Tag: the resurrectionist

The Resurrectionist is a historical novel about a young medical student who arrives in Edinburgh, meets an intriguing dissection assistant, and falls into the world of stealing corpses for use in medical schools. James arrives in Edinburgh to pursue his dream of attending medical school, having escaped his family’s expectations for him but lacking money after this father’s death. When he strikes a deal to attend a private anatomy school with Nye, the assistant, James finds himself drawn into an underground world of supplying dead bodies for medical schools, treading the line between scientific progress and crime, but alongside the thrill of the danger is another thrill, as James finds himself with feelings for Nye.

I tend to be selective with the historical novels I read, but this one looked interesting for the queer love story and the gruesome premise. The former element is definitely prevalent in the book, though it feels more like a young adult book in the way this is treated with vague references to what James and Nye do together. There’s a slight level of peril due to the time period and legal and social ramifications of gay relationships, but it always seems to be kept as something that’s a vague annoyance to James rather than the danger it has previously placed Nye in, which again makes it feel like a young adult novel that doesn’t quite want to delve into how it would feel to exist like that. Not that this is a bad thing, as people often want to read historical novels that aren’t just about queer misery, but in this case it is meant to be a threat, just not one that is explored.

The gruesome element isn’t really all that dark, as this book is more of a gothic-atmosphere historical novel than anything particularly scary or gritty. There’s a bit of stuff about university medical education vs practical anatomy and dissection, but otherwise the medical student is really just the background, and James’ student friends are there as plot devices as needed. Again, this works for the book as it has a simple narrative, but it never really delves more deeply into anything, being quite coy about a lot of elements (like one of two female characters, a young woman who helps out Nye and the diggers, but we never quite see what her seemingly disreputable existence actually is). There’s a lot about class, wealth, and power in the book that again isn’t really explored, and particularly the ending is very neat, ignoring these things for a happy ending that seems to set up for a potential sequel.

This is a fun book if you like light queer romance with a gothic premise, though I think the style and narrative mean it would be better suited marketed as young adult fiction (and I can think of young adult books that do delve more into the kind of material this one avoids). I enjoyed reading it, but I found the ending too easily resolved and without much emotional power, because everything seemed too easy for them. I think there will be a lot of fans of this book who enjoy the romance and the vibes, but on reflection, it wasn’t entirely for me.