If there was ever a doubt about the efficacy of promotional book clubs, let this be a testament that they work. I saw a blurb for Anatomy a couple months back when it was picked for Reese Witherspoon’s book club, and I was immediately intrigued.
It’s 1871 and Edinburgh is gripped with fears of another outbreak of Roman Fever, but the city’s physicians are gripped with a different affliction: a shortage of corpses to study. While resurrection men (so named since grave robbers steal possessions but they take only bodies) make a decent living by unearthing the dead, they are disappearing at an alarming rate, something which Jack Currer has taken note of. On the other side of town, Hazel Sinnett has struggles of her own: an intelligent and quizzical mind set on medicine when her sex excludes her from any prominent lecture halls. When the two cross paths, they make an unlikely but timely team.
When her mother and younger brother flee south to avoid the plague, Hazel is left to roam the castle (literally). Were there times I felt her withdrawal from society a little too obvious? Sure, but I kind of enjoyed the unrealistic nature of it all; that she could go about her business without the hassle of constantly covering her tracks or accounting for her whereabouts. My other issue with the book is minute, but I felt the dialogue was, at times, too modern and used present-day phrases that would jar me out of 19th-century Edinburgh. I enjoyed the story and although I wasn’t on the edge of my seat, I felt suitably engaged throughout. I will say that I quite enjoyed the ending. Definitely not anything I expected, which I’ll leave at that as to avoid any spoilers.
All in all, not a life changing read, but I think Reese’s book club made a decent selection.
Personal rating: 7/10
Recommend? Maybe
Re-read? No, but I would read a sequel if there was one.
Time: 1:43