BUTCHER

‘Simply the most consistently inventive brilliant curious and creative writer going’ GILLIAN FLYNN'Delightfully disturbing' iNEWS'A blood-soaked gothic nightmare' FINANCIAL TIMESFrom one of our most accomplished storytellers an extraordinary and arresting novel about a women’s asylum in the nineteenth century and a terrifying doctor who wants to change the world.In this harrowing story based on authentic historical documents we follow the career of Dr. Silas Weir “Father of Gyno-Psychiatry” as he ascends from professional anonymity to national renown. Humiliated by a procedure gone terribly wrong Weir is forced to take a position at the New Jersey Asylum for Female Lunatics where he reigns. There he is allowed to continue his practice unchecked for decades making a name for himself by focusing on women who have been neglected by the state―women he subjects to the most grotesque modes of experimentation. As he begins to establish himself as a pioneer of nineteenth-century surgery Weir’s ambition is fueled by his obsessive fascination with a young Irish indentured servant named Brigit who becomes not only Weir’s primary experimental subject but also the agent of his destruction.Narrated by Silas Weir’s eldest son who has repudiated his father’s brutal legacy Butcher is a unique blend of fiction and fact a nightmare voyage through the darkest regions of the American psyche conjoined in its startling conclusion with unexpected romance. Once again Joyce Carol Oates has written a spellbinding novel confirming her position as one of our celebrated American visionaries of the imagination.'A master storyteller'THE TIMES'Vividly and compellingly-drawn' iNEWS