Blood Work is a spellbinding account of the earliest blood transfusions in Europe. Holly Tucker, with the wave of her pen, brings history – the gritty, compelling and near forgotten accounts of time that once was - to life. The story begins with a madman, a calf and the transfusion of blood. Not quite Frankenstenian, but close…and the tale, well it’s not so fictional, but rather, true.
Magick insights fear. The notion of a formidable power that only few possess the ability to wield. Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and caldron bubble. So when Jean Denis completes a successful transfusion of calf’s blood into one Paris’ most notorious madmen, well, he gives rise to a host of jealous scientists and sparks horror in the people who believed he was playing with forces that were beyond his control. Then, just days after the successful transplant took place – and the madman transformed from a crazed lunatic into a nearly respectable member of society – the patient turns up dead. Denis is fingered for the murder.
A gripping, fascinating look inside the world of science fact and fiction, Blood Work entertains as it causes the wheels to turn. Parallels are drawn between the world of today’s stem cell research and the yesteryear of bloodletting and assumption blended with misinformation. Tucker’s exceptional imagery, coupled with her Davincian ability to bring a slumbering history to life, make Blood Work a flawless account of mystery, science and the blurred lines of humanity.
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