Heart in the Right Place

The medically phobic Jourdan returns from a six-figure job as a superstar D.C. attorney to fill in at her father's rural Tennessee medical practice while her mother, the office manager, recovers from a heart attack. Days turn into months as Jourdan wonders where she belongs. Kate Forbes's low-key narration captures the author's subtle humor. For her characterizations of patients like the addled Miss Viola and another who operates on his own hemorrhoids, Forbes uses the twangy accents of the region. By the end, Jourdan has discovered there's more drama in making her way through the maze of Medicare than in Washington politics, more community and compassion at home than she'll ever find in a senator's office. S.W. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine