It is Edinburgh, 1822, and young Robbie is eight years old when he witnesses his mother's pain and subsequent death from an operation - without anaesthetic - to remove a tumour from her breast at the hands of Dr Knox. Haunted by this terrible event, Robbie, his hapless father and baby sister Essie attempt to move on with their lives. But when Robbie's father loses all their money and disappears, Robbie is left to look after himself and his sister in the Edinburgh slums. Somehow he falls in with Burke and Hare, the two men whom Knox employs to 'collect' bodies for medical research. Robbie sees a way to avenge his mother's death. Convincing himself that Knox is having people killed for him to experiment on, Robbie eventually confronts him. But Robbie comes to realise that for all his hard-heartedness and corrupt methods, Knox's motives are ultimately for the good: to improve surgical conditions, and operate on patients with the greatest speed and therefore minimum risk. Robbie eventually trains to be a surgeon, finally giving meaning to his mother's tragic death.

• We started tracking this book on November 15, 2017.
• This book was £3.49 when we started tracking it.
• The price of this book has changed one time in the past 2,357 days.
• The current price of this book is £2.49 last checked 2 days ago.
• This book is currently at its lowest price since we started tracking it.

• Teen & Young AdultLiterature & FictionSocial & Family IssuesValues & Virtues
• Teen & Young AdultHistorical FictionEurope
• Teen & Young AdultLiterature & FictionSocial & Family IssuesDeath

• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Lending: Disabled
• Print Length: 212 Pages
• File Size: 1,430 KB