Customer Reviews

The Law of Similars

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

The state of Vermont. Non-traditional medicine. A tragic death. Moral and legal ambiguities. A deeply engrossing story. Great characterization.

Sound familiar?

Yes. This is familiar territory for Chris Bohjalian, author of the best-selling "Midwives". And again, he does a great job.

I love the way he structures his books. The reader generally knows what is going to happen, but just doesn't know exactly how. And that is what the fascination is. That is what kept me reading, following the protagonist's thoughts and actions and totally getting into his skin.

The story is told in the first person by Leland Fowler, an 35-year old attorney in the Vermont State prosecutor's office. Just two years before, his wife died in a tragic car accident, leaving him to raise his young daughter, now aged 4. He's grieved for his wife for a long time, and his life lacks much pleasure.

When he develops a sore throat and cold that just doesn't go away he visits the local homeopath, Carissa Lake. There is an immediate attraction. His cold gets cured and a romance develops.

However, when one of Carissa's clients falls into a coma, there are legal and moral issues that come into play. The situation becomes more and more complex as Leland makes some ethnical choices that force him into a trap of his own making.

The title, "The Law of Similars" refers to a basic tenet of homeopathy whereby the patient is treated with an extremely diluted dose of something that has caused his problem, forcing the body to cure itself. For example, a person with poison ivy might take a weakened solution of an herb that is similar to poison ivy.

It is all fascinating reading -- the homeopathy, the legalities, and the ethical questions. But most of all, it is the characterization of Leland Fowler that is most outstanding. Basically, he is a flawed and imperfect human being who sometimes makes poor choices. This is something that we all can relate to.

The other characters are never quite as fully developed, but it doesn't matter. This is Leland Fowler's story all the way.

The success of "Midwives" makes this book a rough act to follow, and at first I was disappointed because the author used the same landscape. It is also only 320 pages long and I missed the length and complexities that a few more characters might have brought. But I just couldn't stop reading.

I recommend this book even though it misses getting my highest rating. There is no doubt in my mind though, that I will be on the lookout for Mr. Bohjalian's next book.

Did not read Midwives. This was my first Chris Bohjalian book. I was looking forward to it because I had read good things about Midwives, I live in Vermont and I know some homeopathy. I found the protagonist very likable in the beginning, although subtly suffering from a not-so-well-hidden "poor me" complex. But that was still understandable after all the poor man had been through... Things deteriorated for me when he started salivated at every skirt, young or old, that twitched in front of him. The foot fetish thing was not anything I could relate to in a positive way either. And, to top things off, the plot crumbled altogether with unbelievable issues, even more unbelievable denouements of same issues, pilfered homeopathic remedies that can be purchased for a few dollars in any health food store, unrealistic reactions to "overdoses" of arsenicum (please!...), an unreachable, unlikable, underdescribed, overall unhashed-out character of a homeopath/girlfriend. The main character lapsing back into his veiled "poor me" role at the unsatisfactory ending. On a more positive note, I found the basic writing style to be very good. Nice structure, well-turned phrases.

I thought the book was a decent read but fell short of the type of character and plot development exhibited in Midwives. Good research on the subject of homeopathy but the story line was pretty flat. Unfortunately, the ending was pretty weak. It could have been a very good book given the subject matter however, it did not appear as if the author took the time to delve into the characters. They were pretty much superficial.

I am a little disconcerted about the similarities between "Midwives" and "The Law of Similars". Both deal with women in Vermont who practice non-traditional medicine and make mistakes that get them in hot water. The reasons that "Similars" is better is that 1) It has more humor. 2) It has a touching love story. 3) It depicts the love between a father and his young child poignantly. However, the case of the misguided homeopath is somewhat contrived and unrealistic. Nor do I believe that Fowler would have played fast and loose with the law the way he did. Bohjalian seems to be hung up on moral ambiguities in life. I have no problem with that per se, but he should stick a little closer to reality. However, in its favor, "The Law of Similars" is an engrossing and a fast read, with snappy dialogue and sharply delineated characters. It is a step up from "Midwives," which was far too dark and depressing.

Having read Chris Bohjalian's prior book "Midwives", and absolutely loving it, I was very anxious to start reading his new book when I discovered it at the local bookstore. This book was very captivating and charming, catching the magical small town environment of Vermont ! It explores the interesting subjects of alternative medicine, while putting his main character, a nice but stressed out attorney who, because of horrible accident, has lost his wife in their prime. The development of the character is wonderful. I plan on reading the rest of this author's books because I love his style. I also highly recommend the book "Midwives."

