Review: Anatomy: A Love Story by Dana Schwartz

Anatomy: A Love Story by Dana Schwartz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC via Netgalley, all opinions are my own. This is set to be published on January 18, 2022. Thank you to SMP and Wednesday books for the early copy, I really enjoyed this.

Initially I was expecting this to be more on the horror side based on the cover, but it is more on of a historical fiction and sci-fi story. It is set in 1817 Edinburgh, Scotland where the thought of a female doctor, let alone a surgeon is unheard of, so when Lady Hazel Sinnett has her heart and mind set on taking the Physician's Examination everyone thinks she it is a joke. Hazel is brilliant, but her father is a distinguished Navy man away on an important assignment and her mother is the sister of a Viscount. Her station insists she follow the rules of propriety and get married, but no one really pays Hazel much attention. Her mother is drowning her her grief over the loss of Hazel's older brother George from the fever that has been plaguing the town for months, so she puts her efforts into protecting her other son and ignores Hazel most of the time.

Jack is a resurrection man, his main source of income comes from what he earns from the physicians at the local Anatomists society who pay good money for the recently deceased. Jack delivers the corpses so the doctors can learn from them, but technically it is against the law so he's good at not getting caught. When a chance encounter brings Hazen and Jack together, she enlists his services to help her learn anatomy from a real specimen as she has been dismissed from the courses she was taking the the Society. Despite her aptitude in the courses, she is not permitted to continue, however she makes a bet with the head that if she passes the examination on her own they will allow women to enroll in the future. Hazel is determined to become a doctor despite her station as a Lady and what it might mean for her future inheritance. She also wants to find a cure for the fever that is making everyone sick. Unfortunately Jack isn't able to bring her more bodies to study because local resurrection men keep disappearing, and if they do turn up they are missing vital parts of themselves.

This has a bit of everything. The historical aspect speaks to the very real and still true fact that the poor are seen as less than and those with status and money get what they want. It also speaks to the fact that women were and sometimes still are seen as fragile and unequal to men. They were supposed to be seen and not heard. The sci-fi element ties nicely into the mystery element. The title indicates that this is a love story, and there is a romance, but I felt that Hazel's love of medicine was the main plot and the actual romance was a smaller part of the story. This is definitely a little on the darker side, but if you like something with a more gothic feel this is for you.

I really enjoyed this. If you liked Stalking Jack the Ripper, I think you'd like this. This has similar vibes to that, so if you enjoyed that you might like this. They aren't the same by any means, but I was reminded of that series while reading this.
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