Hippocrates of London

“This book combines science and spirituality with original literary technique and structure. The presentation of strong female characters and the positive interactions between them reads as realistic and uncontrived. The honest presentation of lived experiences and medical case studies is harnessed to Ancient Greek philosophy in a completely convincing way. Despite its roots in the writings of Hippocrates the book reads as very up to date and inclusive, the sympathetic presentation of neuro divergent characters is unexpectedly moving. The conscientious artistry that Cybirdy brought to her medical practice is self evident in every word and paragraph of this inspiring and enjoyable book. For readers who enjoyed books by Adam Kay, Oliver Sacks, or Paolo Coehlo there is finally a strong female voice and perspective on the lived experience and philosophy of health and wellbeing. This is a potentially significant book of our time that must reach a wider audience.” – by Wordonwatet; “This is the most intriguing book I have read for ages: engaging, thought provoking, intellectually stimulating. It purports to be by Docteur Cybirdy, "a faceless writer and a General Physician who has practiced medicine for the past thirty years in France and in the UK." Novels of ideas are very rare in English, though not so rare in French, so it is no surprise to find that the author is in fact French herself. English may be her second language but the pseudonymous Docteur Cybirdy writes it in a crystalline, clear, Flaubertian way, albeit with some strange turns of phrase that make you pull up occasionally. But when you reread them you see that the author's form of meta-English expresses things in a new way, with a new slant, bringing a kind of Brechtian alienation to her text. The novel is set in the present but is always in the presence of the past, specifically the Ancient Greece of Hippocates, whose famous medical oath is the subject of a dialogue, the favoured form of Greek philosopy. It takes place between the masked, mysterious Dr Elpis - Greek for hope - and the young blogger Melo, whose very 21st century occupation contrasts with the ageless wisdom of Elpis and Hippocrates, for which she becomes a channel. Elpis' philosophical reflections on the current relevance to modern medicine of the Hippocratic Oath all emerge from the linking of Dr Elpis' personal experiences, which may or may not be the masked author's own; it is the fate of all authors to become characters in their own novels.” – by Francis Booth