This fast-moving novel of legal, medical, and ethical dilemas is hard to put down. The characters come alive as the plot thickens and we become enmeshed in the dramas of their lives. Leland Fowler, State Attorney and widower with a four-year-old daughter, meets Carissa Lake, a charming and lovely homeopath who not only cures Leland of his long time ills but who also falls in love with him. Homeopathy, a 200-year-old type of alternative medicine, plays a big part in the story that begins with alternative healing and ends with a unintended death. The question is whether the death is murder. What evoloves from that question is the focus of the book as legal ethics and moral compulsions vie for the top spot in both the office of the State Attorney and in the character's own lives. Definitely a page turner that you can't put down, this novel also sheds light on the field of homeopathy, and its authenticity, as well as on the human heart in all its many manifestations.

This is a very well written book, though a little disconcerting in its thematic similarity to the author's previous novel, "Midwives", which is the superior of the two. Yet again, the medical and legal professions are in some conflict, and it makes for some interesting, though questionable, moral choices.

Here, a widowed prosecuting attorney, Leland Fowler, the single parent of a young child, is living in a rural town in Vermont. Not having felt well for months, he visits the town's resident homeopath and finds himself feeling better, both physically and emotionally, because the homeopath, Clarissa Lake, is just what the doctor ordered.

Shortly after Clarissa and Leland connect, a patient of hers goes into anaphylactic shock, digresses into a coma and dies, ostensibly after eating cashews to which he was allergic, after a casual conversation with Clarissa and a belief in the homeopathic law of similars that like cures like. Leland, emotionally involved with Clarissa, becomes embroiled in a covert attempt to shield her from the legal repercussions that he knows could follow such a tragedy, even though it might not have been entirely of her making. It is here that the book unravels a bit.

This ethical digression on the part of Leland is somewhat difficult to believe, as he had had a very brief relationship with Clarissa. It is almost inconceivable that he would chance losing his entire professional future and the security that his profession provides his small daughter to engage in a major ethical breach. A breach so serious, that were it to come to light, would almost certainly result in his probable disbarment from the practice of law. Needless to say, this decision by him ultimately affects their relationship in a way not foreseen by Leland.

Nonetheless, the book is somewhat absorbing and well worth reading.

The Law of Similars by Chris Bohjalian was one of the best books I have ever read. It is about a lawyer who has a four year old daughter and whose wife passed away a few years before. When he gets a bad cold that won't go away, he decides to go to the health food store to get some Echinacea. There, he meets a woman who recommends a homeopath that she thinks could help him. The homeopath, whose name was Carissa Lake, also got another patient that week. The other patient was a man named Richard Emmons, who didn't want to take all of the drugs that he had to for his asthma. Carissa prescribed a drug called Rhus tox, which was made of poison ivy. Richard decides that his other asthmatic drugs are acting as an antidote for it, and stops taking them. This eventually puts him into a coma, and his wife, Jennifer, tries to hold a law suit against Carissa. The lawyer, Leland Rhodes, who has fallen in love with Carissa, tries to help her with the case, and breaks certain laws to do this. I loved this book because it was a believable drama that was very relevant. Not only was the plot believable, but the characters in it were as lifelike as anyone that I know. The chain of events in the book keep you in suspense, and it is hard to put the book down sometimes. Chris Bohjalian also wrote other books, such as Midwives, which are very similar to this book. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys law or anyone who is interested in homeopathic remedies. Also, I would recommend this book to anyone who is eleven or older.

I enjoyed this book a great deal, even though I had some problems with the character of Leland, who seemed both admirable and reprehensible at the same time. He reminded me a bit of Lester in "House of Sand and Fog." Both are men who seem completely willing to give up everything to protect a woman they've known for an extremely short period of time. Why Leland, a prosecuting attorney would be willing to break the law, thus risking his career, reputation and most importantly, his daughter, to protect Carissa seemed a bit far-fetched to me. Had they known each other longer, maybe I could understand it. I did find the father/daughter relationship between Leland and Abby quite believable and the book did peak my interest in Homeopathy. Also, the story ended they only way I would have wanted it too. A four star recommendation for this one.

The heart of the book is the essential conflict of interest between Leland Fowler and Carissa Lake. Leland is a state prosecutor and Carissa is being accused of a crime. What tangles it all up is Leland's feelings for Carissa. While I agreed with some of the other reviewers that it did seem odd that Leland, a successful legal mind and a father, would sacrifice everything for Carissa, it was more believable in light of the fact that he is a widow who terribly misses his dead wife. Carissa reawakens something in him that two years of greiving have depleted, and he doesn't want to lose it. I didn't find Leland Fowler terribly likable, nor did I find myself rooting for Carissa. But, the book somehow worked nonetheless. It was well-written, and as usual Bojhalion tackled an interesting subject, in this case whether homeopathy is a viable alternative medicine. I read it raptly, and although it wasn't as good as Midwives, I recommend it.