Heart in the Right Place by Carolyn Jourdan
BUY IT NEW
- Limited Time Offer! Everyone receives the Member Price on books.
See Details - This item is currently out of stock.
(Hardcover)
- Pub. Date: June 2007
- 304pp
| More Formats | |
|---|---|
| Paperback - Reprint | $11.96 |
| Library Binding - Large Prin - Large Print | $32.95 |
Buy it Used: 12 copies from $1.99 See All Available
Customers who bought this also bought
Product Details
- Pub. Date: June 2007
- Publisher: Workman Publishing Company, Inc.
- Format: Hardcover, 304pp
- ISBN-13: 9781565124875
- ISBN: 1565124871
Synopsis
Carolyn Jourdan, an attorney on Capitol Hill, thought she had it made. But when her mother has a heart attack, she returns home—to the Tennessee mountains, where her father is a country doctor and her mother works as his receptionist. Jourdan offers to fill in for her mother until she gets better. But days turn into weeks as she trades her suits for scrubs and finds herself following hazmat regulations for cleaning up bodily fluids; maintaining composure when confronted with a splinter the size of a steak knife; and tending to the loquacious Miss Hiawatha, whose daily doctor visits are never billed. Most important, though, she comes to understand what her caring and patient father means to her close-knit community.
With great humor and great tenderness, Heart in the Right Place shows that some of our biggest heroes are the ones living right beside us.
Publishers Weekly
Former U.S. Senate counsel Jourdan writes of giving up her fast-paced life in Washington to work in her father's family medical practice office in east Tennessee. "For forty years, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week," she writes, "Momma and Daddy ran a homemade, low paid 911 service for a large rural community. There was no such thing as a day off, ever." When her mother had a heart attack, leaving the front desk unmanned, Jourdan returned home to help keep the area's only doctor's office afloat while she recovered. What began as a two-day stay stretched out indefinitely, forcing Jourdan to learn to "calmly register nice people with hard jobs who routinely came in covered in hog or chicken blood." Missing Washington, she wrestles with questions of courage and loyalty, belonging and identity, and living with meaning and purpose. The demands of her new job test her, from the drama of triaging the waiting room and the tedium of negotiating the Medicare coding system to the loss of several favorite patients. In the end, she finds that she is after all her parents' daughter, possessing strength that earned her mother the nickname " Sarge," as well as her father's selfless devotion to this working-poor community. Jourdan's dispatches from the reception desk make for a stirring, beautiful memoir that is alternately hilarious and heartbreaking, and ultimately a triumph. (June)
Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information More Reviews and RecommendationsBiography
Carolyn Jourdan, a former U.S. Senate Counsel to the Committee on environment and Public Works and the Committee on Governmental Affairs (now homeland Security and Governmental Affairs), is an award-winning writer and documentary filmmaker. She lives on the family farm in east Knox County, Tennessee
Customer Reviews
Insightful, Delightful, Moving Memoirby Anonymous
Reader Rating:
See Detailed Ratings
January 28, 2008: Family Circle Magazine?s first ever, Book of the Month and the winner of Elle Magazine?s Readers Prize,Heart In The Right Place reaches out and touches the core of the reader. An emotional journey that inspires you to evaluate what is truly important in life and your place in it. The story opens as Carolyn, the accomplished, independently successful attorney receives a phone call from her father?her mother is being treated for an apparent heart attack in the local emergency room. She immediately packed a quick bag, jumped into her expensive Mercedes and traveled the 500 miles from D.C. to her family?s hometown in East Tennessee. Her father was a wonderful family doctor and her mom had worked by his side, officially as the receptionist, but more a Jill-of-all-trades, for as far back as she could remember. Now, Carolyn would have to fill-in for her Mom for a ?few days.? Thinking she would be back in D.C. before Monday morning, Carolyn resigned herself to a couple of days of answering phones and whatever else, and then she would get back to the real world where she could make a difference. However, a few days turn to a few weeks and that quickly fades into a few months and the question that plagues the reader, was obviously wreaking havoc on Carolyn?s mind as well?will she return to D.C. or stay in East Tennessee? At first she was completely out of her element, feeling inadequate and ineffective. She had always believed that by being an attorney she could make a difference, on the national level, which in turn would help large numbers of people. Now, after months of being immersed in this simple, country community, interacting with the patients on a personal level, she began to see her parents selfless devotion to these people in a new light. Far from the hustle and bustle of high powered politicians and law makers, is where you find the folks who are making a difference, every day?changing the world with one selfless act of kindness at a time. Carolyn Jourdan?s memoir is an honest look into the heart of a young woman that discovers she is and has always been, her parents daughter. Chock-full of sweet southern charm, quaint characters that will have you laughing out loud one minute and reaching for a tissue the next, this is a wonderful story. Delightful, insightful and inspirational, Heart In The Right Place is a beautifully written novel that challenges us to rethink our goals, values and perceptions. Life is unpredictable and it?s human nature to search for your purpose and to want to make a difference, which is very personal and quite difficult. And yet, Carolyn Jourdan shares her intimate journey through the tough questions, self-doubt and ultimately the choice to make sweeping changes in her life. A world away from the high-powered, black-tie gatherings where wheeling and dealing is the name of the game, she found her calling in a country doctor?s small office. Don?t miss this one-of-a-kind memoir, Jourdan?s words will stay with you long after the book has been snugly tucked away on the shelf.
A reviewerby Anonymous
Reader Rating:
See Detailed Ratings
December 11, 2007: This book is absolutely delightful. I couldn't put it down. I laughed and I cried. Carolyn is a very talented writer! I'm looking forward to more work from her.
Loading...