The Heart Specialist

Agnes White is fascinated by the "wrong" things–microscopes, dissections, and anatomy. A lonely orphan raised by her prim grandmother at the turn of the 20th century, Agnes is haunted by her vague memories of her father, a renowned Montreal physician who disappeared after being accused of his sister's murder. Agnes is determined to follow in his footsteps as a doctor, even though medical schools in Canada are still closed to women. Despite resistance at every turn, she not only becomes a doctor but a world-renowned specialist of the human heart. But even as her professional star rises, her life is solitary and her happiness remains incomplete because of her missing father. One of the only clues in her quest to find him is a strange, misshapen heart that teaches her an invaluable lesson about love. Inspired by the career of Maude Abbott, one of Canada's first female physicians, The Heart Specialist is the story of how one celebrated expert on the human heart must learn to understand her own.