An unforgettable historical fiction novel about one woman who believed in scientific medicine before
the world believed in her.
London, 1845: Raised by the eccentric surgeon Dr. Horace Croft after losing her parents to a deadly
pandemic, the orphan Nora Beady knows little about conventional life. While other young ladies were
raised to busy themselves with needlework and watercolors, Nora was trained to perfect her suturing
and anatomical illustrations of dissections.
Women face dire consequences if caught practicing medicine, but in Croft’s private clinic Nora is
his most trusted—and secret—assistant. That is until the new surgical resident Dr. Daniel Gibson
arrives. Dr. Gibson has no idea that Horace’s bright and quiet young ward is a surgeon more
qualified and ingenuitive than even himself. In order to protect Dr. Croft and his practice from
scandal and collapse Nora must learn to play a new and uncomfortable role—that of a proper young
lady.