Book Review: There’s A Cure For This

There’s a Cure for This
by Emma Espiner
Review by Alex A

Emma Wehipeihana (Espiner at the time of publishing), Māori surgeon, writer, and mother, is driven to achieve despite (because of?) the odds.

Billed as a memoir but reads easily as a collection of essays on lived experiences, I thoroughly enjoyed this powerful, moving and cuttingly funny book. Topics covered include her childhood, university years, becoming a mother and the brutally hard process of becoming a surgeon. She wrestles with her role in a colonial medical system, questioning whether tikanga can be observed in a surgery room, the history of medicine and how she can better serve her Māori patients while using the tools of their colonisers.

This book serves as a tribute to whanau and the strong women who raised her: her Pākeha mother who nurtured her connection to her Māori heritage, her grandmothers and aunties – even her “weekend Dad” who later redeems himself as a loving koro. A refreshing, insightful and self-aware collection of reflections on an amazing life.