I am excited to be here today to bring you a guest post from Elizabeth Hutchinson Bernard. Please help me by giving her a warm welcome.
********************
Elizabeth
Hutchison Bernard, author of the historical novel, The Beauty Doctor
I've often heard the advice to authors,
"Write what you know." That was a big reason, I suppose, that I first
began writing The Beauty Doctor. For quite
a few years, I worked in New York City as the Communications and Marketing
Director for the nation's oldest and largest professional society of
board-certified plastic surgeons who specialize in cosmetic surgery. I was also the Executive Editor of the
group's peer-reviewed journal. I had the
opportunity to learn a lot about modern-day plastic surgery. I became so inured to the nitty-gritty of
plastic surgery, in fact, that I could often be found eating my lunch while
reviewing teaching videos of cosmetic procedures---operations like a "circumferential
body lift" during which the surgeon could be seen dissecting a huge, yellowish
slab of fat from the sleeping patient's abdomen. Yummy, huh?
But don't worry, you won't find anything too
difficult to stomach in my romantic suspense novel, The Beauty Doctor. That's
because The Beauty Doctor takes place
in the year 1907, when plastic surgery wasn't even a recognized medical
specialty and the operations were much less extensive. But there was plenty of risk involved. Back
then, the entire world of medicine was still a bit like the wild wild West, and
so-called beauty doctors were the
newest breed of outlaw. They were generally free to do as they pleased,
regardless of their training or lack thereof---chiseling noses, pinning back
ears, trimming eyelids and injecting wrinkles with paraffin, and often charging
hefty fees while delivering results that were not always as advertised. And yes, they did advertise---in newspapers and sometimes even staging carnival-like
public performances to demonstrate their skills.
We may
think of "skin care" as a modern phenomenon, but advertisements for
skin products abounded in the Edwardian era. This ad from 1905 is
just one example.
John
Woodbury was a self-trained dermatologist who achieved notoriety and wealth
through a chain of cosmetic surgery “institutes” and a proprietary soap and
cosmetics line. He sold his product line to Jergens in 1901 for an amazing sum
(at the time) of $212,500, also retaining a 10% royalty. But all was not rosy
for John Woodbury. A series of lawsuits and other problems ultimately led him
to commit suicide, but not before he made history with his entrepreneurial
achievements as a beauty doctor. (Source: “The 19th Century Origins of Facial
Cosmetic Surgery and John H. Woodbury” published in Aesthetic Surgery
Journal: www.aestheticsurgeryjournal.com).
In 1907,
the general surgeon Charles C. Miller published his textbook, The Correction of
Featural Imperfections, in which he urged legitimate doctors
to embrace the field of “featural surgery.” In the course of research for
my novel, I obtained a complete copy of Dr. Miller’s book which includes
detailed descriptions of many aesthetic and reconstructive procedures for the
ears, nose, eyelids, lips, chin, and a rather simple procedure for the
creation of dimples. Dr. Miller claimed to have performed all of these
surgeries with generally good results.
Obviously, plastic surgery has come a long
way from what it was in 1907. In
depicting the reality of cosmetic surgery at the turn of the century, I tried
to show "the good, the bad, and the ugly" at that particular time---a
time when outward beauty was still considered a reflection of inner goodness
and so had not only social but moral implications for women. But The
Beauty Doctor isn't only about plastic surgery. I thought that one of the recent reviews of
my book on Amazon put it very well when the reviewer described the book as "a romance that unfolds within the early history of the modern
beauty industry, well grounded
in the medical practices and social controversies of the early 20th century.
The relationship between a young, idealistic woman and Franklin Rome, the
flamboyant surgeon she encounters, is entwined with the surgeon's own
mysterious associations; the two threads are knotted together amid growing
suspense …"
One of the concepts at the heart of my book is
this: Human beings are capable of seeing beauty in many different ways, just
as we all seek meaning in our lives differently. But because of this, sometimes we lose sight
of how much we all are the same---our need to feel that we matter, that we have
value, and that we can be accepted for who we really are. And while I would never be so presumptuous as
to try to define beauty, when so many others far more insightful than I have
failed in their attempts, I hope that readers of The Beauty Doctor will find ample food for thought on the subject.
The Beauty Doctor is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, and Kobo. For more about Elizabeth, including her
historical fiction-lovers' blog, "Style and Substance," visit EHBernard.com.
*********************
Happy Reading!
No comments:
Post a Comment