cover image The Diagnosis of Love

The Diagnosis of Love

Maggie Leffler, . . Delta, $13 (385pp) ISBN 978-0385340465

A young doctor learns the true meaning of “physician, heal thyself” in Leffler's inspiring debut. Dr. Holly Campbell and her twin, Ben, attend a psychic's TV show in the hope of achieving some closure after their mother's death. Their mother—via the medium—tells them someone's moving to England and congratulates Ben on his engagement. After Ben confesses his recent engagement to Alecia, a TV journalist, Holly impulsively decides to leave her Pittsburgh residency and her new boyfriend, Dr. Matthew Hollembee, to be a “travel doc” in Winchester, England. There she must deal with childhood abandonment issues stemming from her mother's affair with a medical student in Grenada, as well as sort out her feelings for Matthew and a cute English orderly she meets. Life becomes even more problematic after a frustrated Alecia arrives, needing help with other family challenges. Eventually, Holly discovers love can be a choice. Leffler, a practicing physician, infuses Holly's spiritual search with liberal doses of humor, exquisite insight and rich details about the U.K. medical profession. (Mar.)