Here's what readers had to say...
“Once I opened this historical novel I could not put it down for the two days it took to read cover to cover. I work in downtown Augusta (my office is across Telfair Street from the old MCG building), and I enjoyed envisioning what my daily haunts were like ~140 years ago, as described in the book. A terrific read.”
Grave Robbing for Science
“I throughly enjoyed learning about the beginnings of the Medical College of Georgia. The author did a great job with the subject matter. The stories about the people were interesting.”
Educational, sometimes morbid, and always entertaining!
Do you know who the Resurrection Man was? I guess I had never really thought about the connection between grave-robbing and medical schools. Oh yeah, that was a real thing. Sack-em up gentlemen or Resurrectionists were men who had the job of digging up bodies and supplying cadavers for medical schools.
I bought my copy of Gravely Mistaken by Janis Ann Parks upon a suggestion by Amazon! I had no idea that she was an author from Augusta, Georgia when I first found her book. Body-snatching was in full effect over at the Medical College of Georgia in the 1800’s. Gravely Mistaken is a work of historical fiction, but Ms. Parks conducted extensive research (more on that below), into the life of Grandison Harris, the Resurrection Man. According to Parks, the Medical College of Georgia purchased Grandison Harris in 1852 for the specific purpose of “procuring subjects for anatomical study.” This is not a typo.
Parks weaves several story lines and characters throughout her book that make for an educational, sometimes morbid, and always entertaining book. My personal copy is full of highlights. One of my favorites, from Page 10, tells us what Burking Mania or Burkophobia was. Burking = to kill for the sake of obtaining a body. I had no idea. After finishing this book, I knew I had to get Janis on the line.
I have really enjoyed this book.
I really have enjoyed this book and also enjoyed meeting Ms. Parks. It is great book for anyone who loves history and also the fact that I am from Augusta makes it even more enjoyable.
Interesting read.
Interesting information about the beginning of MCG now AU. Enjoyed reading about locations in Augusta. A lot of locations are still present.
Entertaining medical history tour of Augusta, GA.
This interesting work of fiction actually contains a lot of factual information about historical medical practice as well as the history of Augusta, GA. It’s a great way to get an introduction to a fairly unknown side of medical education in the 19th century – as in how did doctors in training get cadavers to dissect in order to learn human anatomy? The answer isn’t very savory, but it is fascinating, and the author of this book is both dramatic and convincing in her portrayal of grave robbery. A strong feature of the book is the skill evidenced by the author in weaving various disparate story lines together – they really do come together at the end, in a satisfying way. The book follows the stories and points of view of very different kinds of people in 19th century Augusta – physicians, slaves, poor Irish immigrants, millworkers, plantation owners, businessmen, Northerners and Southerners, men and women. It’s one of the more worthwhile introductions to the history of the Augusta area that I’ve come across.
Laugh and learn
A quick enjoyable, light read. Enjoyably amusing, partly factual tale centered around 3 different characters. Quite different actually. I was pleasantly surprised throughout how skillfully the author ties it all together. Interesting facts reveal themselves in the medical practices of the day and in the building of the Augusta Georgia Canal. If you are interested in medicine you’ll find this a delight.