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Mary and the Rabbit Dream
A sardonic, feminist reimagining of the story of Mary Toft, infamous rabbit-birthing hoaxer.
Mary Toft was just another eighteenth-century woman living in poverty, misery, and frequent pain. The kind of person overlooked by those with power, forgotten by historians.
Mary Toft was nothing. Until, that is, Mary Toft started giving birth to rabbits…
In Mary and the Rabbit Dream, the sensational debut novelist Noémi Kiss-Deáki reimagines Mary’s strange and fascinating story – and how she found fame when a large swathe of England became convinced that she was the mother of rabbits.
Mary and the Rabbit Dream is a story of bodily autonomy, of absurdity, of the horrors inflicted on women, of the cruel realities of poverty, and the grotesque divides between rich and poor. It’s a book that matters deeply – and it’s also a compelling page-turner. A story told with exquisite wit, skill, and a beautiful streak of subversive mischief.
Mary Toft was just another eighteenth-century woman living in poverty, misery, and frequent pain. The kind of person overlooked by those with power, forgotten by historians.
Mary Toft was nothing. Until, that is, Mary Toft started giving birth to rabbits…
In Mary and the Rabbit Dream, the sensational debut novelist Noémi Kiss-Deáki reimagines Mary’s strange and fascinating story – and how she found fame when a large swathe of England became convinced that she was the mother of rabbits.
Mary and the Rabbit Dream is a story of bodily autonomy, of absurdity, of the horrors inflicted on women, of the cruel realities of poverty, and the grotesque divides between rich and poor. It’s a book that matters deeply – and it’s also a compelling page-turner. A story told with exquisite wit, skill, and a beautiful streak of subversive mischief.
254 pages, Paperback
First published September 10, 2024
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November 9, 2024
She is the ideal person to use for people who wish to use other people for their own ends.
Mary and the Rabbit Dream is the debut novel from Noémi Kiss-Deáki.
It is based on the curious 18th century case of Mary Toft, a woman believed, for a period including by some eminent doctors, to be giving birth to rabbits.
As the author acknowledges in a very helpful afterword her novel was inspired, and informed, by Karen Harvey’s non-fictional reassessment of the history, The Imposteress Rabbit Breeder - Mary Toft and Eighteenth-Century England, and in particular some of her key conclusions, as summarised by Kiss-Deáki:
Although clearly extensively researched (and the author is admirably clear in her afterword when and why she has departed from or built on the known facts for the purpose of her novel), the novel is very much not genre historical fiction, instead written in a propulsive style, with short, rhythmically repetitive paragraphs that make this a compelling read (I read it from cover to cover in one sitting).
Doctors would later describe her as having a fair complexion, a strong and healthy constitution, a small stature and a stupid and sullen temper. They would note that she could neither read nor write. The latter is something literate and educated men like to point out when demonstrating dominance and superiority.
But in Mary Toft's circle no one could read or write. It was no problem. It was not noted. It was just how it was.
For women like Mary Toft, other means of communication were employed.
One might wonder what women like Mary Toft, who can neither read nor write, would do if one day wishing to make an impact, wishing to attempt a change.
And the novel restores Mary Toft’s humanity by showing that, while at the physical centre of the scandal, in practice she was at the mercy of all the other actors, including her mother-in-law Ann and some local women who in this account meant the plot as some form of protest, as well as the various medical experts, each with agendas of their own. Indeed the text focuses on the motivations of each involved, and any actions are purely a consequence of that. This when a local doctor, not entirely convinced of the reality of what he has witnessed but seeing how it could lead him to fame, insists on moving Mary from her home, in Godalming, to his own much grander house in Guildford:
But Mr Howard insists
And Mary Toft has no opinion.
Mary Toft has suffered too much to have an opinion.
Mary Toft has been listened to too little her whole life to have the courage to form any opinions of her own.
And now she has no opinions. Not even if she tries.
She has suffered too much.
She is stunned with pain and fear.
She is fearful of the women around her. She is fearful of her surroundings.
Everything, right now, inspires fear.
She is the ideal person to use for people who wish to use other people for their own ends.
In the end there is nothing Ann Toft and the other women can do.
They are losing control.
Instead, a person with fine clothes, a fine voice and fine eyes and a good name has taken control.
Ann Toft doesn't realize. Ann Toft doesn't realize her outlandish idea will not be enough to set the system on fire. Because the system can't be set on fire. She doesn't realize yet the system eats everyone, sooner or later, and especially the poor. Especially them.
Impressive and a contender for prize recognition from the Women’s Prize to the Goldsmiths.
Mary and the Rabbit Dream is the debut novel from Noémi Kiss-Deáki.
It is based on the curious 18th century case of Mary Toft, a woman believed, for a period including by some eminent doctors, to be giving birth to rabbits.
