THE BEAUTY DOCTOR: A NOVEL
Elizabeth Hutchison Bernard
Audiobook narrator: Lisa Bozek
A Bone-Chilling Mystery-Suspense-Thriller Set in the
Edwardian Era
Finalist,
Eric Hoffer Book Award
"Beauty
is power," Dr. Rome told her. "And with enough power, one can achieve
anything."
Straightening
noses, trimming eyelids, lifting jowls . . . In the year 1907, his
revolutionary beauty surgery is considered daring, perhaps dangerous. Still,
women want what Dr. Rome promises. Neither is his young assistant Abigail
Platford immune to Dr. Rome's persuasive charm.
Abigail
once dreamed of becoming a doctor, though of a much different sort. That dream
ended with her father's tragic death from a medical error for which she holds
herself responsible. Dr. Rome, who proudly displays his medical degree from
Johns Hopkins, seems to believe in her. If he were willing to act as her
mentor, might there still be a chance to realize her dream of someday becoming
a doctor serving New York City's poor?
But
something feels terribly wrong, as though an insidious evil is closing in.
Broken promises, lies, and intrigues abound. The powerful are threatening to
destroy the weak, and a doctor's sacred duty hangs in the balance. Abigail no
longer knows who to believe; but with Dr. Rome now her mentor and her lover,
she desperately wants to trust him.
Even when
she discovers that one of their patients has mysteriously disappeared.
From
bestselling author Elizabeth Hutchison Bernard, a suspenseful work of
historical fiction grounded in the social and moral issues of the Edwardian era
in America. Second Edition with Author's Preface.
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EXCERPT
On
the chance Dr. Rome was still attending to Mr. Kilroy, she lay in wait. He was
clearly surprised to find her loitering in front of the Kilroys’ townhome. She
explained that she was calling off her engagement and needed to find
employment. He seemed interested. It wasn’t until they were sitting across from
each other at Café Le Jour on Forty-sixth Street that Abigail began to think
she’d made yet another terrible mistake.
“You
are a very beautiful young woman,” he said, smiling at her over his coffee cup.
“I suppose people tell you that all the time.”
“Not
so often, actually.” That he had begun on such a personal note, and with the
same overabundance of charm he’d displayed at the Hennessys’ banquet, had an
unsettling effect on her. As did his gaze, which was direct and insistent.
“I’m
sure you’re only being modest, but you need not be around me. I appreciate
beauty for what it is and for the entitlements it brings to those lucky enough
to have it.”
“I’ve
never been one to think much about entitlements. I was taught that if you
desire something, you work for it. Which is why I wanted to speak with you—”
“There
are lots of women who work very hard at being beautiful and still they can’t
hold a candle to you. I’d even go so far as to say that you, Miss Platford, are
the embodiment of everything I hope to achieve for my patients. That’s why you
may actually be the perfect one to assist me with my new practice. You see,
what I really need,” he said, the excitement in his voice building, “is a foil.
A stunningly beautiful foil.”
“A
foil?” She wasn’t sure what the word meant, but didn’t like the way it sounded.
“Yes.
Someone to make the rounds with me at parties and events, anywhere we can meet
women—the kind of women with both the desire and the means to avail themselves
of my services.” This was not what she’d expected, nor was it a welcome
development. Her purpose in approaching Dr. Rome was a far more serious one
than his words implied. She had imagined herself working at his side, much as
she had done with her father, helping to put patients at ease, assisting with
their care. And though it was not her favorite duty, she would readily have
consented to manage his schedule and fulfill the required paperwork if he were
to ask her. But this business of attending parties and events—what did it have
to do with doctoring?
“You
speak of meeting women in need of your services, but surely you plan to take
care of men as well. Mr. Kilroy is your patient, isn’t he?”
“For
the moment, yes—though that was only a favor. But let me explain.” He took a
hasty gulp of his coffee and set down the cup. “I’m about to embark on a new
facet of my career, a new field. Transformative surgery. Have you heard of it?”
