Weekends at Bellevue

Weekends at Bellevue by Julie Holland, MD, is a great memoir of Holland's time as a psychiatrist at the oldest hospital in the United States, reknowned for its work with the mentally ill. Holland shares different stories of her patients along with her own work experiences at the hospital. Along the way, Holland completes her schooling, dates and marries her husband and has two children. After nine years in a memorable profession, Holland is ready to move on to private practice exclusively, and pens a memoir of her experiences at Bellevue.

First of all I love memoirs, and this is no exception. I also like Holland, her writing voice is honest as she admits to shortcomings she has and the second guessing she does about different decisions she makes in her job. The patients Holland comes into contact with are interesting and diverse and Holland often wonders if any of us are without our own mental illness.

Looking for a good read offering a perspective on mental illness that few have? Weekends at Bellevue is a great selection.