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Official Review: The Other Side of Silence by Richard Dew

Posted: 02 Jun 2019, 20:49
by LV2R
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Other Side of Silence" by Richard Dew.]
Book Cover
4 out of 4 stars
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Dr. Luke Brady was at one moment welcoming the new medical students at a medical school and in the next moment (actually five days later), he was waking up in the ICU at the very hospital of his employment. The change from being a doctor to being a patient was an eye-opener for Dr. Brady. In The Other Side of Silence by Richard Dew, this fictional story of a doctor’s whole life changed after having a stroke, leaving him unable to speak, was very realistic. It was so realistic that I had to check to see if this was not a real story. The characters were well developed, and the storyline was well thought out.

Unable to speak or to write, Dr. Luke Brady finds it difficult to communicate. Against his wishes, his alienated wife, Helen, opts to put him in a small town nursing home. At first, Luke is angry and wants to be alone, so he avoids his roommate, Jimmy. The director of nursing, Martha Benson, has a personal vendetta against the doctor and threatens that he will never leave the nursing home. When his daughter, Julie, finds out about a past history that both her parents kept secret, Luke is at his lowest.

How will Dr. Brady fight all the odds against him in recuperating and once again find purpose in life? Will he ever be able to communicate his wishes again?

I enjoyed reading this book. This book had so many good thought-provoking topics included naturally in the story. Some of the issues were: love, self-forgiveness, hope, nursing home patients, loneliness, health-care givers, family dynamics, depression, suicide, and friendship.

I liked the author’s writing style. The author is a doctor, and this is reflected in the main character of Dr. Luke Brady. It is as if the author is writing a story about himself. I best liked how Luke, though having made mistakes and not being perfect, was a compassionate doctor with great skills to assess people’s health. I felt like Dr. Brady was a good man, but he also had to learn many things about himself and others to become the very best man that he was meant to be.

I cannot think of anything that I did not like about the book. I wanted to keep reading to the end to find out what Dr. Brady would do and if he could find a way to communicate. The ending of the story was satisfactory, and though there could be another book to continue the story, it felt like most things were concluded.

I rate The Other Side of Silence by Richard Dew 4 out of 4 stars. The book was written extremely well with only a few errors. The plot and characters were well developed. It was interesting and character driven, with only a few curse words and no graphic sexual content. This book would be suitable for anyone that would like to read a thought-provoking story about a doctor and his predicament of being a “prisoner” in his body and in the nursing home. Perhaps reading this book will give you a different viewpoint on handicapped people. If reading about medical environments and patients in a nursing home bother you, maybe this book would not be of interest to you.

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The Other Side of Silence
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Re: Official Review: The Other Side of Silence by Richard Dew

Posted: 05 Jun 2019, 10:00
by kandscreeley
It's said that doctors make the worst patients. I wonder if that's true here? I've read other similar books about doctors becoming patients, but each one is unique. This seems like one I should add to my list. Thanks!

Re: Official Review: The Other Side of Silence by Richard Dew

Posted: 05 Jun 2019, 14:38
by Stephanie Elizabeth
This looks very interesting! And you're right it does sound like a real story. I think that's why it piqued my interest so much. That and your wonderful review! Great job!

Re: Official Review: The Other Side of Silence by Richard Dew

Posted: 05 Jun 2019, 15:06
by kdstrack
Strokes are one of those diseases that can leave the patient at the mercy of others. I like the appropriate title of this book. Your review shows both the mystery and the compassion in this story. This looks great! Thanks.

Re: Official Review: The Other Side of Silence by Richard Dew

Posted: 08 Jun 2019, 12:24
by Mai Tran
A deep psychological novel with realistic depictions of a patient dealing with the aftermath of a stroke sounds like an emotional read. Ideally, I'd love to see some character development as well. Thank you for the insightful review, I'll make sure to check out this book some time.

Re: Official Review: The Other Side of Silence by Richard Dew

Posted: 10 Jun 2019, 00:33
by Scarlet Nicoll
I love the cover illustration. The life like characters with themes worth paying attention to sounds so cozy. Thank you!

Re: Official Review: The Other Side of Silence by Richard Dew

Posted: 11 Jun 2019, 16:04
by phills
The Other Side of Silence :
by Richard Dew... This fiction is very ironical to me for Dr Bradly after five days changing from welcoming his medical students to awakening in one of his employer's hospital as a patient is an irony of situation
Another irony is that he changed from being a doctor to a patience
Further more after felling stroke in the silence world we are meant to understand that he can not speak or communicate to his wife ..
I like the make ups and the introduction of characters in a carefully arranged manner thanks

Re: Official Review: The Other Side of Silence by Richard Dew

Posted: 25 Jun 2019, 19:30
by María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda
Illness can be an eye-opener, albeit an unwelcome one. It's taxing both for the patient and his or her family and the decision to rely on a nursing care facility must be a very hard one. Obviously, being a patient in one must be harrowing, at least at first. I hope this book sparkles compassion and understanding for handicapped people as well as an appreciation for the caregivers and awareness towards the issues you mention like depression. I wish more doctors could put themselves in their patient's shoes, as humanity is sometimes lacking in this profession.
A very thought-provoking review, thank you.

Re: Official Review: The Other Side of Silence by Richard Dew

Posted: 27 Jun 2019, 05:03
by Marissa Michael
I've never read anything about doctor and patient before. It seems this book is worth reading so that I may know about some of the doctor's struggles in general. Thank you for your great review.

Re: Official Review: The Other Side of Silence by Richard Dew

Posted: 28 Jun 2019, 07:45
by Ronel_Steyn
The idea of a functioning mind being unable to communicate simple things due to a stroke is alarming. Putting this into a novel from the functioning mind's point of view is genius. Thank you for your inspiring review. I will look out for this one.

Re: Official Review: The Other Side of Silence by Richard Dew

Posted: 21 Jul 2019, 02:35
by Wambui-nj
Sounds like a beautiful story. A must read, thanks for the great review.