Newes from the Dead by Mary Hooper

Hooper, Mary. (2008). Newes from the Dead. Roaring Book Press. 241 pp.

Fiction, Based on a true story
Discrimination, Gender, Puritan religion, British history, True Love

The novel, Newes from the Dead, takes place in 1650 England during the civil war between King Charles and Parliament. The novel is based on the true story of Anne Green, a servant who survived her own hanging. This story is beautifully written and includes a large number of historical events. Hooper concludes the novel with an author’s note that shares more historical content and includes the actual facts behind the true story of Green’s medical miracle. She also includes a bibliography that references the documents she used to compose this story.

The novel is told by two people: Anne Green and a medical student named Robert. The novel begins with Anne Green waking up in total darkness, not knowing if she is in Heaven, Hell, or maybe Limbo. She also narrates the story that reveals the reasons for her hanging. Robert is a medical student assigned to Anne’s body for his first dissection and he tells the story of discovering that Anne is still alive. The novel is divided into chapters that rotate narrators.

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If you do not want to know the plot of the story, STOP READING and begin again with the paragraph that begins "The novel started out a bit slow...". Sorry for the inconvenience, but I loved the details so much I wanted to include them in the blog.

John Taylor is Anne’s love interest until Geoffrey Reade, the heir to Sir Thomas’ fortune, lies to Anne by telling her that he loves her and will give her all the riches in the world if she will sleep with him. Sir Thomas is Anne’s master and has a tremendous amount of political support in the community. Anne falls for Geoffrey’s wonderful lies and quickly ends her relationship with John Taylor. While Geoffrey is away at school, Anne discovers that she is pregnant. Anne is left all alone with her secret until she tells her mother. After finding out who the father is, Anne’s mother suggests that Anne see a cunning woman to ‘end’ her pregnancy. This, however, does not work. Upon Geoffrey’s arrival home for a vacation, Anne realizes that he is engaged to a wealthy girl he meet at school. When she tells him of her pregnancy, Geoffrey denies sleeping with her and refuses to take responsibility for his actions. He says that if she tells anyone that he is the father, he will deny sleeping with her and tell everyone that she has slept with the whole serving staff at the mansion. All alone, Anne delivers a still-born baby prematurely. When she realizes that the baby is dead and gains the strength to walk, Anne returns to the mansion and leaves the baby in a field where she gave birth. Some of the other servants, including Mrs. Williams and Susan, who had suspected that she was pregnant, notice Anne’s dirty clothes and demand that she tell them what had happened. In the middle of the story, one of the servants runs out and fines the dead baby. Mrs. Williams and Susan summon Sir Thomas. After telling Sir Thomas that his grandson is the father, Anne realizes that her future is in danger. Sir Thomas calls the police and Anne is put in jail for fornication and the murder of her child, even though he was still-born. After two weeks in jail, Anne was hanged for infanticide. Her last words were, “May God convey me swiftly to paradise…” Her body was then taken to an apothecary’s home for medical dissection.

Robert is a very nervous young man and has a bad stuttering problem. His mother died when he was very young and after seeing Anne’s corpse, he remembers the details of his mother’s death and seeing her in her coffin. While waiting for the other doctors, including a character named Wren, Robert witnesses Anne’s eyelids fluttering. Anne is awake, but unable to move or speak. Robert finally speaks up and the other doctors witness the same miracle. They nurse Anne back to health and she becomes a medical phenomenon. Her first words after her “resurrection” were again, “May God convey me swiftly to paradise…” Her revival was seen as God’s recognition of her innocence. Three days later, Sir Thomas, the man who fought for her unjust death, was found dead. John Taylor comes to visit her during her recovery and Anne says, “And I look at him and know that my life story can begin again, as if I am newly born, and count myself as both the most cursed woman, and the most fortunate, that ever was on this Earth” (241). The storyline is so bone-chilling, but it also includes a love story for the girls.

In the author’s notes, we learn that Anne and John Taylor married and had three children. Anne died, again, in 1665. We also learn about the trial, and readers can see that the story was very much based on true facts. After Anne’s hanging, Geoffrey Reade was sent out of the country and was not heard of again. He did not receive the great inheritance that he expected. The four doctors present during Anne’s recovery became very well known in the medical field, but the involvement of Christopher Wren was discovered only a few years ago when a poem was discovered by an undergraduate from Oxford. Historians believe that the instrument used in Anne’s hanging was incorrectly placed which resulted in her becoming unconscious, but did not break her neck. Also, the day of her death, December 14, 1650, was severely cold and could have caused cryogenic preservation, which is when the brain is frozen and therefore prevents the brain from being starved of oxygen.

The novel started out a bit slow for me and it took awhile to get used to having two narrators and two separate plots. But after I adjusted, I found this book to be very interesting and fun to read. This is a great novel for a younger audience, maybe 7^th or 8^th grade and up. It does include premarital sex and abortion issues, but nothing is too overt.

I loved the fact that it tied in so many historical elements, including the atmosphere of England during this time and the interpretation of the different classes. I think that if students new the historical background before starting the book, they would not have the same problems I had. Gender also plays a big role in the plot, as does the Puritan’s religious views. Reading the author’s notes at the end made the story so real. The novel is very much based on the actual facts and it is chilling to think that this actually happened. This book covers many topics that would be great for discussions and paper topics, including the historicy of England, the history behind hangings, the class discrimination, the laws against fornicating before marriage and its consequences, and the ways in which this account changed the medical field forever. I also think it is important to point out that Anne had so much say when she woke up, but couldn't speak. Moreover, Robert was unable to express himself through words because of his speech impediment. Together, they found their voices.

I think that this novel would be great to read while students where studying European history during this time period. Students would really get a since of the social atmosphere of the time and I think students would really love reading something that is so closely based to actual facts, especially since the story is so creepy! The bibliography is also a get addition to the text because it gives students an example of a work of fiction that is based on actual facts. It also gives them an example of how to cite articles and court hearings. The book’s title comes from an article written about Anne in 1651 by Tho Robinson titled, Newes from the Dead, or a True and Exact Narration of the miraculous deliverance of Anne Green. Anne was interviewed for this article during her recovery. This article would be a wonderful tie in, along with learning the historical context.