Ms. Clark is an historical scholar whose first work, The Great Stink, addressed the sanitation issues of 1858 in a newly industrialized London, as seen through explorations of the great open sewers by the dirt poor and the filthy rich reformers.
Her current work of historical fiction, The Nature of Monsters, is set in London at the beginning of the 18th century. In this novel, Clark deals with the scientific works of a desperate apothecary named Grayson Black. Running his house with an iron hand, he is addressed as “The Master” by his wife and servants. Born in 1666 during the great fire of London, Black is “cursed” with a fiery red birthmark across his face.
Now in 1718, the elderly apothecary sets to publish his greatest work—the scientific proof that a mother’s “prenatal impression” directly affects her unborn fetus. The nightmarish and unspeakable acts he commits in the name of his science are so barbaric that it is hard to believe that this book of fiction uses factual techniques and documented experiments from that time.
I enjoyed Clark’s writing style and descriptions of London and how Black is treated. In this novel, London is a city turning toward science and away from magic, yet not quite ready to let go of superstition. I must warn you that this is a disturbing book. Those who enjoy Poe or the gothic genre will no doubt enjoy Clark’s latest offering; however, for the common reader who likes happy endings and safe plotlines: I direct you elsewhere.
The reason I bring this novel to our attention is that it deals with an issue that still plagues our members—the concept that a mother unknowingly causes her child’s birthmark or malformation. “Prenatal impression” was quackery as much then, as it is now. Eating red berries, seeing a rabbit cross your path, looking at a fire, or the like will NOT affect your unborn child.
Grayson Black sets out to prove that "prenatal impression" exists by forcing impressions on pregnant mothers to create monsters. I would like to think we’ve become more enlightened since the 1700's. I don’t recommend that you all run out and buy this book, but for a select few it makes for fine reading.
