The Birth of Love: A Novel

The Birth of Love: A Novel - Joanna Kavenna The Birth of Love opens with a glimpse of three of the four characters whose perspectives fill the chambers of this second novel. In a single page, readers peek into Ignaz Semmelweis’ beating, Prisoner 730004’s confinement, and Brigid’s labour pain, before being launched into the narrative proper.

It’s gripping stuff, and the novel’s first segment is atmospheric; its strong pacing pulls readers into the present-day elements, just as the 1865 visitor to the Lazarettgasse asylum is pulled into the story of Ignaz Semmelweis.

More here if you're keen...