Synopses & Reviews
"Intriguing and captivating."—Celia Rees, author of Witch Child WRONGED. HANGED. ALIVE? (AND TRUE!)Anne can't move a muscle, can't open her eyes, can't scream. She lies immobile in the darkness, unsure if she'd dead, terrified she's buried alive, haunted by her final memory—of being hanged. A maidservant falsely accused of infanticide in 1650 England and sent to the scaffold, Anne Green is trapped with her racing thoughts, her burning need to revisit the events—and the man—that led her to the gallows. Meanwhile, a shy 18-year-old medical student attends his first dissection and notices something strange as the doctors prepare their tools . . . Did her eyelids just flutter? Could this corpse be alive? Beautifully written, impossible to put down, and meticulously researched, Newes from the Dead is based on the true story of the real Anne Green, a servant who survived a hanging to awaken on the dissection table. Newes from the Dead concludes with scans of the original 1651 document that recounts this chilling medical phenomenon. Newes from the Dead is a 2009 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.
Review
"Intriguing and captivating."—
Celia Rees "A chilling, mesmerizing read."—
Kirkus Reviews "A grabber of a premise."—
School Library Journal “A historical mystery that is creepy in the best Edgar Allen Poe tradition, as well as thought-provoking."—
Booklist "First-rate ... Anne's story, handled with skill and passion, will be hard for anyone to put down."—
The Times (UK) "A well researched, riveting read."—
Horn Book Magazine Kirkus Reviews, Featured in Mysteries and Thrillers Special Imagine being convicted of murder. Imagine going to the gallows. Imagine the rope around your neck, strangling you. Then... imagine coming back to life on the dissecting table. In 1650, all of this happened to housemaid Anne Green. “Writers always have their antennae twitching in the hopes that theyll hear something they can turn into a book,” says Mary Hooper of
Newes From the Dead, “so when I heard Anne Greens story on the car radio I was absolutely captivated. I went straight home to find out more about her...I immersed myself in the facts then sat down at my computer. I pictured her in her coffin; I felt I knew what she would want to say. My fingers began to fly across the keys.” A chilling, mesmerizing read.
The Horn Book Magazine A primal human fear is being in a dark, cramped space, unable to move, with no means of escape. This novel, based on a true story, takes readers into just such a nightmare. In 1650 Oxford, England, a young woman named Anne Green, a servant in the household of Sir Thomas Reade, was convicted of murdering her stillborn child and was hanged. She did not die, but gradually regained consciousness in her coffin while men from the medical college prepared for her dissection. Annes narrative reconstructs the events that have brought her to her present condition. In alternate chapters, the events of the impending dissection are told by Robert Matthews, a young medical student afflicted with stuttering. He sees the first faint eye movement but is unable to articulate his concerns. Hooper has created two distinct, authentic voices that flow in parallel stories, building to new awakenings and knowledge. Annes strong, passionate account reveals life in the mid-seventeenth century, contrasting her position as a servant to that of the elite Reade family... A well-researched, riveting read, with an authors note explaining how Anne could survive being hanged and an extensive bibliography.
Booklist “Newes from the Dead” was the name of a pamphlet that circulated in England in 1650 after a teenage housemaid, hanged for the crime of infanticide, awoke on the dissecting table. Hooper uses this case as the basis for a historical mystery that is creepy in the best Edgar Allen Poe tradition, as well as thought-provoking about sexual harassment and abuse. The story opens in a coffin, as the reader listens in on poor Annes frantic coming-to-terms with where she is and how she got there: her days as a servant, her seduction by a young lord, the accusation of murder. Annes thoughts, from coffin to dissecting table, are juxtaposed with a third-person narrative, centering on a nervous young surgeon who is on hand to witness and assist in the young womans dissection. Hooper explains that surgeons were allowed to conduct autopsies on criminals, and it's just such intriguing tidbits of Cromwellian history that add heft to this suspenseful novel.
Review
“Intriguing and captivating.”—Celia Rees
“A chilling, mesmerizing read.”—Kirkus Reviews
“A grabber of a premise.”—School Library Journal
“A historical mystery that is creepy in the best Edgar Allen Poe tradition, as well as thought-provoking.”—Booklist
“First-rate . . . Annes story, handled with skill and passion, will be hard for anyone to put down.”—The Times (UK)
“A well researched, riveting read.”—The Horn Book
Synopsis
Beautifully written, impossible to put down, and meticulously researched, "Newes from the Dead" is based on the true story of the real Anne Green, who, in 17th-century England, survived a hanging only to awaken on the dissection table. Roaring Brook Press
Synopsis
Back from the dead! Wronged, hanged, awake and in darkness, a maidservant in 1650 England is gripped by fear, and by memories of the only crime shes ever committed—trusting the wrong man.
About the Author
MARY HOOPER says, "When I heard Anne Green's story on the car radio, I was absolutely captivated. I went straight home to find out more about her. What a story hers was: she gave birth in the most primitive conditions, then was thrown into a freezing, stinking prison and, later, sentenced to death. She said a said farewell to her family, climbed the scaffold, and then . . . what? Anne was 'dead' for several hours. Where did she go? I immersed myself in the facts, then sat down at my computer. I pictured her in her coffin; I felt I knew what she would want to say. My fingers began to fly across the keys . . ." Mary Hooper has written more than 60 books for children and young adults, earning high praise as well as the North East Book Award for her YA novel, Megan. She has two grown children and lives with her husband Richard in Oxfordshire, England, the same area Anne Green came from.