The Girl in His Shadow by Audrey Blake

 When Nora was a small child, she was the only one of her family to survive a pandemic.  Taken home by the doctor who found her, and taken in by his housekeeper, she is raised as the doctor's ward. Dr. Croft is a leader in his field of surgery, and Nora soon learns that the only way she can get his attention is to be helpful to him as he works.  As the years pass, she learns so much from watching him that she becomes useful to him in his clinic, and even during the clandestine dissections he does in the dead of night. Neither Nora or Dr. Croft care that by helping him she is breaking all Victorian convention, and even the law. They don't care, that is, until Dr. Croft takes on a young doctor as an apprentice. Daniel Gibson at first can't understand Nora's role in the household. Once he does, he is at first appalled, then curious, and finally impressed with Nora's knowledge and skill. He understands better than even Croft the need to keep what she does a secret, but a late night emergency forces things out into the open.  Can their budding relationship survive the outrage they face from society?

This is not your Hallmark style historical romance. The author seems to enjoy describing the most gruesome Victorian medical practices she can include with vivid detail. Definitely not for the medically squeamish. If you can stomach descriptions of amputations, and mothers hemorrhaging in child birth than the rest of the book is really quite good.  The characters are fully drawn and the historical setting is fascinating. I was especially interested when the doctor is first introduced to ether as an anesthetic.  He gets very excited about the new substance, but doesn't know what to do with it, so he ends up using himself and Nora as test subjects. I also liked the fierce rivalry between opposing factions in the large teaching hospital. I enjoyed the book, but I must admit all the bloody medical scenes did disrupt my sleep this week.  Nevertheless I am not opposed to reading more from this author. (384, 2021)