Customer Reviews

Newes from the Dead

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1650 England, a young woman wakens in darkness 'curled on her side like a wood louse'. She believes she's in Hell. Meanwhile, Robert, a young medical student, sees the eyes fluttering of a hanged murderess who is about to be dissected for the medical school.

Doctors and Puritans clash. The doctors believe the woman yet lives. The Puritans claim her soul for God. The doctors apply all the tests at their disposal, including bleeding her, and giving her an enema, to prove she's alive...

Anne Green is a maid in the house of Sir Thomas. The Lord's grandson, Geoffrey, makes advances to her promising to elevate her when his grandfather dies. She eventually succumbs. Then, she discovers she's with child....

"Newes from the Dead" is billed as a childrens' novel, but it's impossible to put down once you've opened the book and begun reading. Even when you have read the true accounts or the adult fiction tale, you're still going to be drawn in by Mary Hooper's adept retelling. The author's done her research and it definitely shows.

Rebecca Kyle, May 2008

See also:
An Instance of the Fingerpost

My father is a mortician. I remember that as a kid I asked him once if dead bodies can move (which I'd heard some people say could happen). Dad gave some type of scientific explanation about nerves and blood and replied that yes, a body could "appear" to move, but it wasn't moving because it was still alive. Unless it's Anne Green's body. Anne was dead. She was accused of infanticide after her child was stillborn, and she was hanged--hanged for 30 minutes. Her corpse was now part of medical science study and about to be dissected. Moments before the dissection began, however, one of the medical students noticed Anne was still alive--barely. Filled with drama and suspense, author Mary Hooper fills in the fictional details (although they are very believable) about the true account of Anne Green's miraculous return from the dead. This one is a page turner that is sure to keep the attention of teens and adults alike! A copy of the actual pamphlet from the 1600s that explains the true story is included at the end of the book and is a must-read. Lots of potential for good discussion with this book.

I could not put this book down. Although the book is for the young adult readers I found it to be interesting and not dumbed down in any way. The history in the story coupled with the imagination of the writer is wonderful. A must read.

This is a great work of historical fiction. Hooper does a fantastic job bringing the story to life. Unbelievable to think that this happened. I bought it hoping to read it aloud to my middle schoolers but it is for a high school audience.

Anne Green, a maidservant in 1650 England, was wrongly accused of infanticide. The punishment for her crime was death by hanging. Anne knows she dropped from the gallows, but now she exists in a strange darkness where she can't move or speak. Left alone with only her thoughts of how she got to be at this point, she isn't even sure if she's dead or alive. But dead women can't think, can they? Anne isn't sure what this means, if she's been buried alive or worse. What she doesn't know is that her body is about to be used as a medical cadaver in a dissection. Nobody could ever think that a woman, already hanged, could still be alive, but one shy medical student notices the impossible--that the corpse just fluttered her eyelids. Could it be true? Could Anne Green really be alive?

Newes from the Dead is a really fascinating novel based on the true story of Anne Green. It's really creepy but cool to know that this tale, of a hanged woman reawakening on the dissection table, actually happened. Hooper does a fantastic job of researching and embellishing a unique historical event. I loved the alternate narrations between Anne's character and a medical student because I got to see both the possible events that led up to Anne's conviction and what it might have happened when a cadaver was found out to be a living body. Where this book does fall a little short is in writing style. I personally enjoyed how Hooper told Anne's story, but I can see how other readers would start to get a little bored since this story really isn't anything more than a partially fictionalized account of a historical event.

Newes from the Dead appeals to all fans of historical fiction, especially those who enjoyed Ivy by Julie Hearn and Folly by Marthe Jocelyn.

Anne Green was a maid who was hanged for the murder of her infant son. But that is only the beginning of her story. She awakens in her coffin, at first unsure of where she is and how she got there. Gradually, her memories return and she tells her story.

A young surgeon, about to observe the dissection of her body, notices her eyelids flutter. His more scientific observations alternate with Anne's voice as they tell her story. Anne's voice is especially compelling.

Loosely based on a true story from England in the mid 1600's.

This book and others by Mary Hooper bring history to life in a gripping and fascinating way...and not just for the young adults it was written for.

Ya i really enjoyed it. It creeped me out for a while but i read it again and it i think anyone who likes thriller things would like it. I learned a lot. It would be good for a book report. The cover is awesome too.