Inconvenient People

Praise

Praise for Inconvenient People

“This might seem morbid reading, but Wise’s research is rigorous, her writing is lucid and witty, and this book is engaging, although disturbing. A must–read for those who work in the mental health industry, I think most people will find it both eye–opening and provocative.”The Guardian

“Wise’s meticulously researched study adds a fresh perspective to current scholarship on insanity and offers a chilling reminder of ‘the stubborn unchangeability of many aspects of the lunacy issue.'” —Publishers Weekly

Praise for the UK edition of Inconvenient People

“I enjoyed Inconvenient People…it is an illuminating look at an area of social history that inspired Wilkie Collins among others.” —Sebastian Faulks, Telegraph, Christmas 2012 Books of the Year

“Wise is a terrific researcher and storyteller. Here she has woven a series of case studies into a fascinating history of insanity in the 19th century.” —Kate Summerscale, Guardian, Books of the Year 2012

“I thrilled read to Sarah Wise’s Inconvenient People, an enthralling study of those who fell foul of Victorian mad–doctors and greedy relatives.” —Philip Hoare, Sunday Telegraph, Books of the Year 2012

Praise for The Italian Boy

“Wise lights up a very dark chapter of London’s history…She has a Dickensian sense of London’s back alleys and dim corridors, and her meticulous survey of London’s eastern slums, where the resurrection men plied their trade, abounds in detail…Her achievement allows us to grasp some of the terrible secrets those mysteries concealed.”—The Boston Globe

“Wise’s immaculately researched and artfully constructed narrative shows how a band of bodysnatchers went from taking dead bodies to making them…The Italian Boy carves out its own niche in the darkness and, like any good mystery, leaves more mysteries trailing in its wake.” —Washington Post

“A highly atmospheric account of corpse trafficking and killing in early 19th–century London…Wise’s stately, richly descriptive narrative… evokes tumultuous 1830s London…A fine historical and social reconstruction of a vile crime.” —Kirkus