The Bone Garden
By: Tess Garritsen
Ballantine Books 2007
Julia Hamill has made a horrifying discovery in the garden of her new home in rural Massachusetts, a human female skull. After calling in the police, it becomes apparent that the female was a murder victim and the bones are much older than first thought.
Julia receives a call from the previous owner’s cousin Henry Page, who insists he has documents that may explain who is buried in her garden. Together, Julia and Henry sift through letters and documents that tell the story of a destitute Irish immigrant, Rose Conolly, A medical student Norris Marshall and the legend of the West End Reaper in 1830’s Boston.
Like James McGee’s “Resurrectionist”, The Bone Garden is filled with much detail about the accepted medical practices of the early 1800’s, along with the messy occupation of being a resurrectionist. But there is so much more here to sink your teeth into.
It is an intense mystery novel, which really shows what life was like at the time, the class division based on economic means. How terribly poverty stricken a person could be, and what that meant for their life.
The legend of the West End Reaper, reminded me very much of the Jack the Ripper legend from 1880’s London. But what I found to be more shocking was the fact that at the time, doctors or anyone in the medical field didn’t place the connection between hand washing and infection or communicable diseases. Many doctors would go right from the autopsy room, to examining a patient, without washing their hands. That is until the renowned Physician Oliver Wendell Holmes brought this radical yet obvious idea to the medical world.
The characters were well drawn yet a little cliché, but overall I really enjoyed this mysterious page turner.
Story ****
Characters ***
Readability ****
Overall rating ****