As the author acknowledges in a very helpful afterword her novel was inspired, and informed, by Karen Harvey’s non-fictional reassessment of the history, The Imposteress Rabbit Breeder - Mary Toft and Eighteenth-Century England, and in particular some of her key conclusions, as summarised by Kiss-Deáki:
that, in the fraud of Mary Toft, very little evidence supports the notion that it was done for money, and that there in fact might be more pointing towards it having been an act of some kind of resistance;
that there were great tensions between the wealthy and the poor in Godalming;
that rabbits, as food and as animals, were accorded a special status in regards to the people who were allowed to own them and eat them;
and that the case of Mary Toft became an opportunity for doctors to test and demonstrate the validity of the empirical scientific method.
Harvey also explores the possibility that Mary was quite low down the hierarchy in her community of women; that she was dependent on them and even afraid of several of them (Harvey calls them 'formidable' and 'sinister' women).
Although clearly extensively researched (and the author is admirably clear in her afterword when and why she has departed from or built on the known facts for the purpose of her novel), the novel is very much not genre historical fiction, instead written in a propulsive style, with short, rhythmically repetitive paragraphs that make this a compelling read (I read it from cover to cover in one sitting).
Doctors would later describe her as having a fair complexion, a strong and healthy constitution, a small stature and a stupid and sullen temper. They would note that she could neither read nor write. The latter is something literate and educated men like to point out when demonstrating dominance and superiority.
But in Mary Toft's circle no one could read or write. It was no problem. It was not noted. It was just how it was.
For women like Mary Toft, other means of communication were employed.
One might wonder what women like Mary Toft, who can neither read nor write, would do if one day wishing to make an impact, wishing to attempt a change.
And the novel restores Mary Toft’s humanity by showing that, while at the physical centre of the scandal, in practice she was at the mercy of all the other actors, including her mother-in-law Ann and some local women who in this account meant the plot as some form of protest, as well as the various medical experts, each with agendas of their own. Indeed the text focuses on the motivations of each involved, and any actions are purely a consequence of that. This when a local doctor, not entirely convinced of the reality of what he has witnessed but seeing how it could lead him to fame, insists on moving Mary from her home, in Godalming, to his own much grander house in Guildford:
But Mr Howard insists
And Mary Toft has no opinion.
Mary Toft has suffered too much to have an opinion.
Mary Toft has been listened to too little her whole life to have the courage to form any opinions of her own.
And now she has no opinions. Not even if she tries.
She has suffered too much.
She is stunned with pain and fear.
She is fearful of the women around her. She is fearful of her surroundings.
Everything, right now, inspires fear.
She is the ideal person to use for people who wish to use other people for their own ends.
In the end there is nothing Ann Toft and the other women can do.
They are losing control.
Instead, a person with fine clothes, a fine voice and fine eyes and a good name has taken control.
Ann Toft doesn't realize. Ann Toft doesn't realize her outlandish idea will not be enough to set the system on fire. Because the system can't be set on fire. She doesn't realize yet the system eats everyone, sooner or later, and especially the poor. Especially them.
Impressive and a contender for prize recognition from the Women’s Prize to the Goldsmiths.
August 11, 2024
I was shocked when I discovered this is Noémi Kiss-Deáki’s debut novel. This is brilliant.
The style is mesmerizing, folding back on itself, while propelling the story forward, mirroring the forward motion of the events in the life of young Mary Toft, “poorest of the poor” in 1726 Surrey, England, in a time when only the very wealthy could farm rabbits for food and clothes, and catching a rabbit was considered poaching and punishable by law.
After Mary suffers a miscarriage, her formidable mother-in-law conceives of a fraud, a fraud that pitches Mary into the orbit of powerful, wealthy men, none of whom care about Mary, all of whom see something to be gained for themselves at the expense of Mary’s dignity and suffering. And she does suffer. Some men are complicit in the fraud, some are determined to prove it true, some are determined to prove it false, and caught up in all their machinations is a young women with no power, no agency, no freedom to decide who can question her, look at her, touch her, or examine her. Mary is merely a body to be exploited.
This story is based on real events and I could not put it down. I strongly recommend it.
The style is mesmerizing, folding back on itself, while propelling the story forward, mirroring the forward motion of the events in the life of young Mary Toft, “poorest of the poor” in 1726 Surrey, England, in a time when only the very wealthy could farm rabbits for food and clothes, and catching a rabbit was considered poaching and punishable by law.
After Mary suffers a miscarriage, her formidable mother-in-law conceives of a fraud, a fraud that pitches Mary into the orbit of powerful, wealthy men, none of whom care about Mary, all of whom see something to be gained for themselves at the expense of Mary’s dignity and suffering. And she does suffer. Some men are complicit in the fraud, some are determined to prove it true, some are determined to prove it false, and caught up in all their machinations is a young women with no power, no agency, no freedom to decide who can question her, look at her, touch her, or examine her. Mary is merely a body to be exploited.
This story is based on real events and I could not put it down. I strongly recommend it.
