• This debut novel is an honest, evocative portrayal of a young woman navigating a healthcare system that’s ineffectual at best, and hostile at worst, while striving to find creative and emotional fulfillment amid career dissatisfactions.
• The issue of medical indifference to women’s health issues is garnering widespread attention: a recent survey found 74% of Canadian women say their health conditions aren't taken seriously; 43% say that they've experienced delays when it comes to getting the proper treatment for their conditions; and 35% of women have experienced misdiagnoses and delayed diagnoses. https://www.blogto.com/city/2025/05/womens-health-system-canada-failed/
• Through the filter of Vergil’s Aeneid, Modern Dido’s family, friends, and doctors are cast as characters from the epic, infusing her modern medical struggles with the significance of ancient legends.
• Dido’s story sheds light on the insidious nature of medical misogyny, especially when pursuing diagnosis involving female reproductive systems.
• Influenced by Émile Zola and Victor Hugo, as well as Natalie Haynes’s works on the modern relevance of the classical world, Élyssa Marcoux-Bissoondath crafts a poignant epic of our time with insightful observations and layered humour.