Newes from the Dead
Hooper, Mary
School and Library
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BOOK SYNOPSIS
"Intriguing and captivating."—Celia Rees, author of Witch Child
WRONGED. HANGED. ALIVE? (AND TRUE!)
Anne can't move a muscle, can't open her eyes, can't scream. She lies immobile in the darkness, unsure if she'd dead, terrified she's buried alive, haunted by her final memory—of being hanged. A maidservant falsely accused of infanticide in 1650 England and sent to the scaffold, Anne Green is trapped with her racing thoughts, her burning need to revisit the events—and the man—that led her to the gallows.
Meanwhile, a shy 18-year-old medical student attends his first dissection and notices something strange as the doctors prepare their tools . . . Did her eyelids just flutter? Could this corpse be alive?
Beautifully written, impossible to put down, and meticulously researched, Newes from the Dead is based on the true story of the real Anne Green, a servant who survived a hanging to awaken on the dissection table. Newes from the Dead concludes with an excerpt from an original 1651 document that recounts this chilling medical phenomenon.
AUTHOR BIO
MARY HOOPER says, "When I heard Anne Green's story on the car radio, I was absolutely captivated. I went straight home to find out more about her. What a story hers was: she gave birth in the most primitive conditions, then was thrown into a freezing, stinking prison and, later, sentenced to death. She said a said farewell to her family, climbed the scaffold, and then . . . what? Anne was 'dead' for several hours. Where did she go? I immersed myself in the facts, then sat down at my computer. I pictured her in her coffin; I felt I knew what she would want to say. My fingers began to fly across the keys . . ." Mary Hooper has written more than 60 books for children and young adults, earning high praise as well as the North East Book Award for her YA novel, Megan. She has two grown children and lives with her husband Richard in Oxfordshire, England, the same area Anne Green came from.
BOOK REVIEWS
"Intriguing and captivating."Celia Rees "A chilling, mesmerizing read."Kirkus Reviews Kirkus Reviews Featured in Mysteries and Thrillers Special Imagine being convicted of murder. Imagine going to the gallows. Imagine the rope around your neck, strangling you. Then... imagine coming back to life on the dissecting table. In 1650, all of this happened to housemaid Anne Green. Writers always have their antennae twitching in the hopes that theyll hear something they can turn into a book, says Mary Hooper of Newes From the Dead, so when I heard Anne Greens story on the car radio I was absolutely captivated. I went straight home to find out more about her...I immersed myself in the facts then sat down at my computer. I pictured her in her coffin; I felt I knew what she would want to say. My fingers began to fly across the keys. A chilling, mesmerizing read. The Horn Book Magazine (High School) A primal human fear is being in a dark, cramped space, unable to move, with no means of escape. This novel, based on a true story, takes readers into just such a nightmare. In 1650 Oxford, England, a young woman named Anne Green, a servant in the household of Sir Thomas Reade, was convicted of murdering her stillborn child and was hanged. She did not die, but gradually regained consciousness in her coffin while men from the medical college prepared for her dissection. Annes narrative reconstructs the events that have brought her to her present condition. In alternate chapters, the events of the impending dissection are told by Robert Matthews, a young medical student afflicted with stuttering. He sees the first faint eye movement but is unable to articulate his concerns. Hooper has created two distinct, authentic voices that flow in parallel stories, building to new awakenings and knowledge. Annes strong, passionate account reveals life in the mid-seventeenth century, contrasting her position as a servant to that of the elite Reade family. In opposition, Roberts statelier, slower paced sections reveal a different world of academia and the growing power of physicians. As Annes story moves forward, Roberts moves to the past, each revealing aspects of domestic, political, and academic life in 1650 England. A well-researched, riveting read, with an authors note explaining how Anne could survive being hanged and an extensive bibliography. -martha walke -
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MORE BOOK INFO
ISBN: 1596433558
ISBN(13-digit): 9781596433557
Dewey Decimal: [Fic]
Library of Congress: 2007016591
Book Publisher: Henry Holt & Co
Language: ENG
No. of Pages: 263
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