July 3, 2024
I had heard the story of Mary Toft somewhere before in my history non-fiction reading, and I really enjoyed Mary and the Rabbit Dream's feminist take on it, considering Mary's predicament as she is passed from overbearing female relatives to the male doctors, some of whom believed the tale of birthing rabbits and others who wished to expose the fraud. It looks at the power balance at the time between rich and poor, men and women, all presented in a way that at times feels absurd but at others makes you pity the position Mary was in. There is a dreamlike feel to the prose which adds to the sense of unreality in the story. It was a quick read but one that provokes much thought. I am giving it four stars. I would definitely read more from this author in the future.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
September 21, 2024
I was really intrigued to read MARY AND THE RABBIT DREAM by Noémi Kiss-Deáki when I heard the synopsis and I really enjoyed this novel! This book is a reimagining of the story of Mary Toft who tried to trick people into believing that she gave birth to rabbits. This was a great historical fiction set in the eighteenth century and I really liked the witty writing. This novel was a bit horrific pertaining to Mary’s body and delved into class disparity, living in poverty and men striving for power and recognition. I really enjoyed the omniscience of the narration and couldn’t put this book down. I finished it in two days!
Thank you to Coach House Books for my gifted review copy!
Thank you to Coach House Books for my gifted review copy!
August 7, 2024
Incredible story, frustrating execution.
Mary Toft is a historical figure who claimed to have given birth to rabbits. We are never in doubt in this book that there is anything other than deception at play. The author lays out the hows and whys of the trickery from the start. But that, for me, also took away some of the magic. We’re never given a chance to dream that maybe just maybe there is a miracle at play.
The novel is written in a sort of nursery rhyme-like prose full of repetitions and overlaps. Sometimes this works, sometimes it’s just irritating.
I also felt like this purports to be a feminist novel about the horrors of what can be done to women’s bodies. And yet it’s centred mostly around the male doctors. Mary feels oddly distant throughout. I wanted the author to allow me more glimpses of Mary’s inner turmoil rather than always seeing her pain and anguish through a very male gaze.
Mary Toft is a historical figure who claimed to have given birth to rabbits. We are never in doubt in this book that there is anything other than deception at play. The author lays out the hows and whys of the trickery from the start. But that, for me, also took away some of the magic. We’re never given a chance to dream that maybe just maybe there is a miracle at play.
The novel is written in a sort of nursery rhyme-like prose full of repetitions and overlaps. Sometimes this works, sometimes it’s just irritating.
I also felt like this purports to be a feminist novel about the horrors of what can be done to women’s bodies. And yet it’s centred mostly around the male doctors. Mary feels oddly distant throughout. I wanted the author to allow me more glimpses of Mary’s inner turmoil rather than always seeing her pain and anguish through a very male gaze.
August 2, 2024
This reads like the most outrageous piece of gossip ☕️☕️☕️
September 2, 2024
This is an absolutely divine addition to the Galley Beggars imprint, with this quirky, cleverly written story that is somewhat astonishingly based on historic fact. Kiss-Deaki manages to infuse the narrative with meaning and humour, all the while the simmering undertones of feminist fury over the voicelessness and powerlessness of women constantly set fire to the words on the page.
Mary Toft is a woman who should have been lost to history - a working class woman of no consequence, with nothing to show for her years on earth, but for the scandal that unfolded with the claim that she had birthed rabbits. As the author tells her story, she manages to explain how the ridiculous became feasible to the people who used - and abused - Mary for their own ends.
The narrative style is often abrupt, but in a manner which is entirely suited to the trajectory of the novel. There are also several interjections of authorial wisdom, as well as what Kiss-Deaki would term cheeky anachronisms. I still take issue with the character Cyriacas Ahlers being described as a sadist given that the Marquis de Sade wasn't born until 1740, and the events of the novel took place before this, but my little quibble aside, I absolutely loved this book.
Very clever, very entrancing, and infuriating for the indignities Mary Toft must suffer, this book was a welcome read. Put it to the top of your TBR pile immediately.
Mary Toft is a woman who should have been lost to history - a working class woman of no consequence, with nothing to show for her years on earth, but for the scandal that unfolded with the claim that she had birthed rabbits. As the author tells her story, she manages to explain how the ridiculous became feasible to the people who used - and abused - Mary for their own ends.
The narrative style is often abrupt, but in a manner which is entirely suited to the trajectory of the novel. There are also several interjections of authorial wisdom, as well as what Kiss-Deaki would term cheeky anachronisms. I still take issue with the character Cyriacas Ahlers being described as a sadist given that the Marquis de Sade wasn't born until 1740, and the events of the novel took place before this, but my little quibble aside, I absolutely loved this book.
Very clever, very entrancing, and infuriating for the indignities Mary Toft must suffer, this book was a welcome read. Put it to the top of your TBR pile immediately.
February 13, 2025
This was a neat read! Dark, filled with black humor, and feminist. Crazy to think women still experience similar oppression with body autonomy as Mary is depicted to have experienced in 1726. I received this book as a gift - I never would’ve been inclined to pick it up on my own accord. But, I loved it! Sometimes the prose can get repetitive restating things over and over in slightly different ways where I was wishing the plot would just move forward but in a way the writing had a trance-like feeling.
Recommend!
Recommend!
