In mid-19th century America, as today, there was a deep interest in alternative medicine. Possible healing methods-some helpful, some quite fantastic-emerged from different directions. Many fell by the wayside. This historical family saga concerns one that took hold.
A Healing Heritage was inspired by a true story. As the novel opens, standard medical care means treatments such as bleeding, purging, blistering, and mercury pills. Many patients reject these methods, preferring the care of country healers and herb women. These women are not allowed to become doctors, but use methods proven for generations. As the century moves forward, women fight for the right to become doctors, while patients fight for their right to choose their own care, and from which type of physician that care will come: regular, homeopathic, or eclectic. The battle between these factions gets fierce. In the middle of it all the Civil War breaks out, complicating all areas of life. These are the tumultuous times in which A Healing Heritage is set. THE STORY: