![]() In addition to being an accomplished cultural and entertainment journalist, she is also the host of “Noble Blood,” a podcast started in 2019 that explores the often brutal reigns of some of history’s most notorious monarchies. Schwartz has explored these types of issues before. There was a social and cultural line, so I wanted to explore in a way that doesn’t necessarily label the characters as heroes or villains.” “Obviously today, there is a huge wealth gap that continues to grow, but in the 1800s, the aristocracy made that wealth gap explicit. “The main mystery I wanted to pick at and unravel is who gets forgotten in society and for what purpose,” Schwartz says. Both through Hazel and, more explicitly, through Jack, Schwartz says there are contemporary issues that the reader will recognize. “It’s a love story between a girl and the rest of the world.”Īnd while Schwartz says she’s reluctant to use the word “historical fiction,” because readers might see it as “stuffy” and “boring,” she does seamlessly weave in descriptions of class and social statuses in 1800s Edinburgh. “Hazel is falling in love with more than just a person,” Schwartz says. Given Hazel’s affluent upbringing and Jack’s impoverished background, the story has all the elements of a forbidden romance, but Schwartz maintains that the true “love story” is one that is much more “nonspecific.” ![]() And yes, there’s a romantic subplot between Hazel and Jack, a “resurrection man” (a rather poetic descriptor for a person who dug up fresh corpses from graveyards to sell to hospitals and doctors for dissection). Then there’s that subtitle: “A Love Story.” Readers could think they’re in for some kind of torrid, pre-Victorian romance novel. People are always like, ‘I want to live in the good old days,’ and I’m always saying, ‘Um, no you don’t. “It was very important to me to make sure everyone knew that this wasn’t just some romanticized view of the past. “I always knew I didn’t want to shy away from the more gruesome elements of surgery,” Schwartz says. Yet, they are necessary to understanding how science was evolving around this time and why Hazel desperately wants to be part of that awakening. And sure, the blood, gore and gruesome depictions of grave-robbing and surgical procedures, using descriptions such as “pulled out a molar with a sickening crack” and “pulled at a few of the still-bleeding veins,” will likely be cringe-inducing for many readers.
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