This book is based on the real-life story of Ginko Ogino - Japan’s first female doctor. After contracting gonorrhea from her husband, experiencing divorce and humiliation of being examined by male doctors, Gin sets out in male dominated 19th century Japan to become the first female doctor so other women don't have to experience the same humiliations she did.
What can I say about this novel? I finished it. It was a tad painful. I'm not sure if it's because it's a male writer portraying a female persona, maybe something was lost in translation from Japanese or that the writer can't decided to tell the story in first person narrative in the characters present or telling the story ABOUT Ginko historically but this was a terrible read. It had such great potential and it was so disappointing. In the middle of Ginko talking about how she applied to a school the next paragraph will talk about how that particular school many years last would go on to become a blah blah blah which would have absolutely nothing to do with Ginko, female doctors or the story. It was a random historical fact. And how he writes about Ginko herself there is a disconnect with the character. For all that she went through and the strength she had to fight to become a doctor, as the reader you are not in any way connected with her. There's no emotion. You don't even feel sorry for her. It's like you're just reading facts about a condition not a person.
All in all with poor writing I would not recommend this book. Save yourself the trouble and read the wiki article about Ginko Ogino.
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