The Twelfth Physician Author:Willa Gibbs Editorial Review - Kirkus Reviews Copyright (c) VNU Business Media, Inc. — A new slant on a period of terror- the French Revolution- and a novel that has something significant to say and a good story to tell, a rare combination. Charlot Florian, alone of the handful of physicians who had survived, dared to risk disaster by taking over secretly th... more »e instruction of a handful of dedicated youths. The picture of Paris, with disease and disfigurement following on the trail of mountebanks and charlatans given free rein, the atmosphere of fear which destroyed men's souls, backgrounds the tale of Florian, who puts his profession first, even ahead of the wife he worshipped. To save her- while his own life is in daily peril- he sends her ultimately to Italy, only to have her caught in the reprisals at Pavia, when Napoleon ordered the rebellious city sacked. Then -- with a measure of security in view- they are reunited, only to have Florian tricked into the most dreaded fate of all, exile to living death at Devil's Island. To watch the character of a man virtually disintegrate during a year which saw full range of horror; to know he is given another chance- and is unable fully to take it; to watch a second betrayal a second disintegration, when he thinks he has broken faith with all he held dear, provides a moving tale, in a virtually untapped area.« less