Anne Green’s final memory is of being hanged for infanticide. Now she lays motionless, unable to move her arms or legs. She can’t open her eyes and can’t talk but is she truly dead? Meanwhile, a medical student notices something strange. Was that a flicker of life he saw or his imagination?
Dead or Alive?
Newes from the Dead is the true story of Anne Green, who in 1650 was convicted of murdering her newborn child and hanged in Oxford, England. She is then taken to be dissected by physicians only to wake up on the dissecting table. The author takes her title, Newes from the Dead, from the news pamphlet which circulated Ms. Green’s story throughout England at the time. She takes an interesting perspective as well, telling Anne’s story through Anne’s eyes and ears as she lies on the dissecting table.
Guilty or Innocent?
Many women were found guilty of infanticide after suffering a stillbirth or a crib death during Anne’s time. There was in fact a law stating that woman who could not provide a witness of the natural death of their child would be found guilty of murdering their infant.
Anne was one of these women. Her story is engaging. Through flashbacks, she tells us how she came to work as a maid in the home of Sir Thomas Reade in 1650. She became pregnant after Sir Reade’s grandson, Geoffrey, promised her a better position in the household and gave her gifts. After she gives birth in the outhouse of the home, she is arrested and sent to prison. Here she is subject to horrific conditions and at her trial received no justice and was hanged soon after.
Dissection or Revival?
As she lies on the dissecting table, a young medical student witnesses her eyes flickering with life. Although he stutters, he manages to stop the dissection. The physicians begin to question whether she is truly dead. They do many tests and begin the process of reviving her.
Newes from the Dead
Mary Hooper’s novel is riveting. From the very beginning, as Anne describes her difficulty in awakening, the novel grips the audience and won’t let go. It is filled with historical details and well researched medical facts which provide the audience with a rich background for the story. Anne’s story is one begging to be told and Ms. Hooper has done a fascinating job of mixing a woman’s struggle with historical accuracy.
