The Anatomy of Ghosts
By Andrew Taylor
ISBN: 9781401302870
412 Pages
Available in Paperback, Hardcover, Audible Audiobook, and on Kindle
Trigger Warning: Violence, Death, Suicide, SA/R, Ethnic Slurs
Synopsis:
1786, Jerusalem College, Cambridge
The ghost of Sylvia Whichcote is rumored to be haunting Jerusalem ever since student Frank Oldershaw claimed to have seen the dead woman prowling the grounds and was locked up because of his violent reaction to these disturbed visions.
Desperate to salvage her son's reputation, Lady Anne Oldershaw employs John Holdsworth, author of The Anatomy of Ghosts -- a stinging account of why ghosts are mere delusion--to investigate. But his arrival in Cambridge disrupts an uneasy status quo as he glimpses a world of privilege and abuse, where the sinister Holy Ghost Club governs life at Jerusalem more effectively than the Master, Dr. Carbury, ever could.
And when Holdsworth finds himself haunted--not only by the ghost of his dead wife, Maria, but also by Elinor, the very-much-alive Master's wife--his fate is sealed. He must find Sylvia's murderer, or else the hauntings will continue. And not one of this troubled group will leave the claustrophobic confines of Jerusalem unchanged.
My Thoughts:
Anatomy of Ghosts, the book that took twelve years to read. No, seriously. This book was the first ARC that I ever won from the LibraryThing early reviewers platform when I started reviewing books in 2010. I won a physical ARC and I was so excited to read it. It came in the mail right before we left on a trip to go visit my parents for the holidays, so I brought it with me to give me something to do on the 3 and a half hour drive. Sometime during the next few days, the book disappeared. I was pretty sure that I left it in my mom's car, but she insisted that she couldn't find it. Mind you, this was before the book was even published, so I could not easily get another copy. So I shelved the review, sure that the book would resurface eventually. Time went on, my youngest ended up being way more hands on than expected, my mental health took a nosedive, I dealt with nightmare house situations, I lost my home to a hurricane flood, the covid pandemic hit - you know, life happened. The book was forgotten. Then in early 2022, I was visiting my sister and I spotted the ARC on her bookshelf. My mom found it at some point and sent it home with her assuming it was one of her books (which it obviously wasn't, but nobody in my family will turn away a free book...). I have no idea how long she had it. But I finally was able to reclaim it. At which point I attempted to read it, but gave up very fast. I was not in the same headspace that I was when I first received it, and the content was really dark. I feared that this book would become my second official DNF. But after some reflection, I refused to let that happen. So back in September, on a whim, I checked out the audiobook from my library, and FINALLY completed the read.
Now, as for the content of the book itself - the premise was interesting, but I struggled getting into it each time I attempted the read. The writing is good, but the pace starts out very slow.
The driving plot of The Anatomy of Ghosts is an attempt at personal redemption for the main character, John Holdsworth, who experiences financial struggles and then loses his wife. He is hired by Lady Anne Oldershaw, who learned of him from knowledge of his book "The Anatomy of Ghosts", to attend to her son Frank. Frank has seemingly lost his wits after seeing what he claims is the ghost of a friend's wife. Lady Anne hires Holdsworth to both counsel her son and convince him that ghosts aren't real, and also to organize her late husband's library. With nothing else going on, and no other place to go, Holdsworth accepts her offer and travels off to the fictional setting of Jerusalem College in Cambridge, to investigate the ghost matter.
What follows is a story of conspiracy, intrigue, upper class secret societies, and murder. The narration is done in such a way to create lots of suspense, and there are plenty of twists and turns - which I appreciated because I'm disappointed when books are predictable. At points, Holdsworth finds himself questioning his own reality and wondering if the ghosts are, in fact, really there. The gothic imagery used to describe the college helps to support the overall feel of the story, reinforcing the dark vibes. This works well because the events occurring within the story are also very dark, and in some instances psychologically disturbing. This book has descriptive depictions of murder, sexual assault, and other questionable content; and is not for the faint of heart.
Despite the mystery, and the abundance of lore, the book still fell flat. None of the characters were really likable, and honestly, in this day and age with how the world is going around us, hearing more tales of rich white men abusing their power with no repercussions is just mentally exhausting.
Overall, The Anatomy of Ghosts was an interesting read, but it takes time to get into and because of the slower pace you may have to really like the genre or have a connection to the setting to maintain interest. It wasn't so bad that I wanted to abandon the read, but some days I just wasn't eager to pick it up and continue.
Parent's Guide:
This is not a book for kids. Much older teens, maybe. The content is dark and at times quite disturbing.
