It is 1650 and a baby lies dead before it even drew breath. A young servant, terrified and alone, is accused of murder and sent to the gallows. Anne Green calls on God to show her innocence to the world before she is hanged. Hours later, surrounded by doctors preparing to dissect her, Anne’s eyelid flutters.

 Based on a true story of a girl who came back from the dead. In this fascinating story, Hooper tells us the story from the point of view of Anne Green, lying in her coffin and then on the dissection table. She is in a coma and cannot move, but by remembering her past, she takes the reader through the events that led up to her being hanged. This narrative is interwoven with the tale of the doctors standing around the body. First they are preparing to dissect and then as signs of life are noticed, they throw themselves into reviving the girl.

Parts of the tale are quite gruesome and there are also some sexual references (nothing too explicit) but as the story moves on, it becomes quite a heart warming tale and leaves the reader with impressions of relief and joy rather than injustice and death. Although the scenes with the doctors sometimes feel a little slow, there is great compulsion in the tale of Anne herself and this makes the book hard to put down.

The narrative is very accessible which makes this a quick read. There are plenty of thought-provoking themes here. The law passed in 1624 to prosecute women of infanticide, was unlike any other law in Britain as it presumed the accused was guilty unless she could prove her innocence. In practice this was almost impossible, and no doubt many innocent girls were hanged. Life as a servant in a large household is also explored here, as is the poverty of life for the British peasantry at that time. There is also some exploration of medical practices in the 1600s which may be new and interesting to many teenagers.

2008-01-27