2023 Best Indie Book Award Winner in LGBTQ Memoir
2023 Readers' Favorite Book Awards Gold Medalist in Non-Fiction - LGBTQ
2023 Canadian Book Club Awards Finalist in Nonfiction/Memoir
2023 PNWA Nancy Pearl Book Awards Finalist in Best Book: Memoir
2023 Nautilus Book Awards Silver Medal Winner in Medical Memoirs
2023 Golden Crown Literary Awards Finalist in General Non-Fiction
2022 Firebird Book Awards First Place Winner in Coming of Age Memoir
2022 Firebird Book Awards First Place Winner in LGBT Memoir
Named a Kirkus Reviews Best Indie Book of 2022
2022 Best Book Awards Finalist in LGBTQ+: Nonfiction
“The author writes with a sense of blunt reality and warm humanity . . . The struggles, deeply felt emotions, and coming-of-age triumphs make this memoir touching and personal, and it will stir reflection in those who read it.”
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“Grayhall skillfully depicts the problems confronting any ambitious person in search of stable romantic relationships . . . those professional challenges resonate throughout this fast-paced, immersive, and weighty memoir that will resonate with anyone who has experienced the hardships of being true to yourself.”
—BookLife Reviews
“Memoirs like Grayhall’s are important to us. The larger culture has owned the narrative forever and rendered us inconsequential if not invisible. Our untold stories need to be out there, and a story like Grayhall’s from a woman of her achievements is a vital contribution to our community and history.”
—Katherine V. Forrest, author of Curious Wine and The Emergence of Green
“Making the Rounds is a fast-paced, inspiring, and accessible true story of a young lesbian’s struggle to enter the male dominated profession of medicine in the '70s while concurrently learning, through a series of heartbreaking and endearing encounters, to be her authentic self in a loving relationship with another woman. I highly recommend this book—a great read exploring issues that are as relevant today as ever.”
—Robin Tyler, producer, activist, comic
“An uplifting journey of coming out that reads like a fast-paced medical drama.”
—Radclyffe, retired surgeon, author, and president of Bold Strokes Books
“Making the Rounds is smart, profound, thought-provoking, and all-out engaging. Patricia Grayhall’s writing brims with a passionate desire to share her reality and the book will elicit empathy in every reader. . . . This memoir is a must-read as a reminder to all of us to guard our rights and freedom and to never devolve into a culture of hate that is a vestige of a primitive stage of evolution.”
—Readers’ Favorite, 5-star review
“Making the Rounds is a wonderful book that flows from page to page keeping its readers engaged in Patricia's story and wanting to know where it would go next. Inspiring, heartfelt, and brutally honest at times, this is a book that will give women and those who care about them, the strength and motivation to persevere through the trials and tribulations in life.”
—Seattle Book Review
“Female professionals—gay or straight, doctor or other—owe a debt of gratitude for the tribulations women like Grayhall endured to hew the path we now traverse. Reverberating with personal angst and professional certitude, Making the Rounds is about life. I highly recommend it to anyone who’s ever lived one.”
—Adele Holmes, MD, author of Winter’s Reckoning
“Patricia Grayhall has written a vital and thrilling memoir, the story of a woman figuring out who she is and who she is meant to be. She battles to find love and to do meaningful work in a field dominated by patriarchal values. Most of all her story radiates the power of perseverance in breaking down, brick by brick, the barriers of bigotry.”
—Steve Almond, New York Times best-selling author of Candyfreak and Against Football
“Patricia Grayhall has much to teach us in this well-paced and deeply humanizing memoir of what it means to seek both belonging and love—and to find both, always in the most surprising of ways.”
—Susan Meyers, Professor of Creative Writing, Seattle University
“This is such an important book for so many reasons. Identity. Sexuality. Self-acceptance. Women power. Relationships with others and self. Societal oppression. And so much more. If you have ever felt marginalized or told you could not pursue your dreams because you are the wrong sex, color, ethnicity, or class . . . this book will inspire you to find the courage.”
—Laura Munson, New York Times best-selling author of This is Not the Story You Think It Is
“Patricia Grayhall’s writing style is seamless in the way it flows gently across the pages. She is a very talented storyteller, weaving a narrative filled with fortitude, courage, and passion as she faces the uphill battle to be her authentic self in an environment of patriarchal supremacy and homophobia. I thoroughly recommend this wonderfully written book to anyone.”
—Alexis Hunter, author of Joy Lansing: A Body to Die For
“Well-written, fast-paced, and inspiring—Patricia Grayhall’s memoir is an authentic, accurate, and brave portrayal of her lived experience in times that were exciting and expansive, but often confusing, challenging, and uncharted.”
—Margaret Dozark, MD, Emergency and Internal Medicine Specialist
“Making the Rounds is an important piece of history served up in a crisp writing style, entwined with beautiful sensory details. Grayhall’s point of view is candid, self-deprecating, and genuine. She is obviously accomplished, but what comes through is her openness and honesty—qualities rarely seen in similar works. This is a book you do not want to miss.”
—Morgan Elliot, author of Stroke of the Brush and The Crying Chair
“Kudos to Patricia for showing all women that their dreams and desires for everlasting love and a rewarding career can become realities.”
—Judy Kiehart, author of Calico Lane
“In Making the Rounds, Patricia Grayhall has granted us access into her world, and into the life of a complex woman we will not soon forget.”
—Sharon Dukett, author of No Rules: A Memoir
★ 2022-07-05
A young woman steadfastly challenges sexism, prejudice, and societal norms in this memoir.
Grayhall’s pseudonymous debut takes on crucial topics by detailing the author’s experiences in love and medicine. Immediately, the reader steps into the shoes of an isolated young woman who imagined herself as the “only lesbian in Arizona” in 1965. The author describes discovering her attraction to women and the ugly stereotypes that bigots attached to being gay. However, the author’s strong spirit shines through in moments of empowering self-discovery, her passion for education, and her confidence in the possibility of finding love. As Part I concludes, Grayhall tells of heading to medical school at the University of Utah. Part II follows Grayhall as one of five female students in a class of 100, showing the stark realities of being a woman in a world dominated by men. Grayhall’s love of science propelled her forward, and she excelled in school as she continued her search for love. It’s heartening to read about her pursuing relationships after her earlier loneliness and confusion, but life for Grayhall pivoted once again when she accepted an internship at Boston University Hospitals. In the grueling Part III, she recalls working 36-hour shifts in hostile environments where she was treated as inferior to her male peers; at home, she struggled to maintain relationships with women. The author writes with a sense of blunt reality and warm humanity, revealing how a doctor’s life can be exhausting and despairing. After beginning a residency at the Harvard School of Public Health, however, Grayhall’s life improved, and from this moment—including Part IV, aptly titled “The Reckoning”—the memoir centers primarily around love and loss instead of the demanding work of a doctor. The struggles, deeply felt emotions, and coming-of-age triumphs make this memoir touching and personal, and it will stir reflection in those who read it.
An honest, heart-rending memoir about finding oneself.
