I really enjoyed this book. I'm sure events very similar to these actually did happen. After all, aspiring surgeons needed bodies to practice on. A happy ending for all concerned. ( )

Dr. Jacob Thacker is reassigned to work on his South Carolina medical school's public relations team after he is caught abusing prescription drugs during his residency. Nearing the end of his probation, construction workers discover bones from what appears to be dissected bodies below the school, triggering a potential PR crisis Jacob is unprepared to handle. He soon uncovers the history of Nemo Johnston, a slave purchased by the school for the purpose of "resurrecting" bodies to be used in medical training. As Jacob unravels details of his school's dark past, he must decide if he will put sharing the truth before his own success.

The Resurrectionist is written in sections that alternate between present day and the Civil War Era, weaving Jacob and Nemo Johnston's stories together. While this works in a narrative sense, it also reveals one of the novel's weaknesses: Guinn's voice is much more suited to the Civil War timeline than present day. The writing in Nemo's story feels natural and is filled with passages you would expect from a great piece of Southern Gothic fiction. In comparison, Jacob's chapters feel slightly unsure and almost clunky, particularly in dialogue. I desperately wish I could pick out Nemo's plot and create a separate novel; it would make an incredibly fascinating, well-written story.

Though I knew to expect a modern timeline, I suppose I was hoping for a majority of the novel to take place in the past. For those who go into The Resurrectionist anticipating the alternating narratives, the contrast will likely be less jarring and hopefully the book will be more enjoyable. ( )

A young medical resident serving out his probation for Xanax abuse by handling public relations for his medical school dean has a choice to make when some campus digging uncovers the bones of dissected African American slaves. Evidently, they had been snatched in the pre-Civil War era by "resurrectionists" paid by the school to find fresh corpses for anatomy training. Summary BPL

What makes this grave-robbing-for-medical-purposes story a compelling read is that the "resurrectionist" and his victims were African American. Not only does Nemo Johnston dig up the bodies, he also prepares them for anatomy classes he himself directs. At a whites only medical college in the southern U.S.
Based on a real life 19th century African American resurrectionist, the novel is well researched historically and medically. Some reviews have described it "grisly" or "souther gothic"; I found it psychologically true to its time and context.

7.5 out of 10 Highly recommended to readers of American and medical history. ( )

This was a 3.5 read for me but I rounded up because the subject matter.

Stories within a story seem to be popular now to help make sense of the past and the present. Guinn’s debut novel provides insight into another disquieting aspect of slavery and how this past affects our ability to be truthful in the present.
Reading the premise and seeing the format of the book – it initially reminded me of The House Girl – a book set in the present and past, told in alternating chapters, where there is a different protagonist in the present and in the past – but the present time white protagonist will “control” what will be known about past black protagonist. But while The House Girl frizzled in the middle and end, The Resurrectionist gets better the more you read. After what I will say a slow jaunty first chapter the storyline, writing and pacing smoothed out and I became more interested in the story.
While it is disturbing to read/know about how bodies were obtained for medical students to practice on (and the book does not go into gross details) but without the bodies there would not be the advancements. The most disturbing part was that everyone in the slave community knew who the resurrectionist was and that he had no choice in what he was doing when he “raided” the slave cemeteries. In some ways Nemo, the resurrectionist reminded me of the character Washington (from the book Wash) – preformed a disturbing act but somehow had to manage how to maintain their own dignity within the black/slave community.
There were a couple of twists at the end that helped elevate this story above the average. And I appreciated that the author showed a different aspect of the contribution of slaves to the past.
I look forward to reading future works by the author. ( )

Nemo Johnston is a slave owned by a southern medical school during the Civil War/Reconstruction Era, whose job it is to provide cadavers for the medical school by digging up the bodies of recently deceased slaves. Nemo also serves the school as its butler, janitor, and unacknowledged anatomy instructor. He is a skillful surgeon (though not formally educated as such), and a wise man in many ways. The bones of the dissected slaves are disposed of in the school's basement, layered with soil and lime. A hundred and fifty years later, the bones are discovered during renovation of the building that once housed the anatomy lab. As word gets out, the school is faced with the decision of whether to come clean about it's dark past practices or to cover it up. The dean wants the matter covered up & the problem falls to Dr. Jacob Thacker, on probation for prescription drug abuse and currently assigned to handle PR for the dean. As Jacob wrestles with the moral and practical problems surrounding the bones, his investigation uncovers many dark truths about the school, his relationship to it, and about his own family. This is a truly absorbing work of fiction, all the more so because it is based at least in part on fact. I highly recommend this book. ( )