Reviewed on Richard & Judy on Wednesday 13 August 2008.
A dark gothic style story set around the anatomists of London in the early 1800’s. We follow the demise of Gabriel Swift as he becomes embroiled in a world of opium and body snatchers. Bradley evokes a dark, dingy, sinister London with characters as brooding and grim as their surroundings and the reader can only sit back and watch as Gabriel makes his descent in to this gory underworld.
This book is set in London, 1826. Leaving behind his father's tragic failures, Gabriel Swift arrives to study with Edwin Poll, the greatest of the city's anatomists. It is his chance to find advancement by making a name for himself.
But instead he finds himself drawn to his master's nemesis, Lucan, the most powerful of the city's resurrectionists and ruler of its trade in stolen bodies. Dismissed by Mr Poll, Gabriel descends into the violence and corruption of London's underworld, a place where everything and everyone is for sale, and where - as Gabriel discovers - the taking of a life is easier than it might seem.
James Bradley is the author of three novels - Wrack, The Deep Field and The Resurrectionist, and a book of poetry, Paper Nautilus. His books have won or been shortlisted for a number of major Australian and international literary awards, and he has twice been named as one of the Sydney Morning Herald's Best Young Australian Novelists. He lives in Sydney.
