Butcher
(Book)

This is a work of fiction incorporating episodes from the lives of the historic J. Marion Sims, M.D. (1813-1883), "The Father of Modern Gynecology"; Silas Weir Mitchell, M.D. (1829-1914), "The Father of Medical Neurology"; and Henry Cotton, M.D. (1876-1933), Director of the New Jersey Lunatic Asylum, 1907-1930.

"In this harrowing story based on authentic historical documents, we follow the career of Dr. Silas Weir, “Father of Gyno-Psychiatry,” as he ascends from professional anonymity to national renown. Humiliated by a procedure gone terribly wrong, Weir is forced to take a position at the New Jersey Asylum for Female Lunatics, where he reigns. There, he is allowed to continue his practice, unchecked for decades, making a name for himself by focusing on women who have been neglected by the state—women he subjects to the most grotesque modes of experimentation. As he begins to establish himself as a pioneer of nineteenth-century surgery, Weir’s ambition is fueled by his obsessive fascination with a young Irish indentured servant named Brigit, who becomes not only Weir’s primary experimental subject, but also the agent of his destruction." --Baker & taylor.