“I
don’t believe I have.”
“Some
call it beauty surgery.”
She
instantly recalled splashy advertisements she’d seen in the newspapers for
practitioners who claimed to specialize in straightening noses, pinning back
ears, and plumping up wrinkles with paraffin. At best, such solicitations had
struck her as tasteless. At worst … might Dr. Rome be nothing more than a
charlatan?
“Oh—you’re
a beauty doctor.” The inflection in her voice no doubt came across as somewhat
disparaging. She dipped her head, hoping to obscure the visual evidence of her
skepticism beneath the plethora of ostrich feathers on the brim of her blue
velvet hat.
“Just
imagine it for a moment, Miss Platford,” he said, seeming not to have found
anything disturbing in her reaction. “Your mere presence by my side would
stimulate, in any average woman, an intense longing for beauty; then, arising
quite naturally from that, a burning curiosity. With just a hint, she would be
eager to learn what I offer in the way of beautifying procedures. That’s how
one goes about building a thriving beauty practice. Stimulate the need, offer
the solution. Or, if you prefer, think of it this way: You would be helping to
enlighten women about advances that can greatly enhance their lives. No
different from selling a product. A product that people would certainly buy if
they only knew its benefits.”
So,
he wanted her to help him sell the concept of beauty surgery to other women?
That was not what a doctor does! To take part in such activities would
compromise everything she believed in. “Your idea is to use me as a sort of
walking advertisement?”
“I
wouldn’t put it like that.”
“Forgive
me for being blunt, but are you really a doctor?”
He
shoved aside his coffee cup, almost knocking it over. “Would I call myself a
doctor if I wasn’t one?”
“I
don’t mean to offend you. It’s just that I don’t know any other doctors who are
engaged in your kind of work.”
“Because
no medical school in this country has the foresight to embrace transformative
surgery. That’s why it was necessary for me to receive advanced training in
Europe. I returned from Paris only recently.”
“But
you did train in medicine? Here in America?”
“Certainly,
but the typical doctor’s training only goes so far. The medical establishment
is very set in its ways. It resists anything that might challenge the status
quo. And that is exactly what transformative surgery does. The social
implications are immense. It represents possibly the greatest force for the
empowerment of women in all of human history.”
“Empowerment
of women?” Despite her disappointment, she had to smile. “I’m sorry, but I
don’t see what your transformative surgery could have to do with the movement
for women’s rights.”
“Maybe
you’ve never thought of it this way, but beauty is power,” Dr. Rome said, with
the calm certainty of a man who knows he speaks the truth. “And with enough
power, Miss Platford, a woman can achieve anything.”
Elizabeth Hutchison Bernard is the author of bestselling historical novels.
Her 2023 release,
Sisters of Castle Leod, is an Amazon Kindle #1
Bestseller (Historical Biographical Fiction, Historical Literary Fiction),
winner of the 2023 Maxy Award for Historical and Adventure Fiction, and an
Editors’ Choice of the Historical Novel Society. Her biographical novel
Temptation
Rag (2018) was hailed by
Publishers Weekly as a “resonant novel . .
. about the birth and demise of ragtime . . . in which romance and creative
passions abound.” Elizabeth’s 2017 historical mystery-suspense-thriller,
The
Beauty Doctor, was a finalist for the prestigious Eric Hoffer Book Award.
The book’s re-release (Jan. 4, 2024) features a stunning new cover and an
Author Preface with insights into social and moral issues of the Edwardian era
that frame this shocking fictional story set in the early days of cosmetic
surgery. Before becoming a full-time author, Elizabeth was executive editor of
an international aesthetic surgery journal, and senior consultant to the
National Cosmetic Network in conjunction with Johns Hopkins University’s
plastic surgery educational program. Learn more about Elizabeth and her books
at www.EHBernard.com.
Author Links:
