DR. FRAU

by Grace H. Kaiser ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 10, 1986

A work of nostalgia, documenting a woman doctor's years of caring for patients in an Amish and Mennonite community in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Kaiser was the first female physician that anyone had ever seen in this strongly' traditional setting. But Dr. Frau, as she became known by her Pennsylvania Dutch clientele, became an accepted and loved institution there for almost three decades, until illness forced her retirement. Kaiser writes vignettes of various home deliveries amid suspicious Amish husbands, and those worried as to how they would tend their wives and their farms. She writes of husbands' tricks to ensure her getting to the house on time for the ""birthing,"" and of some humorous goofs, such as the time she hurriedly proclaimed the birth of a baby boy, only to find out later that she had, in fact, delivered a girl. Or the time she rushed over to John S. Beiler's home only to find that there was another John S. Belier at another corner of the community; he was the one who called her. A good-humored recollection with appropriate doses of pathos, humor, sadness and insight into the lives of a very private community of people.

Pub Date: Sept. 10, 1986

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Good Books (Main St., Intercourse, PA 17534)

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1986

Categories: NONFICTION