The Cole Trilogy: The Physician, Shaman, and Matters of Choice Kindle Edition

What an amazing trilogy! The Cole Trilogy: Physician, Shaman, and Matters of Choice trace members of the Cole family from 11th century London to 20th century Massachusetts. What an epic story it is, too! Many of the Cole family possess a 6th sense that allows them to tell when death is near for someone when they hold the other's hands - an invaluable skill to have as a physician if one can avoid the superstitious folks who would likely call it witchcraft or something similar. The first book is the story of Rob J. who goes from being an orphan in London to a physician in the court of the Shah of Persia before ultimately settling in Scotland. The second book, Shaman is about another Rob J. in 19th century Illinois. His son, yet another Rob J. (family naming tradition) takes the nickname Shaman from members of the Sauk indian tribe who are family friends. This book takes us through the Civil War and the racism that was so common in that time (not much different now, unfortunately).The third book is about RJ, the first female doctor of the lineage, in 20th century Boston. She too has the Cole family "touch." This third book has a very different feel than the other two with modern political and medical realities being a large part of the story. It was good but lacked some of the "magic," the creation of a totally unfamiliar way of life, that was so vividly portrayed in the first two books. Dealing with HMOs and abortion rights is not nearly as entertaining a subject. Nonetheless, it was a well written story and ends on, what I believe is, an upbeat note.

I thoroughly enjoyed all three volumes of this trilogy. I'm a late reader of these works, and picked up the trilogy due to an offer on BookBub. I learned so much from volume 1 and 2, and found myself stopping frequently to look up an incident or a custom or a person to learn more details. I'm very glad that I purchased these books as a trilogy, since I'm not sure I would have picked up volume 3 on its own - I love historical fiction, and the 1990s are just a tad too close in time to qualify and catch my interest since I lived through that decade. But I did like Matters of Choice more than I initially thought I would. Some reviewers have said they don't like the "preachiness" of volume 3. However, I find it very interesting that in 2017 our society still hasn't found a way out of the increasingly dire health care crisis in the intervening 20 years since the book was written, so ... maybe a bit of "preaching" is called for! The pro-choice slant of the book really didn't bother me, but I can see it would annoy people who believe otherwise.

I just completed The Physician, Shaman and a Matter of Choice.Where does one begin!An an amazing work of research that historical fiction buffs will appreciate. I am not one to write spoilers so you will need to go on your own journey and read this amazing trilogy. The first two books were my absolute favorites, once I separated the third book out ofthe trilogy and thought of it as a stand alone I started appreciating it more. Why? Because I felt the style of writing changed, so it brought me up short, once adjusted to the style I started to enjoy it. There were some subject matters that some may have difficulty with, but all three books were life's lessons, cultural diversity, learning growing and accepting, or not!Enjoy!!!

I got the trilogy but only read the first book (The Physician) so far. However, I absolutely couldn't put it down. It's a long book but well worth the read. I like historical novels and this one was no exception - it really places you in the times of the story and makes you conscious of many aspects of life that often we forget how much they have evolved. I learnt a lot by reading this book, and definitely recommend it.A note of caution however: if you are a woman and are sensitive to how women are depicted, addressed or treated in books, you may find this a difficult read. Indeed, clearly in the year 1000 there was absolutely no respect for women and this is clearly depicted through the use of offensive language towards women in the book. As a woman, I am sensitive to this but was able to accept it for what it was (an image of how women were viewed and treated in that time period, and certainly not the author's personal perception) because the rest of the book was so amazing.

Absolutely LOVED this trilogy. Of the 3 books I would say Matter of Choice was the weakest of the 3 books, but it was good. Physician and Shaman were two of the best books I have read in a very long time. I am a fan of Noah Gordon now.\I had never read any of his books before but will seek them out in the future. Excellent books. The characters were very well developed and the stories held my interest all the way through. Hated to stop reading and kept going back to the books at every opportunity. Very enthusiastically recommend these books or trilogy to use the singular.

I purchased the Cole Trilogy as a download and have read The Physician but have only just started Shaman. The Physician I found to be interesting in both fictional and factual content. I could write far more about the book's content in this review but I find that some book reviews are "Spoilers" in that they give away all the secrets of the book and can then sway the readers own judgement. So I will just say that I thoroughly enjoyed The Physician and if Shaman and Matters of Choice come up to being as interesting and "un put down able " then it will be an amazing trilogy to keep you occupied and for a very short time!

I had read Shaman ( book 2 of the trilogy) before, not realising it was part of a series. I loved that so was delighted to find another two. Really interested to see how the idea of an inherited gift for sensing a patient's state of wellbeing was interpreted in the different centuries in which the trilogy was set ( 11th, 18th and 21st) Glad to see that by the time we reached the 21st century the gift had been passed through to the female line of the family ( although I felt the third book was the weakest of the three)I enjoy immersing myself in series of books at the best of times but this year when escapism was required, this gave me a couple of months' very engrossing reading, and felt bereft at the end of the final one.

This is a re read for me, I enjoyed the books in hard copy many years ago and enjoyed just as much today. I read because Amazon have the Physician as a film and tried to decide whether to just enjoy the books or watch the movie. Always a difficult decision. Thoroughly recommend this trilogy.

I read the first 2 books many years ago and have just read them again. They are among my all-time favourite reads. The Cole family of generations of doctors are so wonderfully written that the reader feels they know them. The last of the 3 stories didn't disappoint either. I recommend this trilogy to anyone who loves a good story that is well researched.

I enjoyed the first book and was looking forward to the second I got so bored I just shut my Kindle it was like reading a boring diary of events very little story line to keep me engaged. It was like going somewhere on holiday in your car and the car keeps stopping for no reason very frustrating.