Wonderful Little Girl : Sarah Jacob: The True Story of Sarah Jacob the Welsh Fasting Girl - Hardcover

Busby, Sian

3.38

34 ratings by Goodreads

9781904095439: Wonderful Little Girl : Sarah Jacob: The True Story of Sarah Jacob the Welsh Fasting Girl

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1904095437 ISBN 13: 9781904095439

Publisher: Short Books Ltd, 2003

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On a winter's day in 1869, two surgeons performed an autopsy on the body of a 12-year-old Welsh girl who had died in strange circumstances. The child, even in death, was very beautiful. Yet there were signs that she had suffered greatly towards the end. This is the true story of a remarkable child, who enchanted everyone, but who, at the age of ten, suddenly took to her bed. During the last two years of her life she allegedly had nothing to eat or drink at all - and yet mysteriously survived. Sarah Jacob's family claimed she was a miracle, and as her fame grew, thousands flocked to her bedside. Was she living on thin air? Doctors felt compelled to investigate and began a round-the-clock vigil which quickly killed her. Sarah Jacob was a tragic child celebrity: a victim of the era in which she lived, when Science and Faith were grappling with the conscience of man.

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Review:

"....perfect....the remote time and setting come alive....All in all, a wonderful little book." -- Time Out, April 2, 2003

"...combines the macabre and the mundane with an admirable delicacy of touch. The Cruel Mother cannot fail to fascinate." -- Daily Telegraph, August 8th, 2004

"...fascinating...Sian Busby brings considerable research skills to ....make a satisfying and thought-provoking read...enchanting...." -- Manchester Evening News, March 15, 2003

"...perfect...Busby succeeds in investing a true story with all the magic and tension of good fiction..." -- New Statesman, March 17, 2003

"...subtle and fascinating...moving and wholly without sentimentality...maintains a great narrative drive...." -- Hampstead & Highgate Express, March 21, 2003

"A fascinating piece of work...so finely structured and immaculately researched [it] should become a classic of its kind." -- The Guardian, September 4th 2004

"Sian Busby get right into the essence and mood of the...story." -- Sunday Tribune [Dublin], March 9, 2003

"This excellent book ... suggests profound and important themes far beyond its compass." -- Sunday Telegraph, March 30, 2003

"enthralling and disturbing" -- The Observer, March 2, 2003

"evokes with great warmth and passion ... the loss of a way of life under the pressure of modernisation ... (a) beautiful little book...." -- Church Times, April 25, 2003

About the Author:

Sian Busby is a researcher and broadcaster. This is her first book. She lives with her family in North London.

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