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clonimhuiri's review against another edition
dark
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
I got this novel as a “blind date with a book” from an online shop in February. It’s not one I’d have picked up based on the description, but I was found it much more engaging and thought-provoking than I initially expected, although some parts were particularly graphic and disturbing.
Bizarrely based on real events, this is the story of Mary Toft, an 18th-century woman who apparently gave birth to a number of rabbits, and of the physicians who witnessed these births. It is told mostly through the eyes of local surgeon John Howard and his teenage apprentice Zachary.
These extraordinary events bring the pair on a journey beginning with horror and disbelief, and eventually leading them to London when the King becomes aware of the tale. There, some of the country’s foremost surgeons observe Mary night and day, waiting for the next birth.
However, this book is really about much more than Mary Toft herself - it’s about how people react in the face of the impossible; how stories can take hold regardless of the truth; the greed and voyeuristic fascination of some with horrors facing others; the conflicting narratives and justifications that emerge in the aftermath; and often, the nature of humanity itself. Many of these themes are just as relevant in 2024 as 1726.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
ztaylor4's review against another edition
4.0
As much as it's a historical narrative, this book is a wide-ranging exploration of the nature of truth, in particular how (and whether) truth exists on its own, or only when shared with others. The book is sometimes funny, occasionally grotesque, and definitely not for the squeamish. More than Palmer's other book that I've read--Version Control--this book sometimes goes very dark. I enjoyed it and appreciated the exploration on which it led me.
bethsponz's review against another edition
4.0
Very, very strange, but very interesting. Worth a read!
lavenderdreamer's review against another edition
dark
4.0
“Witnessing the delivery of a newborn terrifies men… It can be as difficult to watch as death. All our lives we see the features that differentiate women’s bodies from our own as sources of our pleasure; then, in the moment of birth, their true purposes are revealed.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Medical trauma, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Gore
Quote (minor - medical content):reshusky's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I appreciated the signposting to historian written books for more accurate versions. The book is a good novel, its basis on a true story adds to it. Felt it was a bit light on matters, but that respected the environment the book took place in.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, and Ableism
Moderate: Miscarriage, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: War, Animal death, Incest, Antisemitism, and Classism
girlglitch's review against another edition
3.0
Mary Toft; or, The Rabbit Queen is a unique and intriguing historical novel about an infamous medical hoax in 1700s England.
It’s a brilliant concept, but it soon becomes clear that there is a lot more to this novel than sensationalism. Palmer offers an engaging exploration of truth and belief, deception and power. The novel is cleverly structured to build up its thematic arguments alongside the plot.
Occasionally the narrative over-reaches itself with tangents that distract from the central storyline. I also found the secondary characters, with their comic idiosyncrasies, much more engaging than the main protagonists. I struggled to relate to Zachary, whose coming of age should have been central to the story. Mary herself is a shadowy, silenced figure, and the few times she does speak she overwrites herself, constantly erasing and amending her own version of the story.
Mary Toft is a clever if sometimes over-complex novel, one I wished valued its characters as much as its concept.
*Thank you to Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review*
It’s a brilliant concept, but it soon becomes clear that there is a lot more to this novel than sensationalism. Palmer offers an engaging exploration of truth and belief, deception and power. The novel is cleverly structured to build up its thematic arguments alongside the plot.
Occasionally the narrative over-reaches itself with tangents that distract from the central storyline. I also found the secondary characters, with their comic idiosyncrasies, much more engaging than the main protagonists. I struggled to relate to Zachary, whose coming of age should have been central to the story. Mary herself is a shadowy, silenced figure, and the few times she does speak she overwrites herself, constantly erasing and amending her own version of the story.
Mary Toft is a clever if sometimes over-complex novel, one I wished valued its characters as much as its concept.
*Thank you to Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review*
ridgewaygirl's review against another edition
5.0
"Consider," Fox said, "the woman with child who reads. Who seeks to occupy her mind with matters of art and science at a time when she is intended to to embrace the role assigned to her by God, that of a wife, and of a mother. Who spends her days in the company of imaginary folk such as Moll Flanders and Roxana the Fortunate Mistress, while her belly swells and her needle goes neglected. Who fails to meditate on her responsibility to the new life that grows inside her. Such a woman's thought is torn in two directions--is it no surprise that if she were to give birth to a child in such an afflicted state of mind, that it would assume the most hideous of manifestations?"
"Behold," Fox said, "the woman with two heads."
