Some Rise by Sin

By: Siôn Scott-Wilson

Narrated by: David Lane Pusey

Length: 13 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

1829 is a tough year to be a body snatcher. Burke and Hare have just been convicted of killing people to sell their bodies, to widespread outrage — but despite the bad press, doctors still need fresh corpses for medical research.

Sammy and Facey are a couple of so-called "resurrection men", making a living among society's fringe-dwellers by hoisting the newly departed from the churchyards of London whilst masquerading as late-night bakers. Operating on tip-offs and rumors in the capital’s drinking dens and fighting pits, the pair find themselves in receipt of some valuable intelligence: An unusual cadaver has popped up on the market - that of a hermaphrodite.

For any medic worth his salt, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity — a medical curiosity and rara avis — and famous anatomist Joshua Brookes commissions the two men to obtain the body, at any cost. But some corpses hold secrets, and before long, the enterprise becomes a deadlier and more complex undertaking than either man could ever have imagined.

Some Rise by Sin is a rich, authentic, and absorbing historical narrative with a darker edge, a story of surviving on the outskirts of respectability. With echoes of Michel Faber’s The Crimson Petal and the White, it is meticulously researched and suffused with the dark and grimy atmosphere of Regency London, and explores what ambition can mean for poor people in a society that conspires to grind them down at every turn.

©2021 Deixis Press (P)2021 Deixis Press

Interesting and Dark

In 1829 for science and the medical field to move forward with healings and cures, there was a desperate need for corpses to study and dissect. Thus, through need, the creation of men who earned the title of grave robbers, resurrection men, or body snatchers came into existence. Although it was a distasteful job and the public outrage was warranted, bodies were still needed. Wherever there was a body – graveyard freshly buried or dead due to a fight or whatever, bodies were stolen. Then the discovery of a unique and less known type of body was found – a hermaphrodite. No one fathomed how intricate or difficult the recovery of this unique body was.

The author, Siôn Scott-Wilson gives his listeners a book with the delicate and ghastly events that occurred in 1829 amongst the populace of England. To survive many took the seedy, dark path. Scott-Wilson gives a historical perspective blended with fiction to portray the reasons why some do what they must to survive. His characters were well-developed and cast into their appropriate narrative. The plot was well-written, and the plot twists were well implemented. It is evident a significant amount of research was completed to make this book more vivid and authentic. The dialog moved smoothly and kept the story forward moving.

The narrator, David Lane Pusey gives a solid performance. His voices are unique and authentic sounding with appropriate accents and word pronunciations for the era. His performance is smooth and well-delivered. I enjoyed listening to his performance.

I enjoyed this book as I have always had an appreciation for the morbid and unusual.

There were no issues with the quality or production of this audiobook, it was clear and well produced.

Disclaimer: This Audiobook was provided free of charge by the author, narrator, and/or publisher in exchange for a non-bias, honest review.