Get Lit: The House of Hope & Fear

As a resident member of the Sasquatch book club, Get Lit, I seek books that stimulate conversation, engage the ethos, and broaden my perceptions. With that criteria in mind, I wholeheartedly recommend taking a look at The House of Hope and Fear: Life in a Big City Hospital by Audrey Young, M.D., when thinking about your next book club pick.

Whether you are on the treadmill at the gym or commuting on public transportation, universal health care is the current topic of controversy. Everyone has a strong opinion, but no one has the answer. Is this issue doomed to be unresolved like so many others facing our lawmakers? How will indecision directly affect our lives? No one can argue that health care is a personal issue. There is nothing more sacred than the trust people place in their doctors. Enter Audrey Young, an M.D. from the University of Washington, who started her medical career at Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center, a big city hospital with a mission to treat anyone who needs medical care–without exception.

Author Audrey Young, photographed Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2004 at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. (Photo Copyright 2004 Ted S. Warren)

From patients without physical addresses to those who spare no expense, the people Dr. Young writes about become as real as the topic tormenting our government. Young is a doctor who has lived and breathed the public health care system, and she knows its flaws and strengths. She sees the need for a health care system that benefits rich and poor, old and young, insured and uninsured alike. The House of Hope and Fear is a realistic personal account of what it takes to balance the pressures of an inner city public hospital, and how to cope with the consequences of every decision. Audrey Young, who has been called a “fine storyteller” by People magazine, manages to bring humanity, poignancy, and intellect to a story that is, unfortunately, not uncommon in our country.