Julian Guthrie

What an interesting medical mystery. I had never heard about Rh disease, mainly because I don’t have children and it is handled pretty well in the United States now. But it was fascinating and terrifying to learn about, and what is even more tragic is how prevalent it still is in other countries, when something so simple and not dangerous can prevent it.

About two-thirds of the book focused more on the science and doctors who were trying to find a cure. It was so well written that even a layperson could understand the more scientific aspects of the journey, which I greatly appreciated. You could feel the doctors’ frustration when fellow doctors wouldn’t take their ideas seriously or they could not find funding for their cause. I felt vindicated when Dr. Gorman had his breakthrough and I can only imagine how wonderful he felt.

Throughout the book we get peeks into James Harrison’s life and his amazing feat of some many blood donations, at one point being put in the Guinness Book of World Records. This added another layer to the story, showing more of the emotional or human side, and was a great way to encourage readers to donate blood.

If you enjoyed The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks or like medical mysteries and advancements, you will definitely want to read Good Blood by Julian Guthrie.… (més)

*E-ARC received from NetGalley with the understanding that I would post an honest review. No money or other goods were exchanged, and all views are my own.*

Australian James Harrison has been giving blood since he was 18, started in part from thankfulness in live-saving blood donations during surgery. Meanwhile, an Australian doctor in New York by the name of John Gorman had an idea in the treatment of pregnant women to prevent Rh disease in their babies, often resulting in stillbirths or miscarriages when the mother's Rh negative blood was incompatible with the baby's positive - the first would be fine, but pregnancies afterwards could be impacted.

The author chose to recreate dialog, a technique I admit immediately puts me off because it reminds me of "biographies" I read as a kid that now would be classified under fiction - such as [Carry On, Mr. Bowditch] or [Amos Fortune, Free Man] so I started reading, perhaps, from a hypercritical place. Though I could tell that much of her research was from personal interviews, she never explains in the author's note how such personal conversations or speeches at an event were put together; perhaps the final edition will have a more complete bibliography

Personally as a reader, I was much more interested in medical detail, and thought the choice to focus on both James Harrison and John Gorman, usually switching focus each chapter, muddled up the timeline and made it harder to follow the medical breakthrough that, surprisingly, is complete about halfway through the book. Quite apart from my own personal preferences as a reader, the medicine is made so simple that I found it confusing. As a semi-regular whole blood donor myself, I was really confused as to how James could donate as often as he did, and why the author continuously stressed that Australian blood donations were always volunteer and never paid. It wasn't until well into the book that it's revealed that James's donations were plasma, which made both statements make a lot more sense. A little detail at the beginning about types of blood donation would have cleared that up easily. Besides repeating the fact that Australian blood (plasma) donations are not paid for, the author was repetitive in other ways too. In one instance, in chapter three, a blood donor named Olive is mentioned, who had lost several babies after having one healthy baby girl. Her story is explained as one that James knew. Then later in chapter 7, Olive's daughter Val and James have a conversation in which James learns - apparently for the first time - that Olive has lost seven babies. This time, instead of expository writing it's in a recreated conversation, but it retreads the same ground. I did think that, in the end, Guthrie highlighted James's selflessness and heroism in doing something many of us are capable of: donating blood. The story is there, but the execution left me desiring something more.… (més)