Blogging the book: 'Falling in love'

This is my continuing review of "The Doctor's Daughter: Journey to Justice" by Belle Blackburn. 

Well, I endured several awkward first dates in my day, but nothing quite like what Kate found at the Rockwell home.

The theological discussion was fun. I like a good argument/discussion myself, although I'm not sure I would ever keep going until I had trapped a guest between the proverbial rock and a hard place. Seems arrogant.

Kate's first sighting of an indoor "privy" was cute. One can imagine. Must be similar to using a telephone for the first time. (Remember that scene in "Sgt. York"?)

So, Kate has fallen for Brice Rockwell after all. Saw it coming. Can't decide whether his intentions are honorable, but I am cautious that way. Personal bias, I guess. I learned that lesson the hard way a time or two.

Danny, Kate's best friend, "the brother I never had," she says, sure doesn't like it. Is he sweet on her too? Could the green-eyed monster be rearing its ugly head?

I had also been waiting for a scene in which Kate's mother's mountain medicine collides with what would then be considered modern methods. It came with a knock at the door. Pneumonia patient. Belle Blackburn, the author, does good work here. Doctor Mama sure didn't like it one bit. She doesn't think much of that university doctorin'. After all, the mountain methods have been working for hundreds of years, she says.

Of course, what was modern in 1861 sounds primitive day. Bloodletting and blistering a disease out of the body? No, thanks. Although if somebody told me today they could cure cluster headaches by drilling a hole in my head, I'd think about it for at least a minute or two. Let's just say they've earned the nickname "suicide headaches."

Tensions still play out, of course, between holistic health and the traditional trip to the doctor (and the pharmacy), and/or alternative care such as chiropractic or acupuncture still being frowned upon in some circles. Heck, even medical marijuana is part of the discussion, too, although I don't want to rip open that can of worms today.

The cold relationship between Kate and her mother reminds me somewhat of a scene in the film "The Last Picture Show," when Sonny Crawford runs into his estranged father at a Christmas dance.

"Sonny? How ya doin'?"

"Fine," Sonny says, looking downward, shifting uncomfortably.

"Well, that's good."

Pause.

"See ya?"

The director, Peter Bogdanovich, who co-wrote the screenplay with Larry McMurtry, says he based the scene on an actual encounter he witnessed between comedian Jerry Lewis and Lewis' father.

But I digress.

Kate is off to a dance with Brice. She is learning more dances, just to be ready. I hope she doesn't get her heart broken. Brice seems like a nice enough fella. Why, then, do I have a shiver slivering up my spine?

Oh, and Brice's wealthy lawyer father? Will he come into play later? Might he help answer what really happened to Kate's father?

Onward we go, Kate and I...