A review by kumipaul
The Doctor's Wife by Sawako Ariyoshi

3.0

A true story of the world's first use of general anesthetic by a surgeon operating on a breast cancer patient in early 1800's. Written as a novel, we learn about the surgeon's mother and wife competing for his attention (and just about everything), including the opportunity to be the first to go under general anesthesia. The conflicts within the family, and the women's desire to be the strongest and bravest, were interesting in that time of the samurai.