Set in early 18th-century London, this novel follows the story of two doctors, one an eminent anatomist, the other, his young student, as they manipulate the criminal underworld in their pursuit of scientific progress.
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
A modern-day Poe, Griffin (The Requiem Shark) paints a thrilling, ghoulish picture of late 17th- and early 18th-century London in this winning historical novel. Young Dr. Joseph Bendix has been studying in Paris, but after being ruined by a French coquette, he returns to his native city in search of a mentor who'll help him to regain wealth and respect. Hired immediately as an apprentice to brilliant veteran surgeon Sir Edmund Calcraft and settled in his Lincoln's Inn Fields household, Bendix is exposed to London's seedy underbelly of thieves, prisoners and prostitutes. Calcraft, a man obsessed, believes that the touch and blood of hanged thieves will cure the ill, and he investigates his theories by dissecting dead bodies clandestinely procured by his shady hired hand, Sixes. Bendix, himself a medical philosopher, is convinced that illness and disease are psychosomatic, and pursues his own researches. The dark days of London's fall and winter are brightened for Bendix by the doctor's best friend, celebrated author Daniel Defoe, as well as by Calcraft's mysterious daughter. Shut away in Lincoln's Inn for most of her life, the smartly sexy Amelia suffers from encroaching blindness and cannot bear exposure to the sun. In love, but too poor to ask for Amelia's hand in marriage, Bendixknows that his only chance is to win her by helping to cure her. He devises a plan that melds his theories and Calcraft's, but a failed experiment with Amelia threatens to tear Lincoln's Inn apart. Basing portions of this fascinating period novel loosely upon headlines of the day, Griffin delivers a funny, compelling and touching tale, expertly capturing the oddities and nuances of London life, from coy mannerisms and elaborate dress to plague horrors and medical superstition. This strong second novel establishes Griffin, who's fast carving out a niche as an expert chronicler of 18th-century intrigue and adventure, as a writer to watch. (Apr. 27).
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.From Library Journal
Putting behind him unhappy memories of a failed love affair and medical studies in Paris, Jacob Bendix heads for London. There, he hopes to lead a more sober, enlightening, and eventually more lucrative life as an apprentice to the renowned but reclusive doctor, Sir Edmund Calcraft. Unfortunately, apprenticeship to the brilliant anatomist exposes Bendix to more than his master's controversial theories. While searching for the proper anatomical subjects, Bendix plunges into the darkest recesses of 18th-century London's criminal world and suddenly finds himself involved with its more miserable denizens namely, journalist Daniel Defoe and master thief Jonathan Wild. Like David Liss's A Conspiracy of Paper (LJ 1/00), Griffin's second novel (after The Requiem Shark) brings to life the dark underworld of London at that time and one of its most notorious citizens. But Liss's tale of financial intrigue is more intricate, complex, and multilayered than this psychological novel of love, obsession, and medicine. However, those readers patient enough to wade through Griffin's slow start will be rewarded with a well-executed denouement. For all readers of historical fiction. Cynthia Johnson, Cary Memorial Lib., Lexington, MA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Engaging writing and clever plot,
By "janmcalex" (Humboldt, TN United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The House of Sight and Shadow: A Novel (Hardcover)
Joseph Bendix has been cut loose by his father. Now penniless and shunned by the Comtesse (from whom he foolishly begged a loan), this would-be physician has one friend left in the world. His friend offers a letter of introduction to noted and reclusive London physician, Dr. Edmund Calcraft.Eager to prove his theory that illness can be both caused and cured by the mind, Bendix must set aside his own medical theories to assist his new mentor, Dr. Calcraft, with his research. Calcraft's theories are gruesome, but Bendix becomes committed when he meets and falls in love with the inspiration for Calcraft's research, the beautiful and blind Amelia Calcraft. Cloaked in the atmosphere of early 18th century London, the novel goes beyond medical speculation and explores the corruption of the English legal system and the distinctions between social classes. The ironic ending is the gem of this cleverly thought out and well written novel.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
I Look Forward To The Third,
This review is from: The House of Sight and Shadow: A Novel (Hardcover)
The reason I look forward to the third work by this author is that I enjoyed his first work, however, "The House Of Sight And Shadow", does not match his previous novel, "The Requiem Shark". I even have a hard time reconciling the description on the book's jacket to what the novel contained. Eighteenth Century Medicine was certainly not sophisticated by later standards; many of the practices appear now to be either foolish or dangerous. The practices described in this book cross over to gratuitously grotesque as practiced by men who approach Frankenstein like goals. Creating life is certainly not their goal, endangering it with freakish procedures is their practice. This is all fine if a novel is meant to be that of horror, but I don't think that was the goal here.We are presented with a Doctor who seeks to cure that which he has inflicted. The motivation for his initial damage, and the individual it was inflicted upon was never satisfactorily explained. The reader can guess why he attempts a cure in the manor he does; however a guess is all it would be. What he seeks to accomplish and what he shares with his apprentice in methodology is grotesque, but not interesting. The author also chose to bring Daniel Defoe into the story. I don't know why he did as a fictionalized character would have served the novel just as well. It really became an effort to complete this book after a procedure takes place upon the victim/patient. The suspension of disbelief for me was impossible so that the balance of the read was labored. The close the book is brought to is muddled as well. The attempt at a tragic love story wound around redemption and circled yet again with condemnation was far too much for a novel of this length. It takes time to set the stage for such a complex emotional ending and the ground was not prepared in this case. As the various players meet their fate or continue with their lives it's a bit hard to care. I really was looking forward to this book, as the author's first was such a fine read. Not every effort will be as good as the rest, so I still look forward to what Mr. Griffin offers readers the next time round.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very well done,
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This review is from: The House of Sight and Shadow: A Novel (Hardcover)
Here is a novel that is the very essence of irony, beautifully written, with fully fleshed characters and a great sense of time and place. To say it is Dickensian (as it does on the dustjacket) is to do the book a disservice because, in fact, the era is the 18th century, not the 19th--in which Dickens wrote his entire body of work.I like books written by contemporary authors that manage successfully to lift you back in time (The Quincunx is a fine example of a truly Dickensian novel; Jack Maggs is another) and allow you to travel about with the characters, seeing what they see, breathing in the aromas, both fragrant and foul, crossing sawdust-covered floors or cobblestoned roadways. It is to Griffin's credit that he accomplishes all this. Not only does he address medical experimentations and the issue of psychosomatic illness, he also takes us along to witness some medical procedures that are jaw-droppingly awful. My only complaint is the maddening use of the verb "smile" as a manner of speech. Almost every character does it. "This time," smiled Defoe. ... "Was not my carriage," smiled the writer ... "See," smiled Calcraft. One can understand the author trying to find some word to replace "said," but this is an irritating affectation, badly overused, that detracts from otherwise fine prose and a really quite gripping narrative. I do recommend this novel for its fine evocation of time, place and character, and its well-executed, wrenchingly ironic ending.
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