This is the story of the extraordinary story of Mary Toft, a woman in Godalming, England who, in the early eighteenth century, gave birth to rabbits. Told from the point of view of the local surgeon and man-midwife's apprentice, the story begins with a traveling "Exhibition of Medical Curiosities" that comes to town and amazes Zachary, even as his father, the local clergyman and John Howard, the local doctor, differ in what they find extraordinary about the spectacle. Soon after, John Howard and Zachary are called to assist a woman in labor. The woman, Mary Toft, gives birth to pieces of rabbit. She will continue to give birth to rabbit parts a few times a week and it isn't long before people from London become involved, and things become ever more confusing and complicated.
Dexter Palmer's novel is a wonderfully written historical novel that subtly explores ideas about perception and truth, while delivering a hugely enjoyable look at England in the eighteenth century. I especially liked how Palmer explored how women were thought of and treated and how that affected them. These themes never get in the way of what is an entertaining story and they remain on my mind days after finishing. Palmer's previous novel was set in the near future and explored concepts arising from time travel. It seems that he is an author who can tackle any genre successfully. I'm now hugely curious as to what his next novel will be.
And I will tell you this about God--that despite his presumed omnipresence he often arrives in the company of men; that men fear to interpret the world on their own authority when they are aware of his presence, because his senses are complete and perfect and his experiences are unlimited; that the standards for proof are much higher when God is involved, especially proof of life, or of what goes on inside a woman's body; that weighed against God's displeasure, or against a man's feeling that God is displeased by his actions, the life of one woman is no great thing.
"Behold," Fox said, "the woman with two heads."
This is the story of the extraordinary story of Mary Toft, a woman in Godalming, England who, in the early eighteenth century, gave birth to rabbits. Told from the point of view of the local surgeon and man-midwife's apprentice, the story begins with a traveling "Exhibition of Medical Curiosities" that comes to town and amazes Zachary, even as his father, the local clergyman and John Howard, the local doctor, differ in what they find extraordinary about the spectacle. Soon after, John Howard and Zachary are called to assist a woman in labor. The woman, Mary Toft, gives birth to pieces of rabbit. She will continue to give birth to rabbit parts a few times a week and it isn't long before people from London become involved, and things become ever more confusing and complicated.
Dexter Palmer's novel is a wonderfully written historical novel that subtly explores ideas about perception and truth, while delivering a hugely enjoyable look at England in the eighteenth century. I especially liked how Palmer explored how women were thought of and treated and how that affected them. These themes never get in the way of what is an entertaining story and they remain on my mind days after finishing. Palmer's previous novel was set in the near future and explored concepts arising from time travel. It seems that he is an author who can tackle any genre successfully. I'm now hugely curious as to what his next novel will be.
And I will tell you this about God--that despite his presumed omnipresence he often arrives in the company of men; that men fear to interpret the world on their own authority when they are aware of his presence, because his senses are complete and perfect and his experiences are unlimited; that the standards for proof are much higher when God is involved, especially proof of life, or of what goes on inside a woman's body; that weighed against God's displeasure, or against a man's feeling that God is displeased by his actions, the life of one woman is no great thing.
lizaroo71's review against another edition
3.0
This book is a fictionalized account of a woman, Mary Toft, that gives birth to rabbits. The year is 1732. The doctors are all male and seem more interested in elevating their own egos rather than science.
Some of the scenes are disturbingly graphic (and not just the ones of the births). As a side story, there is a sideshow of human oddities that crosses through town right before Mary gives birth to her first rabbit. This birth and subsequent births eventually leads the good doctors investigating Mary's case to travel with her to London. In London, we encounter the sideshow once more. But the show this time is much more violent. Digging into the idea that perhaps society needs someone like Mary Toft to satiate a love of the macabre.
All in all, not a bad read. I just wasn't sure what to take away from it. There wasn't a satisfying ending for me.
Some of the scenes are disturbingly graphic (and not just the ones of the births). As a side story, there is a sideshow of human oddities that crosses through town right before Mary gives birth to her first rabbit. This birth and subsequent births eventually leads the good doctors investigating Mary's case to travel with her to London. In London, we encounter the sideshow once more. But the show this time is much more violent. Digging into the idea that perhaps society needs someone like Mary Toft to satiate a love of the macabre.
All in all, not a bad read. I just wasn't sure what to take away from it. There wasn't a satisfying ending for me.
katarinarogers's review against another edition
4.0
Overall I enjoyed this book. It is an interesting take on a story that not many people know. Definitely not a book for the faint of heart, especially with animals, this has a lot of animal abuse. A couple things that trouble me were the use of words, ideas, and phrases that seemed more modern than the setting of the book. There were a few chapters in the middle that I started to lose interest and felt like it was being drug out too long. The end(last 25%) of this book was great! I found myself not being able to put it down!