Wings in the Snow: A Novel - Softcover

Oliver, Jim

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1555834620 ISBN 13: 9781555834623

Publisher: Alyson Books, 1998

Synopsis

Dr. Theo Tithonus's perfect life as a single plastic surgeon is thrown into chaos when his long-kept-secret five-year-old daughter is left on his doorstep, his lover leaves him, his family has a dividing battle, and politics create scandal and intrigue at the hospital

About this title

From Publishers Weekly:

Philadelphia plastic surgeon Theo Tithonus is jarred from his complacent, busy life by a succession of personal and professional crises in this warm but somewhat predictable novel. Theo's elderly father, a diabetic, won't follow his insulin regime; his sisters are scheming to get the father's second wife out of the will; Theo's lover, Sam, is feeling increasingly neglected; a villainous lover from Theo's past threatens to undermine his future at the hospital; and, most importantly, Theo's medical partner, Dr. Susan Zack, is demanding that he acknowledge and become a presence in the life of their six-year-old daughter, Natalia, a child conceived through artificial insemination. When Susan, exhausted from the dual responsibilities of her practice and motherhood, drops Natalia at Theo's door, the absentminded doctor must look beyond his work and pay attention to the people tied to him by blood and by love. Oliver (Closing Distance) writes crisp, funny dialogue that establishes his characters' intimacy and affection for one another, and Theo's exchanges with the evil Dr. Garlington are like a well-choreographed Hollywood sword fight?the hero delivers the most damaging blows. But Theo's inevitable bonding moment with his daughter (while making snow angels) comes about with unbelievable speed, driven more by its own forced metaphor than by any logic internal to the plot.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal:

In Oliver's second novel (following Closing Distance, LJ 8/92), Dr. Theo Tithonus, a successful plastic surgeon living in Philadelphia, loves his job, his family, his lover, Sam, and his partner in medicine, Susan. He is very happy. The poor fool. Theo is insulated from the unhappiness swirling around him until it erupts all at once. His family is fighting, Sam is rightfully feeling neglected, a new surgeon (and former lover) is working to undermine Theo's position, and Susan, mother of Theo's five-year-old daughter conceived via artificial insemination, is on her way to a nervous breakdown. Amd there's much more. As Theo's world falls apart, he is finally forced to decide what's important. Oliver is a master of brief descriptive writing, making the numerous characters and the setting realistic and natural. Only the rushed happy ending that ties up all of Theo's problems in such a short period of time reminds the reader that this is fiction. Highly recommended.?Theodore R. Salvadori, Margaret E. Heggan Free P.L., Hurffville, NJ
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Alyson Books
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 1555834620
• ISBN 13: 9781555834623
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 296