Summary of the book "Fleshmarket" By Nicola Morgan?

Question

Hi, I need a summary of a book called fleshmarket by nicola morgan. Please can someone tell me what its about and how the end turns out? Thanks

Answer 1

The story opens with a surgery. A woman is going in to have a tumor removed from her breast, without anesthesia. She survives the day, but dies of complications which appear to be infection five days later. She is survived by her husband, 8 year old son Robbie and 2 year old Essie. Flash forward 6 years. Husband has lost his business and then himself becoming a drunk and at the beginning of the story has abandoned his children. Robbie, now 14, is the main breadwinner. Essie is adorable and when adorable doesn’t get her enough to get by, she’s a good pickpocket. Robbie stumbles into a new line of work as a look out for Burke and Hare, men who supply bodies for a surgeon. It happens that the surgeon is the same one who did the surgery on Robbie’s mother. Robbie blames him for his mother’s death and for the destruction that followed. He enjoys delivering the bodies because he feels it’s a kind of revenge. Plus, the money is good. However, the job is stressful and distasteful to Robbie and he starts drinking. Essie lives in fear that she will lose her brother just like she lost her father and mother. Robbie tries to escape, but learns that those bodies he assumed were coming from the graveyard were actually being murdered to order. He tries to tell the doctor what is happening, but the doctor insists he doesn’t know where the bodies come from. Then Robbie must decide what to do. Should he try to stop Burke and Hare himself or should he just pretend it has nothing to do with him?

I read this one in record time. Under 3 hours. Why so fast? Because I was dying to know what happened next. Would Robbie lose his job at the bakery? Does the doctor know that Hare and Burke are murdering people to supply his study? Why can’t Robbie just ask for help?

At this time in history, doctors were just beginning to understand how the human body worked, but they didn’t have a great grasp on germ theory. They were allowed the body of one hanged person a year for dissection purposes, but for many that wasn’t enough so they turned to grave robbers. Also at this time it was believed that poor people were being punished by God. That made it easier for grave robbers to murder the destitute, which was easier than digging up a grave and supplied a better body to the doctors. It was also believed at the time that pain was a gift of God and anesthetic in surgery went against God. Morgan did an excellent job portraying the time period. I just read Dickens’ Our Mutual Friend and found myself drawing comparisons. Dickens was writing at the time and wrote with a kind of distance. I always felt that I was being held at an arms length by the book. With this book, I felt like I was right there with them.

Much of that feeling I attribute to the descriptions and attention to detail Morgan put into her book. Dickens didn’t mention the obvious because at the time, it was obvious to everyone. It would be like someone in a modern novel explaining that the characters could use the internet to research something by using the keyboard. Since we’re not in that time anymore, having Morgan talk about when the kids wear their shoes is great. At one point in about March (in Scotland) Essie heads out without her shoes and we are told that she’s decided that it’s warm enough and she doesn’t want to waste shoe leather.

Robbie’s lines of thought were easy to follow and understand. When he was 8 he stood outside a room and heard his mother screaming as a surgeon cut into her. Five days later she was dead. Within 2 years his father’s business collapsed. It’s perfectly obvious to a child’s mind that all of it is the surgeon’s fault. Naturally he would want some kind of revenge. Equally, Dr Knox’ train of thought follows understandably. He wants to help people. He is doing the best he can, but half his patients still die. If he can do more research (i.e. more than one dissection a year) he might be able to figure it out.

A bonus is that Hare, Burke and Knox were real people. When Hare and Burke were caught murdering another victim that could be traced back to Knox, Knox’ career was over. I just love those little brushes of real history.

This really is a great book and I highly recommend it to teens and adults. In fact, if you are the parent of a teen I recommend that you read it together because it raises some interesting discussion points about the history of medicine and what is ok in the name of research. If you want to take that a bit further you cam even talk about Mengele. As a fun, action packed read, this works on that very basic level too. Plus, it makes for a great intro to Dickens.

Good luck