This is a novel beginning with sorrow and injustice, not foreign
concepts in a story based on reality, but which concludes on a feel-good ending.
Hooper flits between the mysterious present and the innocent past, taking us to
the 1650s where Anne Green, a handmaid, is taken advantage of by the rich
Master Geoffrey, who promises her status in exchange for her purity. Of course,
this leads to her doom as she loses all her friends – including a kind John
Taylor, becomes pregnant, is rejected any help by the lying culprit and is then
accused of infanticide when the bastard is a still-born. Whisked away to the
gallows, all because of Sir Thomas’s rage at the stain Anne claims against his
grandson, she is hanged on a cold, drizzly day. Her body is donated to science
and the knife is just inches away from her skin, ready for dissection, when her
eye lid twitches. Astounded, the surrounding scholars set to work resurrecting
her…
Mary Hooper opened my eyes to the misfortunes frequently
experienced by young females serving under reckless, selfish Masters in the
centuries before equality was introduced. I found this an extremely moving tale
that benefits from the religious tone as it not only reflects the beliefs of
the time but brings justice to the deserving and undeserving characters. Furthermore, throughout runs the theme of faith, that which inspired the Physicians to put down their knifes and instead save the girl rumoured to be innocent.
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