Early Review - Healer of Carthage by Lynne Gentry

Healer of Carthage (The Carthage Chronicles #1) by Lynne Gentry
Release date - March 4th 2014
Published by Howard Books
ebook, 373 pages
Source - NetGalley
Add it to Goodreads

Description (from Goodreads)

A modern-day doctor gets trapped in third-century Carthage, Rome, where she uncovers buried secrets, confronts Christian persecution, and battles a deadly epidemic to save the man she loves. Dr. Lisbeth Hastings, a first-year resident, is summoned by her eccentric father to join him at his archaeological dig. She is hesitant to accept his invitation, but when a tragic mistake ends her medical career, Lisbeth decides the only way to redeem her failure is to care for her confused father.

While exploring the haunting cave at her father’s dig, Lisbeth falls through a hidden hole and awakens to find herself the object of a slave bidding war! She tries to escape her captor, a wealthy Roman lawyer named Cyprian Thascius, and discovers that the city she remembers as ruins has somehow become brand-new. Who restored Carthage to a thriving metropolis? And if she is in the third century, how did this happen?

Cyprian believes God called him to rescue the beautiful and strange woman being auctioned off as a slave. He doesn’t understand why saving the church of his newfound faith requires him to love a mysterious woman who seems determined to get him killed by her stubbornness. But who is he to question God?

Their colliding worlds spark an intense attraction as Lisbeth and Cyprian soon find themselves united in a battle against a deadly epidemic. Together they confront Christian persecution, uncover buried secrets, and witness the beginnings of a medical revolution, but they fear Roman wrath will separate them forever. Will Lisbeth save the man she loves and the family she longs for—or will their separate worlds pull them apart forever?

My Review

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

  This was an incredible story of a woman with a dream of becoming a doctor because of the connection she felt towards it with her mother, who mysteriously disappeared when she was still a child. In the process of making her dream a reality, Lisbeth seemed to be losing herself from her exhausting time spent as a first year medical resident. When she receives word from her father that he found her mother at the Cave of Swimmers where she went missing to long ago, she takes the step that lead on a long journey to find answers to a mystery that has plagued her for do long.

  I loved the writing in this character driven, time travel book. I was easily swept up in Lisbeth's story and I really liked her character. The things that medical students need to do to become a doctor are incredible. Anyone that willingly puts their body through that physical and mental exhaustion must really want to help people. I enjoyed when Lisbeth was transported back in time and discovered how to go back to the basics of medicare and learns how to listen to what the patients body is telling her.

  Healer of Carthage had much more to the story then just Lisbeth rekindling the passion she once had for medicine. There is the political and religious aspects to the story as well as Lisbeth finding her mother, fighting an epidemic and a new romance. The love story was good but for me this is one of the rare times that I enjoyed Lisbeth's journey to becoming a more confident doctor better.

  I don't typically like reading books involving religion or politics but seeing as the setting for this novel is 3rd century Carthage I expected there to be some. The one thing that I really didn't like about this book was the interaction between Lisbeth and Craig (her fiance) at the end. It seems so unbelievable that an important conversation about their relationship would go down like that. It really bugged me and seemed like it wasn't thought out well.

* Due to the language and violence this book it is aimed at mature readers.

I give this a 3 ½ out of 5 stars.

✯ ✯ ✯  ½