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Back The Art of Dying
Chapters (90)
  1. PROLOGUE
  2. 1849
  3. ONE
  4. TWO
  5. EDINBURGH
  6. THREE
  7. FOUR
  8. FIVE
  9. SIX
  10. SEVEN
  11. EIGHT
  12. NINE
  13. TEN
  14. ELEVEN
  15. TWELVE
  16. THIRTEEN
  17. FOURTEEN
  18. FIFTEEN
  19. SIXTEEN
  20. SEVENTEEN
  21. EIGHTEEN
  22. NINETEEN
  23. TWENTY
  24. TWENTY-ONE
  25. TWENTY-TWO
  26. TWENTY-THREE
  27. TWENTY-FOUR
  28. TWENTY-FIVE
  29. TWENTY-SIX
  30. TWENTY-SEVEN
  31. TWENTY-EIGHT
  32. TWENTY-NINE
  33. THIRTY
  34. THIRTY-ONE
  35. THIRTY-TWO
  36. THIRTY-THREE
  37. THIRTY-FOUR
  38. THIRTY-FIVE
  39. THIRTY-SIX
  40. THIRTY-SEVEN
  41. THIRTY-EIGHT
  42. THIRTY-NINE
  43. FORTY
  44. FORTY-ONE
  45. FORTY-TWO
  46. FORTY-THREE
  47. FORTY-FOUR
  48. FORTY-FIVE
  49. FORTY-SIX
  50. FORTY-SEVEN
  51. FORTY-EIGHT
  52. FORTY-NINE
  53. FIFTY
  54. FIFTY-ONE
  55. FIFTY-TWO
  56. FIFTY-THREE
  57. FIFTY-FOUR
  58. FIFTY-FIVE
  59. FIFTY-SIX
  60. FIFTY-SEVEN
  61. FIFTY-EIGHT
  62. FIFTY-NINE
  63. SIXTY
  64. SIXTY-ONE
  65. SIXTY-TWO
  66. SIXTY-THREE
  67. SIXTY-FOUR
  68. SIXTY-FIVE
  69. SIXTY-SIX
  70. SIXTY-SEVEN
  71. SIXTY-EIGHT
  72. SIXTY-NINE
  73. SEVENTY
  74. SEVENTY-ONE
  75. SEVENTY-TWO
  76. SEVENTY-THREE
  77. SEVENTY-FOUR
  78. SEVENTY-FIVE
  79. SEVENTY-SIX
  80. SEVENTY-SEVEN
  81. SEVENTY-EIGHT
  82. SEVENTY-NINE
  83. EIGHTY
  84. EIGHTY-ONE
  85. EPILOGUE
  86. HISTORICAL NOTE
  87. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  88. Extract from A Corruption of Blood
  89. 1850
  90. ONE

‘But this is not her, merely her remains. The body is no more than a vessel. We are both of us fascinated by its workings, but our bodies are not who we are or who we were. As a woman, I know better than you what a mistake it is to define a person by their physical form.’

Raven hesitated for a moment, wondering how best to proceed without making a scene. Perhaps she will change her mind, he thought.

He pulled the sheet from the body. Sarah remained where she was, her face betraying no response.

The corpse lay completely exposed, leaving Raven to concede the wisdom of Sarah’s observation. As with all dead bodies, it bore only a passing resemblance to the person who had so recently given up residence within. There was something strangely unhuman about it, reminding him of an anatomical model rendered in wax. That thought quickly dissipated as he became aware of the smell. There was a distinct whiff of putrefaction and he decided that for the duration of the examination he would breathe through his mouth.

The body was extremely bizarre in appearance: shrunken extremities and a swollen, globular abdomen rising up as if in triumph over its emaciated host. It looked as though the wrong pieces had been put together to make up the whole. It brought to mind a book Sarah had been telling him about, persisting as she did with her habit of reading in spare moments at the morning clinic. The tale concerned a scientist who created a man from constituent parts of different people. He did not recall the details, but it had not ended well.

Raven lost little time in contemplating the task before him – prevarication would not serve. He looked at Sarah once more, hoping to see doubt written on her features, but she appeared resolute, sitting by the desk, pen in hand. It seemed he had no choice but to proceed.

He made a visual inspection of the body, recounting the relevant details for Sarah to note down, and then proceeded to open the abdomen.

As his blade sliced into the late Mrs Glassford’s skin, he thought back to his discussion with Simpson regarding how little they could do for her condition, and how John Lizars had successfully performed precisely the procedure that might have saved her – the removal of an ovary – but had been vilified for his actions, despite the recovery of his patient.