Anatomy: A Love Story is set in Edinburgh in 1817. Hazel Sinnett is a young woman of seventeen who wants to be a surgeon. Unfortunately, as a member of the upper class, she is destined to marry to provide a rich man an heir, to be pretty, and idle away her life in luxury. She’s known her future fiancé since they were babies but now his kisses leave her unmoved. Still determined to become a surgeon, she disguises herself as a male to get into classes to learn anatomy. Eventually she is found out, but makes a deal with the professor: if she can pass the medical examination without the classes, the university will allow her to enroll. Without classes, though, Hazel needs more than books—she needs actual bodies to study. She makes another deal, this time with Jack Currer, who is so poor he steals bodies from graveyards and sells them to medical schools for extra income. A mystery arises when strange men stalk the graveyards, and people are disappearing from the streets.
Anatomy is a gothic mystery with resurrectionists haunting graveyards, Victorian operating theaters with their stands of seats and the smell of blood and decay. Author Schwartz captures the environs and atmosphere of nineteenth century Edinburgh well and depicts anatomic studies accurately. As a physician, having dissected cadavers, I’m well aware of the stench of bodies in anatomy labs. I admire Hazel for having the gumption to dig up her own bodies to dissect. The ending was a bit predictable and weaker than the rest of the book, but I would read the second book in the duology.
This is a young adult book. There is a mild love story between Hazel, a strong female lead, and Jack, the resurrectionist. They share a few kisses including one as they sit on a coffin in a grave, waiting for the strange men to vanish. Otherwise, there’s no obvious mention of sexual activity. With the gore, it is probably best read by older young adults.
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Anatomy: A Love Story (Wednesday Books, January 18, 2022) is available through:
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A book that has much the same vibe is the fantasy The Resurrectionist of Caligo by Wendy Trimboli and Alicia Zaloga. It is available through:
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