June 29, 2025
I devoured this in one sitting at the pool today. I knew nothing about Mary Toft going into this, I didn’t even realize she was real when I initially read this synopsis browsing the bookstore one day. I found it entirely fascinating and the writing style so unique. The historical notes at the end just elevated everything the author had to say in this fictionalized telling. Really glad I picked this one up.
November 6, 2025
i don’t knowwww how i feel about it. it does a good job at shifting the perspective on what’s usually brought up as a ‘hey did you know this crazy thing happened’, but it drags on and on with a lot of shifts in perspective that don’t add much. it’s also wholly historical fiction which the author says in the post word, but i see a lot of readers just not getting that and taking it as some sort of nonfiction retelling, which i can only guess is because of the straightforward writing style. i feel like the post word probably would’ve been better suited as a foreword, since apparently the fiction aspect went right over some people’s heads.
i think it does a very good job at depicting how painful the rabbit scheme was and how mary toft was dehumanized and it has parallels to modern sexism medical malpractice- particularly telling i thought was sir manningham constantly threatening her with more painful experiences and surgeries until she admitted she was faking it. but i don’t know, the writing and the pacing are grueling to wade through
i think it does a very good job at depicting how painful the rabbit scheme was and how mary toft was dehumanized and it has parallels to modern sexism medical malpractice- particularly telling i thought was sir manningham constantly threatening her with more painful experiences and surgeries until she admitted she was faking it. but i don’t know, the writing and the pacing are grueling to wade through
March 26, 2025
i’ve always been interested in mary toft’s story, and this novel was a really well thought out, clever response to it. i love how historically accurate it is, and that it uses the actual quotes from the surgeon’s diaries. i wasn’t a huge fan of the style of writing (maybe why it took me almost two months to finish) but overall a v v strong debut novel with an awesome narrative voice
September 24, 2024
so weird and unsettling and intriguing and creative i need some time to process it
October 18, 2024
4.5 stars!
I found parts of this book so tough to read just from the perspective of having a body but wow I inhaled this book in 24 hours, what a bizarre and terrifying story of being a woman in the 1720s.
I found parts of this book so tough to read just from the perspective of having a body but wow I inhaled this book in 24 hours, what a bizarre and terrifying story of being a woman in the 1720s.
October 26, 2024
A feminist/class-focused retelling of the story of Mary Toft, who somehow convinced (male) doctors that she was giving birth to rabbit parts. It's absurd but not comical and shows great empathy for the character at the heart of the story.
September 16, 2024
Thank you to Coachhouse Books for a copy of Mary and the Rabbit Dream in exchange for an honest review.
Prior to my reading, I had never heard of Mary Toft. She is a historical figure from the 18th century, who convinced several doctors that she was giving birth to rabbits. It made a huge impact on the medical field. Mary and the Rabbit Dream takes this figure and spins a new story.
In this retelling, Mary is seen as a sympathetic character who is coerced into tricking the doctors by the women in her family. They are tired of not being heard and looked down upon for their lower-class status. And they use Mary and her tragic situation to take advantage. I think this is an incredibly interesting spin on this story, and really displays the frustration of the times.
This book read like fiction and non-fiction, and I feel like I walked away having learned something. The writing style was unique and provided a reading experience that was hard to step away from. I wanted to keep reading and frankly, it was very easy to.
I totally recommend this book if you’re looking for a bit of a strange tale, with some historical fiction and some very memorable moments!
Prior to my reading, I had never heard of Mary Toft. She is a historical figure from the 18th century, who convinced several doctors that she was giving birth to rabbits. It made a huge impact on the medical field. Mary and the Rabbit Dream takes this figure and spins a new story.
In this retelling, Mary is seen as a sympathetic character who is coerced into tricking the doctors by the women in her family. They are tired of not being heard and looked down upon for their lower-class status. And they use Mary and her tragic situation to take advantage. I think this is an incredibly interesting spin on this story, and really displays the frustration of the times.
This book read like fiction and non-fiction, and I feel like I walked away having learned something. The writing style was unique and provided a reading experience that was hard to step away from. I wanted to keep reading and frankly, it was very easy to.
I totally recommend this book if you’re looking for a bit of a strange tale, with some historical fiction and some very memorable moments!
July 13, 2024
Ann Toft clutches what is left of the rabbit. What is left of the rabbit is a disappointment. Ann Toft thinks about the daughter-in-law, put through yet another tragedy.
And because work is soon to dry up for her son, daughter and daughter-in-law, the healthiest and most able-bodied members of the family, because they have nothing to sell when Michaelmas is coming up, and because all this goes on while the wealthy stay disgustingly wealthy, not wanting for anything in life, while the impoverished Tofts and everyone around them want for near everything, Ann Toft has a diabolical thought.
Ann Toft wants to set the system on fire.
That is not how Ann Toft herself would word it in early eighteenth-century England, but that is what she wants to do.
Because that evening, after the failed fish mission and Mary's miscarriage, Ann Toft is starting to link things together, things wholly unrelated to each other. Ann Toft links them together now, creating relations between them, relations and paths.
