Starvation Heights: A Book Review

Dr. Linda Hazzard fashioned herself as a “specialist of fasting cures.” What she really was, was a marketer of death and greed. She took on a façade of caring and devotion to her patients, but very few of them ever lived to tell the tale. Her mistake was targeting wealthy clients, who unbeknownst to her, left a paper trail, and also relatives who wondered where their loved ones had gone. The true depravations of her crimes would have gone unnoticed had not it not been for the caring devotion of one nurse, a nurse who had given her entire life to caring and raising two sisters.

Claire and Dora Williamson were wealthy middle aged spinsters who traveled the world, searching for the perfect cure. There was always something better, something newer, a possibility of regaining vitality they felt they had lost, as well as the myriad of other ailments they were convinced they suffered from. After a lengthy correspondence with Dr. Hazzard, the sisters felt confident that she could cure all their problems and give them a better handle on life itself. The Doctor seemed so sure of her methods that the sisters did not doubt anything that she had to say. After meeting with a few family members, but not revealing their plans, the sisters headed toward Seattle and hope. What they encountered however, was anything but what they truly expected. Within weeks of their arrival they were hardly recognizable, their weight had shrunk so rapidly. Others around them were shocked with their appearances, and what about all the personal belongings they had brought with them?