Happy weekend! It was a particularly long week for me, and I thought I’d have to cram if I wanted to get my review of At Least You Have Your Health ready in time for a Sunday post, but at about the halfway point, I couldn’t put it down. What weirdness would happen next?? Although it’s not my typical read, I had fun with it. It’s always nice when a book can make you think and laugh at the same time! Let’s dive into the review, shall we?
Gynecologist Maya Rao is floundering. Frustrated with the lack of education about women’s health and the bureaucracy of hospital work, struggling to balance work and family, and worn down by constant micro- and macro- aggressions in all areas of her life, she needs a change. When the hospital fails to support her after a confrontation with a wealthy patient, Maya says enough is enough and walks out… and into the surreal world of concierge medicine. But as she caters to the whims of the rich and privileged, will Maya be able to hold onto her ideals? Or will she be lost to the promise of wealth and prestige?
Sinha’s writing is sharp and funny, with incisive commentary on everything from the seductive lure of alternative medicine to socioeconomic divides to familial dynamics and the ways trauma is unintentionally passed down generations. The plot trajectory is predictable but satisfyingly so — who doesn’t enjoy a good The Devil Wears Prada-esque tale of rags to riches to self-acceptance? My main hurdle getting into the book was understanding how a gynecologist — particularly one who is so invested in promoting awareness and helping women understand their bodies as Maya is — could know nothing about “wellness culture.” I can only assume that Goop doesn’t exist in this world because, while I understand Maya is barely keeping her head above water, I can’t imagine that her assistant, Esther, wouldn’t know what’s up. However, it’s precisely because Sinha does so well establishing all the ways Maya is struggling — and all of the ways she, as the daughter of immigrants, has always longed for assimilation — that I was eventually able to believe the way she’s roped into a culture that goes against everything she believes in.
At Least You Have Your Health is not a book I’d typically pick up on my own, but I’m glad I gave it a chance. While my blood pressure did go up during some of the passages related to Maya’s work (because I know there are people who are this tragically misinformed and happily buying the snake oil), it was very fun. Sinha has a gift for wry humor, and the bits with Maya’s loud, boisterous children had me laughing out loud. Likewise, the conversations with Esther and with Maya’s husband were entertaining while also cutting to the heart of real issues, like the ways two women of color (Maya and Esther) can still have very different experiences of racism in the U.S. and how a person or family (Maya and Dean) answer the question, “When will it be enough?”
My thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
—b
Book It With Becca 