The latest novel by the brilliant Norfolk based small press Galley Beggar whose publications include such innovative books as After Sappho, We That Are Young, Ducks Newburyport, Lucia and a Girl is A Half Formed Thing – including remarkably winning both the Desmond Elliott Prize (and even more appropriately) the Goldsmith Prize (for novels which break the mould of fiction).
And I think this book is a worthy addition to their formidable canon – managing an excellent combination of powerful themes and page turning readability - it was one I thoroughly enjoyed reading in only two sittings.
Its is an imagined version of the life of Mary Toft (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Toft) – a poor woman from Godalming (less than 20 miles from my now home) who in 1726 gained some national celebrity and controversy due to her apparent ability to/affliction of giving birth to rabbits (or more specifically parts of rabbits). As the author makes almost immediately clear – this was due to the initial machinations of her mother-in-law Mary who inserted animal parts within her – in the author’s view motivated it seems less by money or fame than as some form of social protest (large rabbit farms at that time rather taking over the countryside but with strict anti-poaching prohibitions on the poor and dispossessed).
Mary’s case and her seeming ability to continue to deliver rabbits interests various Doctors – some for personal reasons (for example a need for acceptance or simply for a new interest), some due to their firm belief in and desire to use the newly developed tool of empirical science to overcome ignorance and superstition, some due to more superstition (one of them leads Mary into the idea that she has given birth to rabbits due to a vivid dream of them – something which seemed like an extreme manifestation of the then still widely held belief that maternal imaginings shaped the fate and future life of a foetus), and some from the orders of the King both intrigued and disturbed by the case.
For all of them though, taking advantage of the privilege of their sex and station Mary’s will are of little consequence and entirely subservient to their aims – and her body in particular is simply a site for their investigations – the lack of female (particularly poor female) bodily autonomy and the chasmic social divides of English society lie at the heart of the novel.
What really distinguishes though is its narrative voice – detached, written with a deliberate 21st century sensibility but at all times seeking for the truth of the then contemporary societal mores and practices, it employs staccato sentences resplendent with repetition and rhythm, to surgically examine motivation in the same way the Doctors examine Mary, but with all of the wit and humour and empathy which they lack.
Special mention needs to be made of a really impressive (why can’t more novels do this) Afterword and Acknowledgements which as well as a series of sources and suggested further reading is really open about topics such as the non-fictional inspiration for the novel (Karen Harvey’s “The Imposteress Rabbit Breeder – Mary Toft and Eighteenth-Century Britain”) and the small number of knowing anachronisms and changes to the historical facts.
Highly recommended and I really hope to see this as the latest Galley Beggar book to grace a prize list.
Ann Toft is opposed to it. All the women are opposed to it.
Even Joshua Toft, Mary's husband, kept in the dark about many things, is opposed to it.
But Mr Howard insists.
And Mary Toft has no opinion.
Mary Toft has suffered too much to have an opinion.
Mary Toft has been listened to too little her whole life to have the courage to form any opinions of her own.
And now she has no opinions. Not even if she tries.
She has suffered too much.
She is stunned with pain and fear.
She is fearful of the women around her. She is fearful of her surroundings.
Everything, right now, inspires fear.
She is the ideal person to use for people who wish to use other people for their own ends.
In the end there is nothing Ann Toft and the other women can do.
They are losing control.
Instead, a person with fine clothes, a fine voice and fine eyes and a good name has taken control.
Ann Toft doesn't realize. Ann Toft doesn't realize her outlandish idea will not be enough to set the system on fire. Because the system can't be set on fire. She doesn't realize yet the system eats everyone, sooner or later, and especially the poor. Especially them.
August 2, 2024
I found this a tough one to rate - indeed, it called into question the rating criteria I’ve been using. Of course, that is trivial anyway. I thought it was an excellent idea to weave a fictional story around actual events - which incidentally I still can’t quite believe actually happened. It was also excellent to give Mary - and poverty - a voice. I just didn’t enjoy reading it that much, which is probably more down to me than the author.
August 4, 2025
This is the only book I have ever hated to the point I returned it for a refund. The base idea is great, and there are little glimmers of humor that show that this writer isn't incompetent; but the writing style is so horrible. The constant repetition and full name references made this feel like a slog. If you enjoy Kronk's "poison for Kuzco" bit and want to read 300 pages like that, this book is for you. For me, this might be the worst book I have ever read.
June 25, 2025
Could have coped with the weird story if the author didn’t feel the need to repeat herself every other sentence. It served no purpose other than to lengthen the book!!
November 13, 2024
The oddity of the story is only surpassed by the fact that it's based on true events - which just makes the entire experience all the more surreal and strange. A woman giving birth to rabbits? Surely that's a joke, a jest, a hoax - and yet...there's Mary Toft.
The writing style in this book had different effects on me at different times, and I wasn't really sure what the author was trying to do with it. Was the repetition with slight changes supposed to make me feel like I was being interrogated, surely as often as Mary Toft was being interrogated? Maybe, but the repetitiveness all came as statements, more than things to question or consider. Was it to drive home a point of how absurd, abusive, ridiculous, and horrific this ordeal was? Maybe, but then again, it seemed to just be to make a point, not to shock or jolt the reader. Was it meant to be in a comical, "can you believe this happened" sort of context, as though the repeating of phrases was to reiterate how cruel and weird and torturous these events were that this poor woman lived through? Possibly, they say comedy is tragedy plus time (and there's certainly been time since this tragedy), but the repetitiveness didn't feel like a punch line or even a satirical setup.
