional Historical Fiction book I actually really liked...and, bonus that it's WWII adjacent! The Woman with the Cure is a novel inspired by Dr. Dorothy Horstmann, the woman who was one of the key scientists responsible for developing a cure for Polio. The race to develop the polio vaccine as portrayed by the media was a 2 horse race between Dr. Albert Sabin and Dr. Jonas Salk. Dr. Horstmann was rarely mentioned. This story joins the fast-growing Micro Genre of Historical Fiction novels about women whose vast accomplishments were overlooked at the time they lived, which I love. Academic rivalries and backstabbing add suspense and drama to this story. And, of course, Cullen delves into the struggles of being a woman in Science in the 1940's and 50's and a woman's experience trying to "have it all" (bonus: she reminded me of Elizabeth Zott from Lessons in Chemistry minus the unintentional humor). Reading this following the COVID pandemic made what people went through during the Polio pandemic relatable. And, this would make a great Mother / Mother-in-Law recommendation!

This was a fascinating historical fiction account of the work that went behind finding a polio vaccine told from the perspective of Dorothy Horstmann, one of the women who played a key role in helping beat the virus.

Set in the 1940s and 50s, we get a really good sense of the sexism of the medical community at the time and how urgent finding a vaccine was, particularly the risks that went into the work as the world was gripped in yet another pandemic!

Great on audio narrated by Hillary Huber and recommended for fans of books like The lobotomist's wife by Samantha Greene Woodruff or Her hidden genius by Marie Benedict. A perfect read for Women's history month too!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review.