At 150 years old, Gray's Anatomy still sets the standard in medical textbooks, yet little has been written about its author, Henry Gray. Even less celebrated is Henry Carter, the illustrator who brought Gray's groundbreaking anatomy text to life.
The Anatomist: a true story of Gray's Anatomy explores the lives of these two men, balancing biographical chapters with the author's own experience in the anatomy classroom, dissecting cadavers and marvelling at each new discovery with prose both lucid and arrestingly beautiful: 'Like a pomegranate, whose leathery rind belies its jewel box interior, the kidney is spectacular inside.'
Using Carter's diary entries, Hayes recreates an era when medical advances were rapidly changing the way people lived as well as challenging religious dogma, and people turned to science in hope of reconciling the two. Hayes finds emotional resonance in Carter's longing to produce a work of lasting significance, as well as in his deep internal conflicts as a Protestant Dissenter.
