More Than it Hurts You

I just finished reading this book. Let me say this before anything else. The book reads like a script. Every detail carefully visualized. The characters all given 3-d lives, beyond the current storyline. I think it will make a great movie.

When I started reading More than It Hurts You, I thought it would be like an episode of House. A medical thriller. It is that on a certain level, for it does revolve around Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome, but upon reading it, I thought it was more about the undercurrents of a relationship. Husband-Wife, Parent-Child, Doctor-Patient, Lawyer-Client. Relationship when a certain trust between the two parties is implied and expected. Through intricate description of characters and their motives, these undercurrents shape the novel as they do shape our relationships and our world views in real life. It is a compelling read, although I must admit at times I was overwhelmed with the exhaustive imagery.

The story is about three main characters. Three and a half if you include baby Zack, whose life it most at stake. Josh Goldin is a TV airtime salesman, is married to Dori and is the father of their baby, Zack. When Zack is admitted twice to the hospital with the same mysterious symptoms – anemia and heart attack for no apparent reason, the head of the pediatrics unit a black women named Dr.Darlene Stokes starts to suspect something. Child Protective Services get involved and a public debate ensues – where no one is spared. The tale is disturbing at times and Strauss does a good job in exposing the nuances of the myriad relationships he examines in the course of narrating this tale. I have to confess that Dori was on my mind long after I finished reading the book. Do add it to your reading list.