An orphan leaves Dark Ages London to study medicine in Persia in this “rich” and “vivid” historical novel from a New York Times–bestselling author (The New York Times).
A child holds the hand of his dying mother and is terrified, aware something is taking her. Orphaned and given to an itinerant barber-surgeon, Rob Cole becomes a fast-talking swindler, peddling a worthless medicine. But as he matures, his strange gift—an acute sensitivity to impending death—never leaves him, and he yearns to become a healer.
Arab madrassas are the only authentic medical schools, and he makes his perilous way to Persia. Christians are barred from Muslim schools, but claiming he is a Jew, he studies under the world’s most renowned physician, Avicenna. How the woman who is his great love struggles against her only rival—medicine—makes a riveting modern classic.
The Physician is the first book in New York Times–bestselling author Noah Gordon’s Dr. Robert Cole trilogy, which continues with Shaman and concludes with Matters of Choice.
- Women's History Month 2025
- Women Write Fiction
- New eBook additions
- Available now
- Most popular
- Childhood Classic eBooks
- Dyslexia
- Unmissable Picture Books
- Try something different
- Crime Doesn't Pay
- Novella & Short Story Classics
- Read-Along
- Out-of-this-world Sci-Fi
- See all ebooks collections
- Women's History Month 2025
- Women Write Fiction
- New audiobook additions
- Books on Film
- Try something different
- Available now
- Read by a Celeb
- Most popular
- New kids additions
- New teen additions
- Interesting Lives: Memoirs & Biographies
- Crime Doesn't Pay
- Popular Audiobooks
- See all audiobooks collections