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Book review and synopsis for Anatomy, A Love Story by Dana Schwartz, a historical fiction novel set
Dressed as a man, Hazel secretly starts attending anatomy classes taught by Dr
Beecham agrees to allow her to take the physician's test, if she can learn the material herself,
Meanwhile, among the poor in town, people have been suspiciously disappearing, including one of Jack's friends, Munroe
Hazel starts working with a grave-snatcher, Jack, to illegally procure corpses to study with
Jack points out folk remedy, wort flower, to Hazel which she uses to treat patients with Roman
He indicates that he was kidnapped and a doctor removed his arm without his consent
Beecham performing an eye transplant using an involuntary donor
Beecham has been abducting the poor in order to use them for body parts and to practice
Beecham prepares to go to America to get a fresh start, and he offers Hazel a vial
Hazel wants them to be together, but Jack knows he will be on the run indefinitely and
Instead, Hazel continues treating patients from her home, and Jack disappears
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The book was marketed as a Gothic novel, but I think that description is incorrect (as discussed
Instead, I’d say that it’s a historical fiction novel with some romance mixed in
Set in 18th century Scotland, Anatomy: A Love Story follows an upper class 17-year-old girl named Hazel
The time period it’s set in feels naturally compelling, and Scwartz has come up with a
The main character of Hazel is a privileged girl who spends most of the time doing whatever
There’s a sense of freedom and breeziness that is distinctly un-Gothic
Sure, there’s some graverobbing mixed up in there, but the general tone of the novel is
As a historical fiction novel, it didn’t really have enough of a sense of atmosphere or
As I was reading, the name Hazel for the main character felt a little anachronistic to me,
According to Wikipedia, the name wasn’t really commonly used as a first name until the late 19
Overall, I would say that for the most part I was underwhelmed by this story
At that point, I lost interest in it completely but I only had a handful of chapters
However, the largely predictable plot, lack of atmosphere and the silly ending meant that it wound up
I also would not describe it as a Gothic novel, since there’s a breezy, carefree aspect
I also would not recommend this as a book club read, as there isn’t too much
Narrated by: Mhairi Morrison & Tim Campbell Length: 9 hours 34 minutes