Freaks: the Pig-Faced Lady of Manchester Square

by Jan Bondeson

This is the remarkable story of the lives of individuals afflicted with severe deformities and how seventeenth and eighteenth-century British society reacted to their extraordinary bodies. From hog-faced women to dog-faced boys, Jan Bondeson examines historical cases of dwarfism, extreme corpulence, giantism, conjoined twins, and extreme hairiness. He considers these individuals not as 'freaks' but as human beings born with sometimes appalling congenital deformities. Heavily illustrated with woodcuts, engravings, and oil paintings, "The Pig-Faced Lady of Manchester Square" combines a scientist's scrutiny with a humanist's wonder at the endurance of the human spirit.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Science, Medicine, Biology

Paperback

First published February 1, 2006

About the author

Outside of his career in medicine, he has written several nonfiction books on a variety of topics, such as medical anomalies and unsolved murder mysteries.

Bondeson is the biographer of a predecessor of Jack the Ripper, the London Monster, who stabbed fifty women in the buttocks, of Edward 'the Boy' Jones, who stalked Queen Victoria and stole her underwear, and Greyfriars Bobby, a Scottish terrier who supposedly spent 14 years guarding his master's grave.

He is currently working as a senior lecturer and consultant rheumatologist at the Cardiff University School of Medicine.


(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bondeson explores various medical deformities ranging from conjoined twins to excessive hirsuteness. Some of the stories are interesting while others turned my stomach. Some of the scientific bits lost me though I'm afraid although it's very well written.

[dejah_thoris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the Bondeson book I'd give anyone interested in his work. The chapters are short and the content is AMAZING. This is also an easy pick for those people who claim all nonfiction is dull. Definitely academic but far from boring.

[Roxanna Muller · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy this book. It was a bunch of well researched dates and locations. It didn't have any heart.