I read Cate Culpepper’s 1st edition of The Clinic and loved it. I did not think it could get any better. But this smartly edited and tightly written 2nd edition takes hold of the reader immediately. It is engaging and thought provoking, and we are left pondering its lessons long after we read the last pages.

On the surface, The Clinic is a story about a military research facility where Jesstin, an Amazon of Tristaine, is being held for bogus crimes. Brenna, a healer, is tasked by Caster, her superior, to break Jess’ spirit and make her compliant. Caster’s intent is to force a peaceful annexation and assimilation of Tristaine because Caster and her people believe the Amazons, who are lesbians, are deviants and savages. Brenna goes along with Caster to keep her job, and inflicts physical pain and humiliation on Jess, thus going against everything she has been taught. When the “treatments” begin to turn brutal, Brenna starts to question Caster’s authority. She also is feeling more than compassion for Jess. This is when The Clinic really gets interesting.

Culpepper creates a compelling set of characters in Brenna and Jess. Brenna is reluctant to give up her comfortable lifestyle, yet she uses alcohol to dull what she really feels as she continues to inflict more violence on her prisoner.  Jess, through her unselfish sacrifices to help Brenna save her job, enables Brenna to see that she is free to make choices of her own. Brenna’s transformation consumes most of the book and is executed realistically and thoughtfully. Caster’s stubbornness and heartlessness is juxtaposed beautifully alongside Brenna’s growth, letting the reader feel the intensity of this novel.

While there is a romance between Brenna and Jess, it is an added bonus, blending smoothly with the overall plot. Culpepper is an exceptional storyteller who has taken on a very difficult subject, the subjugation of one people over another, and turned it into a spellbinding novel. As an author, she understands well that fiction can teach us our own history without the force and harshness of nonfiction. Yet The Clinic is just as powerful in its telling.