What it did do was enforce just how unbelievable and sad this story is (and I say unbelievable not about the things that happened, but that Mary was pushed and forced into such a situation by so many others to begin with). It was hard to relate to anyone in this story, and I found myself wishing poor Mary would just tell them that she is done birthing rabbits, that her "litter" is done, that she's spent and no longer conceiving the furry creatures to be born in bits and pieces. I kept waiting for one of the "doctors" to say she could be done, not only at one rabbit, but then two, four, twelve, fifteen - no, they go all the way to eighteen "rabbits" being forced into and from this poor woman's body, and not a single person came to her aide and thought to say, "I think she's done having rabbits."
The sheer amount of pain, risk, humiliation, and overall cruel foolishness of the ordeal has made me feel sad, angry, sympathetic, and disgusted with how easily a thing like this could happen. How quickly people can volunteer someone else for a terrible task, and just as quickly abandon that person when suspicion or doubt comes around. Her family drives her into this horrible fame, gathers all this attention on Mary, push for her to continue this ruse (although I'd argue with the health risks she was subjected to, it wasn't really a ruse at all), and then just walk away because it was "too difficult" for them.
IF you're into macabre stories of things people have done to each other in the 1720's, then Mary and the Rabbit Dream is a perfect read for you. Like the Salem Witch Trials, the Whitechapel Murders, or any other number of incidents where women were abused and taken advantage of by society, this story points to a period in time when being a woman was almost worse than being an animal, and in Mary Toft's case, even the animals got better treatment than she did. Even the author points out (several times, thanks to the repetition motif) how unattractive and unintelligent Mary is...and frankly, I think Mary deserves better. She held her tongue, didn't rat out her family, knowing it would land them in just as much trouble as she was in, and even if she wasn't smart enough to get herself out of trouble, she continued to tell her truth (once she began confessing) even when all the men interrogating her kept trying to force the issue back to the impersonation of birthing rabbits. Mary may not have been smart, but she was strong and resilient and was honestly doing the best she could after being coerced into such a horrible situation. This book is tragic from the word go, and Mary Toft was the most tragic character of them all.
The writing style in this book had different effects on me at different times, and I wasn't really sure what the author was trying to do with it. Was the repetition with slight changes supposed to make me feel like I was being interrogated, surely as often as Mary Toft was being interrogated? Maybe, but the repetitiveness all came as statements, more than things to question or consider. Was it to drive home a point of how absurd, abusive, ridiculous, and horrific this ordeal was? Maybe, but then again, it seemed to just be to make a point, not to shock or jolt the reader. Was it meant to be in a comical, "can you believe this happened" sort of context, as though the repeating of phrases was to reiterate how cruel and weird and torturous these events were that this poor woman lived through? Possibly, they say comedy is tragedy plus time (and there's certainly been time since this tragedy), but the repetitiveness didn't feel like a punch line or even a satirical setup.
What it did do was enforce just how unbelievable and sad this story is (and I say unbelievable not about the things that happened, but that Mary was pushed and forced into such a situation by so many others to begin with). It was hard to relate to anyone in this story, and I found myself wishing poor Mary would just tell them that she is done birthing rabbits, that her "litter" is done, that she's spent and no longer conceiving the furry creatures to be born in bits and pieces. I kept waiting for one of the "doctors" to say she could be done, not only at one rabbit, but then two, four, twelve, fifteen - no, they go all the way to eighteen "rabbits" being forced into and from this poor woman's body, and not a single person came to her aide and thought to say, "I think she's done having rabbits."
The sheer amount of pain, risk, humiliation, and overall cruel foolishness of the ordeal has made me feel sad, angry, sympathetic, and disgusted with how easily a thing like this could happen. How quickly people can volunteer someone else for a terrible task, and just as quickly abandon that person when suspicion or doubt comes around. Her family drives her into this horrible fame, gathers all this attention on Mary, push for her to continue this ruse (although I'd argue with the health risks she was subjected to, it wasn't really a ruse at all), and then just walk away because it was "too difficult" for them.
IF you're into macabre stories of things people have done to each other in the 1720's, then Mary and the Rabbit Dream is a perfect read for you. Like the Salem Witch Trials, the Whitechapel Murders, or any other number of incidents where women were abused and taken advantage of by society, this story points to a period in time when being a woman was almost worse than being an animal, and in Mary Toft's case, even the animals got better treatment than she did. Even the author points out (several times, thanks to the repetition motif) how unattractive and unintelligent Mary is...and frankly, I think Mary deserves better. She held her tongue, didn't rat out her family, knowing it would land them in just as much trouble as she was in, and even if she wasn't smart enough to get herself out of trouble, she continued to tell her truth (once she began confessing) even when all the men interrogating her kept trying to force the issue back to the impersonation of birthing rabbits. Mary may not have been smart, but she was strong and resilient and was honestly doing the best she could after being coerced into such a horrible situation. This book is tragic from the word go, and Mary Toft was the most tragic character of them all.
