... The Rector gave him a decent education as well as a roof over his head. By the early 19th century Gabriel finds himself in London under the tutorlage of the renowned Anatomist Dr. Edwin Poll.
A city ripe with the pursuit of knowledge, the hospitals and Lecture theatres fit to bursting ... Read review
This book is set in London 1826. Leaving behind his father's tragic failures Gabriel ... more
Swift arrives to study with Edwin Poll the greatest of the city's anatomists. It is his chance to find advancement by making a name for himself. But instead he find...
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Advantages: A total page turner. Disadvantages: Can be graphic
Whilst browsing in the book aisle in my local Tesco I spotted this novel and thought it looked interesting. It was one of Richard and Judy's Summer Reads selections, so I decided I'd buy it. I hadn't previously heard of the author, but the front cover had a look of gothic Horror and the macabre. Once started I found it very difficult to put down.......
**A BRIEF SYNOPSIS** too avoid giving away too much.....
Gabriel ... .../>
Gabriel avoided the poor-house by the kindly intervention of the local Rector, who saw potential in Gabriel. The Rector gave him a decent education as well as a roof over his head. By the early 19th century Gabriel finds himself in London under the tutorlage of the renowned Anatomist Dr. Edwin Poll.
A city ripe with the pursuit of knowledge, the hospitals and Lecture theatres fit to bursting with eager students, but a definite ... more
Whilst browsing in the book aisle in my local Tesco I spotted this novel and thought it looked interesting. It was one of Richard and Judy's Summer Reads selections, so I decided I'd buy it. I hadn't previously heard of the author, but the front cover had a look of gothic Horror and the macabre. Once started I found it very difficult to put down.......
**A BRIEF SYNOPSIS** too avoid giving away too much.....
Gabriel Swift, made motherless at his birth was raised by his father, an embittered and drunken man until his own premature death, leaving Gabriel an orphan at 12 yrs old.
Gabriel avoided the poor-house by the kindly intervention of the local Rector, who saw potential in Gabriel. The Rector gave him a decent education as well as a roof over his head. By the early 19th century Gabriel finds himself in London under the tutorlage of the renowned Anatomist Dr. Edwin Poll.
A city ripe with the pursuit of knowledge, the hospitals and Lecture theatres fit to bursting with eager students, but a definite lack of Cadavers to satisfy the demand. Being an apprentice Gabriel finds himself party to the underhand dealings of the cities resurrectionists and the turning a "blind eye" to where these bodies came from!!
Gabriel soon finds himself embroiled in the undercurrent of society, being respectable and a gentleman he drinks at the Tavern's and frequents the Theatres with his equally celubrious friends. He distances himself at first from the goings on of his peers, but soon becomes needfull of carnal pursuits and opiates to distract his mind from the loathing he feels for his job and himself.
His self loathing contiinues and his path takes an inevitable turn which takes him to the underbelly of Georgian Society, without any purpose or means. This is a catalyst to his eventual perpetual spiral into the vilest acts of human -nature.
Will Gabriel drag himself from the bowels of despair? Or is he destined to a life of filth and debauchery along with the rest of societies underclasses?
**MY OPINION**
I loved this book. The author uses short chapters and punchy paragraphs leaving the reader gagging for more. HIs descriptive imagery transports the reader directly to the scene, giving them the feeling that they are there, amidst the choking smog, smelling the putrid smells and absorbing the total degredation of that time.
The novel also looks at society and the gaping division of the classes. The Upper Classes merely using the desparation of the poor for their own ends, whether it be sexual, cheap entertainment or the pursuit of science. So may people , plucked from their lives and not even missed.
This is portrayed graphically in the way the author carries the reader along in the detritus of hedonism and inhumanity. This novel really sucks you in and you begin to enjoy the degradation and feel the loss, pain and total anhialation of the human spirit. This is a truly suffocating yet intoxicating read. Highly recommended!!!
**SOME HISTORICAL FACTS**
Resurrectionists, Body Snatchers and Grave Robbers.
The most famous or infamous of these being "Burke and Hare" Whilst the taking of bodies (dead bodies) was acceptable Burke and Hare took their role to an other level, finding it was more profitable to produce their own dead bodies instead of having to pay for them, they systematically killed 16 souls until there arrest in 1829. They killed the poor and simple and people whom society wouldn't miss, only to be found out by the discovery of a decaying corpse under a bed.
On arrest Hare turned "Kings Evidence" and was released, reportedly moving to England never to be heard off again.......Burke was executed on the 28th January 1829, his body ending up on a hospital slab, to which he had so prolifically supplied the bodies of others......
Don't have nightmares!!!
Book avaliable from Tesco @ £3.96 Also avaliable on Ebay from 99p
