The Case of Dr. Sachs

Bruno Sachs is a country doctor who makes house calls and feels deeply for his patients. There are broken bones, unwanted pregnancies, people without the will to live, a friend dying of cancer. His pity for his fellow creatures is both his motivating force and his own untreatable condition. Among the deaths, love affairs, and small town gossip, a love story emerges at the heart of the novel-between Dr. Sachs and a young woman upon whom he once performed an abortion.
The Case of Dr. Sachs is a novel filled with voices of silent suffering and arias of quiet joy, and one dedicated to the notion that literature, like medicine, can save lives.“The Case of Dr. Sachs is a startlingly frank portrait of a small town physician.” –New York Times Book Review


“Anguish, fear of death, sobs, loneliness, grief: It is all there. And also comedy. The Case of Doctor Sachs is a touching human document by a physician-writer who does honor to both terms of his appellation. . . . His words, simple and unpretentious, move us deeply.” –Washington Post Book World


“Poignant without being maudlin or unsentimental. . . the novel is full of insightful writing that can only come from someone who has watched people closely for a long time.” –New England Journal of MedicineMARTIN WINCKLER was born in Algiers in 1955. In 1994, he quit practicing medicine to write full-time. He lives in France with his wife and children.