The Resurrectionist by A. Rae Dunlap was published in 2025 and it’s the author’s debut novel. I borrowed it from the library. The setting is Edinburgh 1828 where the professors at Edinburgh University, and various others were busy conducting experiments and research on cadavers – dead human bodies. The demonstrations were open to the public and so halls were packed with onlookers, many of whom were men just wanting to view the spectacle, amongst the medical students who had a legitimate reason for being there. It was theatre for some really and they were willing to pay handsomely for the experience.
James Willoughby, a young Englishman had been determined to go to Edinburgh to study to be a doctor, he wanted to be part of The Enlightenment, it was all going on there. Even when his father died and it turned out that he had gambled away most of the family wealth James was still determined to stick to his plan. He just had to find a way of financing himself.
As you would expect the notorious body snatchers feature in what I suppose could be described as a gothic horror novel. I enjoyed this one although I had to suspend my disbelief quite often as I can’t imagine nobody noticing some of the antics involved in obtaining fresh corpses. As you would expect Burke and Hare feature too.
The book is well written but I didn’t really get any sense of the atmosphere of old Edinburgh. It’s a place which for me seems quite dangerous and threatening even on a sunny summer evening on my own there, something to do with the narrow wynds and tall old buildings I think – and just not knowing the place all that well. The stones ooze atmosphere. It must have been even scarier in the early 19th century.
Anyway, I enjoyed the book but it’s definitely not for the squeamish.