Henry is a hereditary Peer in the House of Lords and he is embarking on his second biography - the subject being his predecessor an eminent doctor Henry Nanther. Henry Nanther was such an important doctor that he became appointed as a Doctor to Queen Victoria who subsequently made him a peer as well. His specialised knowledge was haemophilia a subject very close to Her Majesty's heart.
As our current Henry delves deeper into letters and books and documents which his earlier Henry had meticulously maintained, there are many facets to Henry's character which are revealed. All of them extremely difficult to fathom and understand. We have a Machiavellian man here who manipulates circumstances, people and events to suit him. The story is very dark and at the same time almost pedantic in its slowness but it did not detract from the books appeal for me.
I liked the authors attention to detail - not just haemophilia as a subject but also the intricacies of how the House of Lords operates and details of how our current Henry's life fits into this greater plan. How Henry gathers the information together and how bits and pieces from afar and through coincidence fits into a puzzle which at the beginning seems without any reason.
Three quarter way through I did realize where the story was going and after that it was a bit of an anti climax for me. A story very well written and one which kept my interest almost through the whole book.
This looks good. I've always wanted to give this author a try.
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