Journey of the Broken Vessels

5 Star Review

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Editorial Book Review:

By SM Harrison

Ashten Duncan's Journey of the Broken Vessels is a novel that is both urgently relevant and powerful, as it incorporates the introspection of a coming-of-age story with the harrowing realities of modern healthcare. This narrative is rooted in the picturesque yet tense setting of Frieden Bay, and it unfolds as both a personal healing journey and a profound cultural critique. It invites readers into a world that is at once familiar and troublingly raw.

Duncan's writing is characterized by a novelist's sensitivity to emotional truth, compassion, and clarity. His prose seamlessly transitions between vividly depicted scenes of daily medical practice and deeply reflective passages that reveal the internal turmoil of resident physicians. Drawing inspiration from real events and literary influences like The Divine Comedy and The Things They Carried, his technique gives both symbolic and visceral depth to the emotional landscape of burnout, trauma, and aspiration.

At the heart of the novel lies a meditation on brokenness—of bodies, systems, and spirits—and the ways in which healing begins not with solitary heroism, but through connection. The narrator and his peers are confronted with the weight of responsibility, moral injury, and loss in a healthcare system that is struggling. Themes of resilience, mental health, and collective trauma emerge powerfully. The current discourse concerning caregiver well-being and systemic reform is significantly affected by these themes.

The reader is transported through emotional peaks of hope and valleys of grief in Journey of the Broken Vessels. You sense the narrator's subtle transformation as relationships and community become lifelines, and you perceive his vulnerability in the face of tragic losses. The novel raises urgent intellectual questions regarding the ways in which we organize care, provide support to those who serve, and reconcile duty with self-preservation. It is significant because it encapsulates both a personal narrative and a broader call to consider the emotional toll of caring professions.

Duncan's tone is unwavering and empathetic, rooted in genuine human dialogue and respectful of the gravity of his subject. He is forthright with his characters and readers, never eschewing emotional truth while avoiding sentimentality.

For individuals who are interested in the emotional architecture of contemporary caregiving, healthcare professionals, and fans of literary fiction, Journey of the Broken Vessels is an indispensable read. It is a poignant reminder that in our endeavor to heal others, we must also seek healing, and that broken vessels still possess the potential for beauty, strength, and renewal when handled with care.

About the Author

Ashten Duncan

Ashten Duncan, MD, MPH, CPH, is a Native American writer, board-certified family physician, and researcher originally from Oklahoma. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology, Master of Public Health, and Doctor of Medicine from the University of Oklahoma. He completed his postgraduate medical training in the University of New Mexico - Santa Fe Family Medicine Residency Program. He has authored dozens of research articles, essays, op-eds, poems, short stories, monographs, and other pieces in publications like Scientific American. He has edited for medical humanities journals and online publications and has served as peer reviewer for many academic journals. Residing in northern New Mexico with his wife, Dr. Duncan serves as core faculty for a rural family medicine residency program at a federally qualified health center. Journey of the Broken Vessels is his first novel.