Excerpt of Something To Prove by Yvonne S. Thornton

The inspiring sequel to the acclaimed memoir The Ditchdigger’s Daughters.

Dr. Yvonne Thornton’s memoir The Ditchdigger’s Daughters has captured the hearts of readers everywhere since it was first published in 1995. Translated into 19 languages, featured on Oprah, and made into a TV movie, this heart-warming and inspiring story chronicles Yvonne Thornton’s family; at its center is her beloved, unschooled but wise father Donald Thornton, who demanded that all five of his daughters not only excel in school, but go on to become doctors. Four of them did; the other found her calling in law and became a lawyer instead.

Something to Prove picks up where The Ditchdigger’s Daughters left off. In this sequel, Dr. Thornton reveals how she ascended to the top of her field as a physician by drawing on her father’s teachings. Despite bias and setbacks, she became the first African-American woman to be board certified in the obstetrical sub-specialty of maternal-fetal medicine. Dismissed and shunned by her peers for entering the white, male-dominated world of academic medicine, Dr. Thornton relied on her father’s life lessons, which taught her to be strong and rise above adversity. Though intelligence, determination, and hard work, Dr. Yvonne Thornton overcame the odds to reach the pinnacle of her profession.