August 7, 2024
With Mary And The Rabbit Dream, Noémi Kiss-Deáki gifts us a disturbing yet exquisite portrayal of 18th century misogyny and the plight of women (and poor men) locked within the cultural confines of severe male aggressiveness, obsessive hierarchies and the dismissive rejection of females as equal beings.
In Noémi's tale, Mary, an ordinary poor working class woman finds herself at the centre of a controversy regarding whether or not she (ergo women in general) is able to birth creatures other than humans, in this particular case, rabbits. As news of this improbable situation spreads, Mary is physically, emotionally and mentally abused both by those wanting, for a variety of reasons, to prove that she has indeed birthed rabbits and by those determined but not completely convinced that humans birthing rabbits is an impossibility. The appalling behaviour of 'learned' men towards Mary and women in general, is deplorably shocking and the rage of injustice draws this reader to contemplate how far, or not, we have come 300 years later.
I'm not entirely sure that enough has changed since those times. Although in 2024 many women have a good degree of comparative autonomy over their lives, there is still too much of our health, bodies and personal authority that is both given and taken away especially in our so-called modern medicine arena. Take the over medicalization of labour and childbirth for example - the way it has oh so unsubtly become 'the norm' for a woman to lie on her back in a hospital during both phases of birth, be regularly interfered with by a rolling progression of practitioners, undergo frequent (often unnecessary) interventions, be 'assisted' in giving birth by pathology-obsessed doctors rather than natural-birth-focused midwives, be injected with numbing anaesthesia, obliged to remain still and hooked up to monitors rather than being able to move around freely as her body and her baby most often need to do in order to birth gently and well.
Published by the wonderful Galley Beggar Press, Mary And The Rabbit Dream is written in a series of short sentences that remind me of a long thread of modern text messages yet the frequent repetition of phrases and characters' thoughts seem to slow us down so we can more readily absorb the action and intention taking place. It is kind of the opposite of doom scrolling and I enjoyed this seemingly deliberate and effective way of writing which was easy to get through. A fascinating, enjoyable read.
In Noémi's tale, Mary, an ordinary poor working class woman finds herself at the centre of a controversy regarding whether or not she (ergo women in general) is able to birth creatures other than humans, in this particular case, rabbits. As news of this improbable situation spreads, Mary is physically, emotionally and mentally abused both by those wanting, for a variety of reasons, to prove that she has indeed birthed rabbits and by those determined but not completely convinced that humans birthing rabbits is an impossibility. The appalling behaviour of 'learned' men towards Mary and women in general, is deplorably shocking and the rage of injustice draws this reader to contemplate how far, or not, we have come 300 years later.
I'm not entirely sure that enough has changed since those times. Although in 2024 many women have a good degree of comparative autonomy over their lives, there is still too much of our health, bodies and personal authority that is both given and taken away especially in our so-called modern medicine arena. Take the over medicalization of labour and childbirth for example - the way it has oh so unsubtly become 'the norm' for a woman to lie on her back in a hospital during both phases of birth, be regularly interfered with by a rolling progression of practitioners, undergo frequent (often unnecessary) interventions, be 'assisted' in giving birth by pathology-obsessed doctors rather than natural-birth-focused midwives, be injected with numbing anaesthesia, obliged to remain still and hooked up to monitors rather than being able to move around freely as her body and her baby most often need to do in order to birth gently and well.
Published by the wonderful Galley Beggar Press, Mary And The Rabbit Dream is written in a series of short sentences that remind me of a long thread of modern text messages yet the frequent repetition of phrases and characters' thoughts seem to slow us down so we can more readily absorb the action and intention taking place. It is kind of the opposite of doom scrolling and I enjoyed this seemingly deliberate and effective way of writing which was easy to get through. A fascinating, enjoyable read.
November 28, 2024
I picked this up on a whim from the library after reading the back cover. Mary and the Rabbit Dream is a historical fiction inspired by a true story from the eighteenth century. A woman named Mary Toft fooled the world into believing she was birthing rabbits. But as Noémi Kiss-Deáki explains in her afterward, Karen Harvey’s non-fictional reassessment of the history hints that the hoax may have been less of a money-grab and more of an act of resistance.
At times, MatRD was brutal and gruesome to read. That's what makes it a powerful commentary on bodily autonomy. Mary's mother-in-law has an idea to "shake up the system" by exploiting Mary's miscarriage. She believes if a woman starts to give birth to rabbits, the wealthy will lose their power and be forced to make amends and negotiate with the poor. From that point on, Mary is passed around from the women in her family to "elevated" members of society, doctors, men of "science," and men who are seemingly just passively interested in her case. Some truly believe in the miracle of the rabbit births, some are in on the hoax, some are scientists hoping to disprove the possibility, and others are desperate to hurt her.
