Ingenious Pain

LoveReading Says

From small-town England to the Russian court of the 17th century in the company of a man who can feel no pain.  From an object of curiosity to a great surgeon himself we learn much of the science and the philosophy of the period as we travel with this extraordinary man in a very skilful, densely written, complicated novel.  Challenging and intelligent, it is a rewarding read.

Comparison: David Liss, Iain Pears, Barry Unsworth.

Reviewed by Sarah Broadhurst
Sarah Broadhurst spent her early working life in the book trade in both retail and wholesale until the arrival of children forced her to look for freelance work she could do from…
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About Ingenious Pain

? Out now: The Land in Winter, shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2025 ?Ingenious Pain: the extraordinary prize-winning debutWinner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the International Dublin Literary Award 'Astoundingly good' The Times'Dazzling' Observer'Timeless' SpectatorAt the dawn of the Enlightenment, a man is born unable to feel pain. A source of wonder and scientific curiosity as a child, he rises through the ranks of Georgian society to become a brilliant surgeon. Yet as a human being he fails, for he can no more feel love and compassion than pain. Until, en route to St Petersburg to inoculate the Empress Catherine, he meets his nemesis and saviour.Praise for Andrew Miller'Andrew Miller's writing is a source of wonder and delight' Hilary Mantel'One of our most skilful chroniclers of the human heart and mind' Sunday Times'One of the best writers at work today' Telegraph'A wonderful storyteller' Spectator'One of those rare novelists who can rock up in any time and place and convincingly inhabit that particular historical moment' The Times

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