Of Flesh and Blood
In the early 1900s, wealthy Seattle timber merchant Marshall Alfredson financed Dr. Evan McGrath’s visions for a world-class hospital, setting in motion 100 years of unrequited animosities between the families despite the worthiness of the goal that connected them. McGrath paid for his answered prayer with a pledge to relinquish pursuit of Alfredson’s daughter, Olivia. Current-day Alfredson Medical Center continues to enjoy a proud reputation, but in the background the founding families continue their feud: the Alfredsons pondering the future of the hospital in the face of tempting offers to sell out, and the McGraths struggling to maintain the highest standards of health care for any patient in need. Evan’s great-grandson Dr. Tyler McGrath, a dedicated pediatric cancer specialist, is facing pressure from his father to take over the administration while his marriage teeters and the hospital is threatened by an infectious outbreak. Alfredson descendant Lorna Simpson seeks to chronicle family history even as the clan gathers to vote on the hospital’s fate. Kalla, writer and ER physician, offers a saga of family secrets, hospital intrigue, and tangled relationships. --Vanessa Bush