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Cassella's 'Oxygen' is a breath of fresh air

 

Dr. Marie Heaton is a seasoned anesthesiologist working at a top Seattle hospital.  She is passionate about her work and throws herself into each case.  When a routine operation on a child goes wrong, Marie finds herself in the middle of a nightmarish malpractice suit.  She begins to question her skills as a doctor and her purpose.  Meanwhile, her aging father is losing his sight and Marie is responsible for his care.  As the world around her begins to collapse, she finds herself back in the arms of her former lover and friend, Joe, a fellow anesthesiologist at the hospital.  Marie is surprised to learn that she will possibly being charged with criminal negligence, but is even more surprised with what she discovers when she digs into her past.

The medical thriller, Oxygen by local author and anesthesiologist Carol Cassella, sounds a lot like a Jodi Picoult novel, even up to the jaw-dropping climax; however, it's not nearly as depressing.  It also reads like an episode of Gray's Anatomy minus all of the whiny interns and love triangles.

Oxygen, is Cassella's first novel.  She is a freelance medical writer specializing in global health advocacy for the developing world and is a former student of David Guterson, the author of Snow Falling on Cedars.  Like her character, Marie, Cassella grew up in Texas.  She draws on her 22 years of medical experience to create complex characters and details what goes on behind hospital doors before and after surgeries.  Oxygen was originally published last July and became a national bestseller.  The paperback is available as of today.

What I love best about the book is not the surprise ending, or the beautiful descriptions of Seattle and the Olympics (though they are lovely.  In fact, if I didn't already live here I'd want to live here based on how she describes the Emerald City), but how normal Marie is.  She is someone I'd actually be friends with if she existed in real life.  I'd totally want her to be my anesthesiologist if I had to go into surgery.

I would recommend this book pretty much to anyone and everyone.  Unlike a Jodi Picoult or Barbara Delinsky novel, Oxygen  won't have you knee deep in Kleenex on the beach or by the pool.  You may shed a tear or two, but you'll be too engrossed in Marie's evolution to notice.

If you want to catch Cassella on her book tour, she'll be in the neighborhood on the following dates:

Seattle, WA
Tuesday, June 16th at 6:30pm
Ballard Public Library
 
Silverdale, WA
Saturday, June 20th at 12pm
Costco
 
Bellingham, WA
Saturday, June 20th at 7pm
Village Books