The miracles and tragedies of life, the compassion and cruelties of humanity are nowhere more visible than in the field of medicine. It is these that Kavery Nambisan—doctor and writer of immense sensitivity—explores in this memoir, drawing upon her work as a surgeon over four decades in rural and small-town India. Through her patients’ stories, she depicts the highs and lows of medical practice: Sudha, in Mokama, Bihar, left immobilized waist-down after being set on fire by her in-laws, but dete