Noémi Kiss-Deáki: Mary and the Rabbit Dream

The latest addition to my website is Noémi Kiss-Deáki‘s Mary and the Rabbit Dream. Noémi Kiss-Deáki is Finnish but writes in English. This book is set in early eighteenth-century England. It tells the story of the historical Mary Toft. After her fourth miscarriage, while her cervix was still open, enabling rabbit parts to be inserted into her vagina, she is persuaded by her mother-in-law and others to pretend that she is giving birth to rabbits , claiming that this will make her rich. They fool the local doctor who then goes along with it and then various doctors, some sent by the King, who witness the births and the rabbits. Some are fooled, some are not and Mary is moved to London, still with her sister-in-law, who inserts the rabbits. Mary resists confessing, afraid of her mother-in-law and is subject to considerable abuse and pain as she is examined by numerous doctors but inevitably the fraud is revealed and some of the doctors have their reputations ruined. However, Kiss-Deáki makes it clear that it is Mary who is the real victim, subject to what amounts to torture. A fascinating and original tale.

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