Mary Toft: Or, the Rabbit Queen - Hardcover

Palmer, Dexter

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1101871938 ISBN 13: 9781101871935

Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 1900

Synopsis

In 1726, in the town of Godalming, England, a woman confounded the nation&;s medical community by giving birth to seventeen rabbits. This astonishing true story is the basis for Dexter Palmer&;s stunning, powerfully evocative new novel.
 
Surgeon&;s apprentice Zachary Walsh knows that his master, John Howard, prides himself on his rationality. But John cannot explain how or why Mary Toft, the wife of a local journeyman, has managed to give birth to a dead rabbit. When this singular event be­comes a regular occurrence, John and Zach­ary realize that nothing in their experience as rural physicians has prepared them to deal with a situation like this&;strange, troubling, and possibly miraculous. John contacts sev­eral of London&;s finest surgeons, three of whom soon arrive in Godalming to observe, argue, and perhaps use the case to cultivate their own fame.
 
When King George I learns of Mary&;s plight, she and her doctors are summoned to London, where Zachary experiences a world far removed from his small-town ex­istence and is exposed to some of the dark­est corners of the human soul. All the while Mary lies in bed, as doubts begin to blossom among her caretakers and a growing group of onlookers waits with impatience for an­other birth, another miracle.

About this title

About the Author

DEXTER PALMER is the author of two previous novels: Version Control, which was selected as one of the best novels of 2016 by GQ, the San Francisco Chronicle, and other publications, and The Dream of Per­petual Motion, which was selected as one of the best fiction debuts of 2010 by Kirkus Re­views. He lives in Princeton, New Jersey.

Edition details

• Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
• Publication date: 1900
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1101871938
• ISBN 13: 9781101871935
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 319