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BOOKMONGER
Pioneering doctor moved beyond adversity
Central Oregon author
Jane Kirkpatrick combines
her love for historical
research, her religious faith
and her training as a mental
health therapist in a prolific
writing career that has led
Every Thursday
Dec. 28, 2017
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THEM ON PAGES
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Pig n’ Pancake
Fort George
Wet Dog
Blue Scorcher
Rusty Cup
Street 14 Café
Arnie’s Café
Astoria Rivewalk Inn
Buoy Beer
Ast-War Chamber
River Sea Gallery
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UrgentCare NW
Astoria Corner Deli
Baked Alaska
Carruthers
Astoria Dwtn Assoc
Astoria Coffeehouse
Motel 6
BW Lincoln Inn
Comfort Suites
Holiday Inn Express
Lamplighter
Commodore Hotel
Crest Motel
Rivershore Motel
Columbia Inn
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to the publication of 30
books, some of which have
become New York Times
bestsellers.
Kirkpatrick’s latest offer-
ing, “All She Left Behind,”
is based on the true story
is now available
at the following
locations throughout
Clatsop County
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Martin North (Surfsand)
Stephanie Inn
Pelican Brewery
Chamber of Commerce
Fresh Foods
Adrift Hotel
Hungry Harbor Grille
Beach Day Coffee
Ashore Hotel
Pig ‘n Pancake
Visitors’ Bureau
Finn’s Fish House
McMenamins
Inverted Experience
Shilo Inn
Comfort Inn
Rivertide Suites
Holiday Inn
Inn at Seaside
Best Western
Shilo Inn
River Inn
Libraries
Gearhart by the Sea
Shelburne Inn
The Depot Restaurant
Uptown Café
coastweekend.com
of Jennie Pickett Parrish,
a women’s and children’s
physician in Portland in the
1880s.
Jennie had to overcome
significant challenges. She
was dyslexic. Her first
marriage was marred by her
husband’s substance abuse
and infidelity. Her first
daughter died shortly after
being born. Jennie coped
with her “blessed trial” of a
son who displayed indica-
tions of attention deficit and
attachment disorder.
But Jennie also received
encouragement and help
from many quarters, and
she persevered through her
troubles.
Early on, she had a
knack for understanding the
therapeutic properties of
herbal remedies. One of her
brothers even built a distill-
ery so she could create her
own oils and make money
to contribute to the family
“All She Left Behind”
By Jane Kirkpatrick
Revell
352 pp
$15.99
coffers.
Meanwhile, her husband
had orchestrated a loan
from a well-off local couple
so he could begin his own
business. But instead of
using the money wisely, he
frittered it away on indul-
gences and vice. And once
it had run out, he told Jen-
nie he was divorcing her.
He left her with almost
nothing, taking even her
distillery, which he had
always coveted for making
moonshine.
One of the few things he
left behind was the substan-
tial debt he had incurred.
Because he had used her
family’s good name and
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‘KIRKPATRICK’S
EXTENSIVE RESEARCH
INTO THE MEDICINES,
HEALING PROTOCOLS
AND SURGICAL PROCEDURES
OF THE DAY IS EVIDENT
IN VARIOUS SCENES.’
reputation to secure the
loan, she was determined
to pay it off — though her
ex-husband had taken away
her best means of doing so.
Nonetheless, she ap-
proached the benefactors
to see if she could make
some type of arrangement.
They offered her a chance
to work it off by using her
healing skills and serving
as a caregiver for the wife,
who was ailing.
If all of this sounds
downright providential, it
is intentional. Kirkpatrick
weaves her Christian con-
victions of love, charity and
forgiveness into this work.
Two important characters in
this tale are pastors. Their
own actions are guided
by their understanding of
Scripture, and their pres-
ence gives Jennie a sound-
ing board to discuss her
own spiritual journey.
But this is also a story
that delves deeply into 19th
century medical science.
Kirkpatrick’s extensive
research into the medi-
cines, healing protocols and
surgical procedures of the
day is evident in various
scenes as Jennie remarries
and is encouraged by her
second husband to pursue
her dream of becoming a
doctor.
The author also intro-
duces us to other female
pioneers in Northwest med-
icine — Bethina Owens,
Mary Avery Sawtelle and
Callie Charlton.
Kirkpatrick’s style takes
some getting used to — she
has a tendency for run-on
sentences that occasionally
employ discordant verb
tenses. But this idiosyncrat-
ic habit should not prevent
readers from exploring the
thought-provoking per-
spectives in “All She Left
Behind.”
The Bookmonger is Bar-
bara Lloyd McMichael, who
writes this weekly column
focusing on the books, au-
thors and publishers of the
Pacific Northwest. Contact
her at bkmonger@nwlink.
com.
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