Paula Berinstein's Blog - Posts Tagged "pathology"

Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin

This is a seriously creepy book. It is also a marvel, a very clever murder mystery that showcases the science of pathology; the place of the church, women, Jews, and foreigners in English life (specifically Cambridge); and the superstitions, misconceptions, prejudices, and fears of the populace. But as I say, it is creepy, and if you can't handle reading about horrific sexual crimes do not open this book.

I read tons of novels set in England, both in the present and the past, but I don't read a lot about the twelfth century. However despite the fact that I know a fair amount about the period from nonfiction sources, I learned a lot. For example, until the realm of Henry II, the only Jewish cemeteries in England were in London. If a Jew died, they had to be transported to London to be buried.

I also didn't know that until the reign of Henry II, there was no such thing as a jury trial. He instituted that. In addition, if a crime was deemed to be within the jurisdiction of the church, the civil authorities had absolutely no power to adjudicate or punish; their criteria for judging guilt and innocence were their own, and definitely not what we're used to: a nun or priest who committed a crime was unlikely to be punished, no matter how serious the offense, and if the book is to be believed, there was absolutely nothing even a king could do about it. The Pope was supreme.

I also did not know that there was a medical school in Salerno, the Schola Medica Salernitana, which was renowned for training doctors (who weren't called doctors), including women!

There is a love story in this book, which although not central, is still a lot of fun. The object of the heroine's affections is no Jamie Fraser. He's a deeply flawed, maddening man whom she comes to love in spite of his imperfections. That made him so appealing to me that I wished I could meet him (and slap his face when I did). He finds her equally annoying and loves her all the same. I just love that.

I found the style a little artsy fartsy for the first few pages but then it settled down and became much more readable. Even so, you need a certain amount of patience, I think, to get through the book because it is rather intellectually challenging. It is worth it, though.