Holly Tucker
Author of Blood Work: A Tale of Medicine and Murder in the Scientific Revolution
About the Author
Holly Tucker is the author of Blood Work, a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year, and is a professor of French at Vanderbilt University. She Lives in Nashville, Tennessee, and Aix-en-Provence, France.
Works by Holly Tucker
Blood Work: A Tale of Medicine and Murder in the Scientific Revolution (2010) 410 copies, 13 reviews
City of Light, City of Poison: Murder, Magic, and the First Police Chief of Paris (2017) 348 copies, 16 reviews
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1992
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- USA
- Places of residence
- Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Belgium
Paris, Ile-de-France, France
Aix-en-Provence, Bouches-du-Rhône, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France - Education
- University of Wisconsin (Ph.D.)
Indiana University - Occupations
- professor
author
historian - Organizations
- Vanderbilt University
- Short biography
- Holly Tucker teaches both French and the history of medicine at Vanderbilt University.
As the granddaughter of French immigrants, she's says, she's never been able to shake the genetic connection she has to French-speaking Europe. Over the years, she's lived in Belgium, Paris, and Aix-en-Provence.
The next book she's planning focuses on science and terror in the French Revolution.
She says:
I met my husband, Jon Hamilton, when we were both dorm RAs at Indiana. We now live in Nashville with our young daughter and a lively dog named Lucky Shakespeare.
Members
Reviews
Blood Work: A Tale of Medicine and Murder in the… by Holly Tucker
DNF
Interesting history of early transfusion experiments.animal lover's be warned- it is honest
This was a very well researched book.
I had some trouble with the structure.It reminded me of reading Russian novels and having trouble remembering that count such and such is also Mikhail, whom many call misha.
A lot of characters, a lot of deadly games or maybe just lies and superstition mixing together to lead to still more deaths.
To complain that a book with city of poison:murder in the title was a little too gruesome for me seems unfair, but … it is true
I had some trouble with the structure.It reminded me of reading Russian novels and having trouble remembering that count such and such is also Mikhail, whom many call misha.
A lot of characters, a lot of deadly games or maybe just lies and superstition mixing together to lead to still more deaths.
To complain that a book with city of poison:murder in the title was a little too gruesome for me seems unfair, but … it is true
A very well-crafted recounting of "The Affair of Poisons" - a period during Louis XIV's reign when over 400 people were imprisoned and over 30 executed for alleged involvement in poisoning, witchcraft, abortion, and fraud. Seriously, some of the tales recounted here are so shocking - gruesome murders, infant sacrifices, black masses, serial poisoners - that gothic novels pale in comparison. And who knew that arsenic could be administered so many different ingenious ways? (Hint: beware bouquets from loved ones, letters from strangers, and freshly laundered shirts!)
One forgets the extent to which witchcraft, in 17th century France, was still mainstream. People genuinely believed in the existence of love potions that would help them secure affection, that the ashes of the placentas of babies would cure all manner of diseases (including impotence), and that fortune-telling was a real thing. And if you had an inconvenient spouse or lover hanging about? An inheritance coming your way, but not quickly enough? There were people with "potions" that could help you with that too.
All of which might continue to have been tolerated, if only a growing investigation into a cabal of particularly nefarious poisoners/extortionists/"black magic" practitioners - conducted by Louis XIV's scrupulous new Chief of Police - hadn't turned up allegations that members of Louis XIV's own court - to include at least two of his mistresses - might be entangled in the web.
To be clear, this isn't some sensationalized retelling of an otherwise rather lame affair. Quite the contrary, Tucker takes pains to sticker *very* close to the source material - all events and conversations are drawn or paraphrased from actual documents - and there are extensive footnotes at the end for those interested in learning more. It's the historical events themselves that are sensational. (TIP: You might find it helpful to maintain an informal glossary to keep track of the cast of characters, as I did, because there are a lot of them; alas, real life is seldom as tidy as fiction.)
If anything, Tucker deliberately eschews drawing inferences that become increasingly obvious as the details unfold. She's right to point out that there's no way to be sure what actually happened, given the gaps in the records that have survived, the profound unreliability of the testimony of those who were questioned (especially those testimonies given under torture), and potential political machinations designed to muddle the truth.
However, she does loosen up a little in the Epilogue, acknowledging the preponderance of evidence suggesting that later phases of the investigation may have been tainted by the political and personal aspirations of one of Louis XIV's most powerful advisors. An apt reminder that politicians exploiting social hysteria to suit their own ends isn't a new phenomenon. But then, neither is human perfidy! Plenty of which is on wanton display in this thoroughly researched and entertaining read.… (more)
One forgets the extent to which witchcraft, in 17th century France, was still mainstream. People genuinely believed in the existence of love potions that would help them secure affection, that the ashes of the placentas of babies would cure all manner of diseases (including impotence), and that fortune-telling was a real thing. And if you had an inconvenient spouse or lover hanging about? An inheritance coming your way, but not quickly enough? There were people with "potions" that could help you with that too.
All of which might continue to have been tolerated, if only a growing investigation into a cabal of particularly nefarious poisoners/extortionists/"black magic" practitioners - conducted by Louis XIV's scrupulous new Chief of Police - hadn't turned up allegations that members of Louis XIV's own court - to include at least two of his mistresses - might be entangled in the web.
To be clear, this isn't some sensationalized retelling of an otherwise rather lame affair. Quite the contrary, Tucker takes pains to sticker *very* close to the source material - all events and conversations are drawn or paraphrased from actual documents - and there are extensive footnotes at the end for those interested in learning more. It's the historical events themselves that are sensational. (TIP: You might find it helpful to maintain an informal glossary to keep track of the cast of characters, as I did, because there are a lot of them; alas, real life is seldom as tidy as fiction.)
If anything, Tucker deliberately eschews drawing inferences that become increasingly obvious as the details unfold. She's right to point out that there's no way to be sure what actually happened, given the gaps in the records that have survived, the profound unreliability of the testimony of those who were questioned (especially those testimonies given under torture), and potential political machinations designed to muddle the truth.
However, she does loosen up a little in the Epilogue, acknowledging the preponderance of evidence suggesting that later phases of the investigation may have been tainted by the political and personal aspirations of one of Louis XIV's most powerful advisors. An apt reminder that politicians exploiting social hysteria to suit their own ends isn't a new phenomenon. But then, neither is human perfidy! Plenty of which is on wanton display in this thoroughly researched and entertaining read.… (more)
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Statistics
- Works
- 6
- Members
- 787
- Popularity
- #32,341
- Rating
- 3.5
- Reviews
- 30
- ISBNs
- 26