Madi Sinha

Apparently women like to read books about how hard it is to be a professional woman and parent and how terribly the medical establishment treats women, but it isn’t my idea of a good time. I want to escape the harsh realities of life not be reminded of them. Also it was a strange juxtaposition having the main character join a rich people medical practice that is based on listening to women (which we all believe in) and then having those women want absolutely crazy non-fact based treatments (which seems to imply we shouldn’t be listening to women??) and then having some women also asking for things that are completely medically sound but outside the mainstream (like not wanting ultrasounds for a non-high risk pregnancy) and having those women being treated like the ones asking for bonkers stuff (like crystals in their vaginas).… (mais)

At Least You Have Your Health, by Madi Sinha, is a warm, character-driven story, with funny and a terrifying look at the wellness industry at the same time.

Dr Maya Rao is getting tired of her hospital job, where she's constantly being a sex-ed teacher for her confused gyno patients, which leads to taking too long in her scheduled appointments, which leads to passive-aggressive comments about time management. Apparently actually caring for her patients and solving their worries wasn't on the schedule. I'm reminded of the scene in The Husbands when Nora realizes that her boss Gary “thinks the two of them have the same job and that he’s just better at it” and I'm also reminded of all the times that a student's (necessary, important) question kept me over my paid hours as a teacher.

Fortunately, Maya bumps into Amelia, a glossy, stylish mom at their kids' upscale private school, which turns into a job opportunity with Amelia's concierge women health service, Eunoia Women’s Health. Although the upscale health service also includes supplements, detoxes and some dubious healing crystals, Maya's role will be bringing woman private, high-quality gyno visits at home. And even the health supplements seem nice at first, the whole appeal of supplements and detoxes and cleanses is alleviating exhaustion and discomfort. I mean, who doesn't want to wake up with more energy?
I found some of the patients’ clueless gyno questions a bit too clueless. They’re not talking about confusion about ovulation dates or good/bad times to conceive, we’re talking about completely wild misunderstandings around lady parts. It’s funny (that idiot boyfriend! and OMG, the crystal!!!), but it’s sometimes a bit much. There’s a sensitivity in most of the novel, and in Maya’s personal goals of spreading reproductive education, and it doesn’t quite mesh with a few of the OTT humor moments. In general, even when Maya has pretty wild clients, she still brings care, compassion, and the belief that female reproductive pain is real pain that deserves treatment. Even a mother-to-be with a truly intense, unrealistic birth plan deserves safety and good care. Maya’s desire to give good care to her patients and to earn good money for her family keeps her attending a certain patient with really intense ideas about her birth plan, which powers a lot of the story.

Through working at Eunoia, Maya is pulled into Amelia’s upscale, intense world. It’s a glossy Insta-ready lifestyle, with intense competition and pressure for the kids, and loads of money, of course. Who wouldn’t want a mansion with household staff to do the chores? In addition to running her company and her children’s college-prep lives, Amelia’s also the trendsetter of all the moms. What she wears, what she eats, what supplements she takes, basically everything in Amelia’s enviable life is imitated by the others. I loved reading about the grown-up leader and follower girls, and the whole image of Amelia’s life leads to interesting questions for Maya and her husband about their own family. I didn’t know how much of Amelia’s life was a performance, and how much was ture,

As the story unfolds, and Maya sees more incredibly wealthy patients through her new job with Amelia’s company, race and class come more into play. When a patient expresses surprise at hearing good English, Maya thinks it’s just another dig at a foreign-looking doctor, while her assistant, Esther, thinks it’s another white lady surprised that a Black woman is educated. The gap between Maya’s patients and Maya’s home life is made more clear, even though Maya isn’t exactly struggling to get by, not to mention the gap between her previous patients and her current patients.

At Least You Have Your Health is a moving story about access to good health care and medical information, as well as a funny look at wellness shopping.

Crossposted to my book blog… (mais)