The Healer's Secret is a captivating tale of discovery, faith, and the delicate balance between tradition and science. When a young, skeptical medical researcher ventures to a remote mountain village to investigate a mysterious healer rumored to cure the incurable, they expect to expose superstition. Instead, they uncover something far more profound—an ancient knowledge entwined with culture, belief, and the human spirit. As the line between science and spirituality begins to blur, the researcher is forced to confront their own limitations and question everything they thought they knew about healing. With each revelation, they discover that true healing is not just about curing the body but also restoring the soul.

The first three books of the enchanting saga exploring the magical and mysterious history of one family rooted in Tuscany. The Healer’s Secret Jennifer’s life isn’t going as she planned. Fired from her job and on the brink of divorce, her only salvation lies at the bottom of a wine bottle. When her mother insists she get away from everything, Jennifer reluctantly agrees to explore her Italian roots in Tuscany. Staying in her family’s centuries-old cottage, she becomes embroiled in a mysterious tragedy involving her great-grandmother. As she delves further into her ancestors’ history, she discovers there is more to her heritage than meets the eye. Ghosts from the past could give Jennifer something she thought she’d never have: a future. But that depends on whether she can resist temptation and avoid slipping back into her old ways . . . The Healer’s Curse The year is 1348, and the plague is set to sweep through England, leaving tragedy in its wake. Unaware of what awaits her, Agnes is in love and betrothed to Ted. But her life is about to be torn apart . . . Jennifer’s life has changed for the better since she arrived in Italy. She’s put her past behind her and can finally look forward to a brighter future with boyfriend Francesco and her Italian relatives. If it wasn’t for the disturbing visions she keeps having of a pregnant young girl. To find out who she is, Jennifer knows she must once again travel into the past, but this time she’s afraid she may not come back . . . The Healer’s Awakening Since Ginevra Innocenti’s death, the cottage has lain empty and abandoned in the woods. Until the day Ginevra’s granddaughter, Sara, sees a dragonfly in the depths of winter. Intrigued, she follows it and discovers the forgotten cottage. When Sara learns that her grandmother was once a healer, a series of events is set in motion that could lead to the end of the family legacy. As long-hidden secrets are revealed, Sara starts to doubt everything she once believed in. Her mind in turmoil, she no longer knows whether she can follow in the footsteps of her ancestors. Disowned by her parents, it’s time to make a difficult decision. But rumours leave Sara fearing for her future. Will the curse of the Innocenti strike her family once more? Helen Pryke is also the author of the Maggie Turner mysteries. The Healer Series is a compelling saga with a touch of romance. It’s the perfect read for fans of authors like Philippa Gregory, Lindsey Jayne Ashford and Dinah Jefferies.

Four novels in the powerful saga about multiple generations of gifted women and the connection that binds them across centuries. Moving between past and present, these tales of a cottage in Italy and the healers who have occupied it include: The Healer’s Secret Fired and on the brink of divorce, Jennifer seeks salvation at the bottom of a wine bottle. At her mother’s insistence, she reluctantly agrees to explore her Italian roots in Tuscany. Staying in her family’s centuries-old cottage, she becomes embroiled in a mysterious tragedy involving her great-grandmother. As she delves further into her ancestors’ history, she discovers that ghosts from the past could give Jennifer something she thought she’d never have: a future . . . The Healer’s Curse In 1348, the plague is set to sweep through England. Unaware of what awaits, Agnes is in love and betrothed. But her life is about to be torn apart. In the present day, Jennifer has settled in with her boyfriend, Francesco, and her Italian relatives when disturbing visions of a pregnant girl lead her to once again travel into the past to find answers. This time, though, she’s afraid she may not come back . . . The Healer's Awakening Since Ginevra Innocenti’s death, the cottage has lain empty and abandoned in the woods. Until the day Ginevra’s granddaughter, Sara, sees a dragonfly in the depths of winter. Intrigued, she follows it and discovers the forgotten cottage. There, Sara learns her grandmother was once a healer. Could these events mean the end of the family legacy? The Healer’s Betrayal Morgana Innocenti was born on the cusp of the 1600s. Deaf after a childhood illness and able to see shadows where no shadow could be, she has learned strength and determination. But a three-hundred-year-old vow of revenge and a terrible secret revealed on her grandmother’s deathbed throw her life into turmoil, and she must marry a man she hardly knows. Then rumours arrive from England of witch hunters who leave a trail of death and devastation. When her daughter is born with the mark of the devil, Morgana lives in fear that they will come to Italy. She once had to marry to save her family’s name. What will she sacrifice to save her daughter?

