As someone who took one trip to Scotland and fell in love, I will read anything set in Scotland. So when I heard about Anatomy and Immortality, I knew I had to read them ASAP. This historical fiction duology is perfect for fans of Stalking Jack the Ripper with less murder and instead more focus on the setting and the characters. Keep reading this book review for my full thoughts.
Anatomy: A Love Story
Edinburgh, 1817. Hazel Sinnett is a lady who wants to be a surgeon more than she wants to marry.
Jack Currer is a resurrection man who’s just trying to survive in a city where it’s too easy to die.
When the two of them have a chance encounter outside the Edinburgh Anatomist’s Society, Hazel thinks nothing of it at first. But after she gets kicked out of renowned surgeon Dr. Beecham’s lectures for being the wrong gender, she realizes that her new acquaintance might be more helpful than she first thought. Because Hazel has made a deal with Dr. Beecham: if she can pass the medical examination on her own, the university will allow her to enroll. Without official lessons, though, Hazel will need more than just her books – she’ll need bodies to study, corpses to dissect.
Lucky that she’s made the acquaintance of someone who digs them up for a living, then.
But Jack has his own problems: strange men have been seen skulking around cemeteries, his friends are disappearing off the streets. Hazel and Jack work together to uncover the secrets buried not just in unmarked graves, but in the very heart of Edinburgh society.
Review
I was able to listen to Anatomy on audiobook and would 100% recommend. Not only does Mhairi Morrison does a fabulous job with the accents and emotion, but there’s also a bonus interview at the end with the author too! Anatomy is a story grounded in its historical fiction setting and in Hazel’s character. In the ways she is expected to give up her ambition and get married, to resign herself to a fate she does not want. With more attention to medical procedures, Anatomy is perfect for fans of historical fiction meets STEM heroines. There’s also an undertone of the ways in which the poor are exploited to ‘serve’ the rich.
(Disclaimer: Some of the links below are affiliate links. For more information you can look at the Policy page. If you’re uncomfortable with that, know you can look up the book on any of the sites below to avoid the link)
I visited the Surgeons Hall Museum, so you know that I’m just the right target audience for this duology. I love historical fiction books and an ambitious girl who wants to be a doctor? Smitten. In Anatomy, Hazel is shining beacon not only of caring, but also of being unafraid of doing the right thing. It’s just the right amount of sliver of hope I needed and listening to this was a delight. To be honest, I got swept away with the setting and my passion in medical STEM heroines. Find Anatomy: A Love Story on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, The Book Depository, Libro.fm, and Google Play.
!! Proceed reading at your own risk for spoilers!!
Immortality: A Love Story
Hazel Sinnett is alone and half-convinced the events of the year before—the immortality, Beecham’s vial—were a figment of her imagination. She doesn’t even know whether Jack is alive or dead. All she can really do now is treat patients and maintain Hawthornden Castle as it starts to decay around her.
When saving a life leads to her arrest, Hazel seems doomed to rot in prison until a message intervenes: She has been specifically requested to be the personal physician of Princess Charlotte, the sickly daughter of King George IV. Soon Hazel is dragged into the glamor and romance of a court where everyone has something to hide, especially the enigmatic, brilliant members of a social club known as the Companions to the Death.
As Hazel’s work entangles her more and more with the British court, she realizes that her own future as a surgeon isn’t the only thing at stake. Malicious forces are at work in the monarchy, and Hazel may be the only one capable of setting things right.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
In Immortality, readers immediately wonder what Hazel’s future holds. Considering the events of Anatomy, I dove straight into the sequel. Hazel is reeling from the loss of Jack, but also of her entire future changing before her eyes. While I enjoyed the plot of Immortality, I think what I appreciated more were the themes and the ways it feels like it’s in conversation with today. With a strong foundation and beginning in women’s reproductive rights, Immortality feels closer to us than historical fiction. To the ways in which doctors are penalized for saving women’s lives, for giving them information, and for allowing them to control their own bodies.
All the things that women will try to do to exert their own agency. And the ways in which others try to judge and control their behavior. And as Immortality progresses, this theme of choice only becomes more varied. The people in Hazel’s life have to come to a reckoning. To realize that what we think we are doing when we think we are protecting someone, actually removes the choice from them. Or even the own agency of trying to make our own path. Away from what people want from us, think we should do with our talents, or even our responsibility.
Overall,
I was able to listen to the audiobook again mostly because I just needed to listen to Morrison lull me with a fantastic accent! Morrison also does a fantastic job of putting emotions into the pacing, the actual reading within Immortality. So while days after finishing, I’m more struck by the themes and conversations, this was a sold sequel with some important messages. I ended up wanting to continue reading not necessarily to figure out what would happen to Hazel or even Hazel’s journey, but the way the questions evolved. It asks us what our love is worth to us, our happiness, our ambitions. What we can bring to this world and the choices we have that ripple onwards.
(Disclaimer: Some of the links below are affiliate links. For more information you can look at the Policy page. If you’re uncomfortable with that, know you can look up the book on any of the sites below to avoid the link)
Find Immortality: A Love Story on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, The Book Depository, Libro.fm, and Google Play.