Anatomy: A Love Story
Anatomy: A Love Story (2022) is Dana Schwartz's atmospheric Gothic romance, the first book of the Anatomy duology, set in the dissecting rooms and graveyards of Regency-era Edinburgh.
Hazel Sinnett is a wealthy young woman who wants to be a surgeon far more than she wants to be a wife. Barred from medical study because of her sex, she strikes an unlikely bargain to pursue anatomy in secret. Jack Currer is a resurrection man, prying fresh corpses from the earth to sell to the city's ambitious physicians. When their paths cross, Hazel gains the bodies she needs and Jack finds a reason to hope for a different life — but the two soon stumble onto something far more sinister than grave-robbing, a conspiracy that trades in the living as readily as the dead.
Blending forbidden love, class divides, medical history, and mystery, the novel is a moody, propulsive read for fans of dark academia and gothic romance.
A wealthy young woman determined to become a surgeon in defiance of her era.
A resurrection man who digs up corpses for the city's physicians.
This book is the first installment in the Anatomy duology, followed by 'Immortality: A Love Story.' While each book features a distinct mystery, the overarching narrative and character arcs continue across both volumes.
The novel draws inspiration from the real-life Burke and Hare murders in 19th-century Edinburgh, where bodies were illicitly supplied for anatomical dissection. While the characters and specific plot are fictional, the historical context of medical advancement and grave robbing is accurately reflected.
Readers familiar with Dana Schwartz's 'And We Danced' will find a similar blend of historical detail and romantic intrigue, but 'Anatomy' delves into a darker, more gothic atmosphere with a stronger focus on medical history and mystery.