"Rebecca J. Tannenbaum points out that housewives provided much of the medical care available in the seventeenth century. Elite women cared for the indigent in their towns and used medical practice to make influential connections with powerful men; "doctresses" or "doctor women," supported themselves with their practices and competed directly with male physicians; and midwives were crucial "expert witnesses" in cases of fornication, murder, and witchcraft. Yet there were limits to the authority of women's healing communities, with consequences for those who overstepped the bounds."--Cover.

A leader in the recovery movement reveals how we can all heal. At the center of The Healer's Way is the "hoop"--a seven-step process of healing. First we need to make sure our core needs are met; without those we not only can't heal ourselves or others--we probably can't live. Then we need to get lost (step 2), get hurt (step 3), get stuck and hit the bottom of the circle (step 4). Only then can we get called (step 5), get up (step 6), and get going (step 7). Once we get going, we move through the cycle again and again, as life presents us with new opportunities for healing ourselves and others. The Healer's Way is the culmination of Earnie Larsen's thirty-plus years as a counselor. The seeds for the book were the questions of a young counselor: How do you keep going? What do you do when you can't make a difference? What makes a healer? The young man asked Larsen to be his mentor and some time later his stories, clues, questions, and answers came together in this book. Larsen writes, "In the beginning, and in the end, healing is about change. The pages here are about one thing and one thing only: the spiritual alchemy involved in the amazing-grace process of personal transformation."

Beyond drugs, beyond technology, there will always be the human element, the healer's art. Dr. Cassell discusses the world of the sick, the healing connection and healer's battle, the role of omnipotence in the healer's art, illness and disease, and overcoming the fear of death. Eric J. Cassell, M.D., is an internist and clinical director of the Program for the Study of Ethics and Values in Medicine at Cornell Medical School. His two-volume work Talking with Patients: The Theory of Doctor-Patient Communication, and Clinical Technique, is available from The MIT Press in cloth and paperback.

“Wow . . . gripped from the first page. Would highly recommend . . . brilliant.” —Amazon reviewer, five stars In an era of superstition and fear, it’s dangerous to be a woman—and even more so to be a healer . . . Morgana Innocenti was born on the cusp of the 1600s, on the cursed ground inside the Grove. Deaf since the age of eight from a childhood illness, and able to see shadows where no shadow should be, she has learned to face any difficulty with strength and determination. But a three-hundred-year-old vow of revenge, and a terrible secret revealed on her grandmother’s deathbed, throw Morgana’s life into turmoil, and nothing will ever be the same again. To protect her family’s name, she must marry a man she hardly knows, and trust that she has made the right choice. While she settles into her new life, rumours arrive from England of witch hunters who leave a trail of death and devastation behind them as they cross the country. When her daughter is born with the mark of the devil, Morgana lives in constant fear that they will come to Italy. She has no idea that she is about to suffer the ultimate betrayal. Before, she had to marry to save her family’s name. What will she sacrifice to save her daughter?

Over the course of a 50-year career, James T. McLaughlin has sought to open the playing field of psychoanalytic exploration by treating unconscious processes as the very material from which we fashion meaningful lives. His unique, iconoclastic perspective, which challenged the conventions of his time and professional milieu, not only engages the creative tension between the stance of the analyst and the stance of the healer, but also contains striking intimations of contemporary relational and interpersonal models of psychoanalytic treatment. The Healer's Bent, which thematically integrates published and unpublished papers and contains three chapters of heretofore unpublished autobiographical reflection, bridges analytic practice and other psychotherapeutic modalities. It will make McLaughlin's distinct approach to clinical theory and practice widely available to a broad and receptive readership.

Increasingly, physicians and other health care workers are becoming alienated from their work, as medicine becomes more and more de-personalized, technologically oriented and driven by entrepreneurial concerns. The Healer's Calling addresses the longings of many people in this profession for a renewed sense of the transcendent meaning of their work, for the spiritual elements of healing.-- where God may be found in health care-- how faithful clinicians might persevere in the midst of the suffering and uncertainty that is part of daily practice-- how and when a doctor or nurse might pray-- how genuine Christian joy can still be found in the healing artsWith extraordinary grace and passion, Franciscan friar and physician Daniel Sulmasy speaks to the spiritual longing of healers. His work is at once a personal reflection and exhortation, written at a time of great turmoil in medicine. Sure to be of great interest to health care workers at all levels, it will capture the attention of anyone concerned about the spiritual dimensions of health care.