There's some solace, at least, in these men's eventual depiction as clowns and fools in the newspapers. There's some small sense of justice when, as Mary reveals the truth and the agony she has been in, the men are disturbed. They try to get her "focus," not to talk about the pain, but several of them have to leave the room at her recounting, and more go to sleep with nightmares.
This book is written in an interesting style--short, repetitive sentences that seem to mimic how you'd imagine the gossip reports of the time. It took me a minute to get used to it, but I think it works well for the story.
It's a fast, feminist read that feels very timely and immerses you in a fascinating moment of history.
Also, I feel like I have to mention that this book has a lovely paper weight and texture! :)
At times, MatRD was brutal and gruesome to read. That's what makes it a powerful commentary on bodily autonomy. Mary's mother-in-law has an idea to "shake up the system" by exploiting Mary's miscarriage. She believes if a woman starts to give birth to rabbits, the wealthy will lose their power and be forced to make amends and negotiate with the poor. From that point on, Mary is passed around from the women in her family to "elevated" members of society, doctors, men of "science," and men who are seemingly just passively interested in her case. Some truly believe in the miracle of the rabbit births, some are in on the hoax, some are scientists hoping to disprove the possibility, and others are desperate to hurt her.
There's some solace, at least, in these men's eventual depiction as clowns and fools in the newspapers. There's some small sense of justice when, as Mary reveals the truth and the agony she has been in, the men are disturbed. They try to get her "focus," not to talk about the pain, but several of them have to leave the room at her recounting, and more go to sleep with nightmares.
This book is written in an interesting style--short, repetitive sentences that seem to mimic how you'd imagine the gossip reports of the time. It took me a minute to get used to it, but I think it works well for the story.
It's a fast, feminist read that feels very timely and immerses you in a fascinating moment of history.
Also, I feel like I have to mention that this book has a lovely paper weight and texture! :)
January 6, 2025
“There are no miracles. There is no maternal impression. A woman is a woman and a rabbit is a rabbit. You shall be an example, Mary Toft.” I know I’m going to start sounding like a crank soon, and I don’t relish being less-than-complimentary in these little reviews, but I found myself fairly disappointed reading Noémi Kiss-Deáki’s novel, Mary and the Rabbit Dream, which I’d been so excited about since I first read the announcement from Galley Beggar Press. As is often the case, my disappointment lies in my awareness of the better book, the book that could have been, the one lying in cases like this so close to the surface but never fully excavated. Kiss-Deáki’s premise, to retell the story of Mary Toft, who achieved notoriety for apparently birthing a number of rabbits, is solid and captivating, and there are so many bursts of brilliant in the novel: “It is invisible work. It is women’s work.” “Mary Toft will be ridiculed and hated. Mary Toft will be called an imposteress and a disgrace. An abomination of a woman.” And my favourite, “A carousel of flesh, to take an educative ride in.” But unfortunately the quality is inconsistent; the omniscience of the narrator feels at odds with their immediacy to the story, so that references to the character’s long legacies or indeed our present day feel jarring and forced. The fairytale-esque prose often verges on the formulaic. Its feminism and anti-capitalism felt weirdly thin and 2D. And for me, the most frustrating aspect is a kind of chiastic repetition, sometimes of clauses and often of whole sentences, which is no doubt a daring stylistic choice but whose effect falls flat: at best it feels like padding out a thin story and at worst like a frantic search /shoehorning of emphatic profundity. It’s not that it’s a bad novel: it’s that it’s an okay novel when it so easily could have been a good one.
October 18, 2024
It is a very unfortunate events to write about, but written beautifully nontheless. It is easy to read this book in one sitting, I manedgede with it even tho I have difficulty reading physical books. It is easy to read however because it takes a grip on you, this poor woman abused so effortlessly by those who though they could do what ever they wanted in the name of science.
Mary Toft the (forced) rabbit breeder is a true story that should be a shame to remember but also learn from. Mary is neglected, used and abused thru out the story by both mother-in-law, sister-in-law, medical professionals, high ranking folks and her husband.
No one not even once stops to think about any of this from Mary's perspective, o one trying to save her, not one wants to admit that this woman is obviously forced to do this, that this wasn't her plan.
Everyone is quick to place blame upon people they otherwise ridicule and think less off, but when they want they just flip the switch and suddenly these people are masterminds of evil deeds.
Noe'mi Kiss Deaki makes a beautiful job at writing this story, she may take some liberty in exactly what happened but in the end of the book she dose a great job of offering information, sources and other what's nots for the interested. The story is meant to awaken anger and disbelief in how Mary is treated, and unfortunately it isn't as unbelievable as I wish it would be.
Mary Toft the (forced) rabbit breeder is a true story that should be a shame to remember but also learn from. Mary is neglected, used and abused thru out the story by both mother-in-law, sister-in-law, medical professionals, high ranking folks and her husband.
No one not even once stops to think about any of this from Mary's perspective, o one trying to save her, not one wants to admit that this woman is obviously forced to do this, that this wasn't her plan.
Everyone is quick to place blame upon people they otherwise ridicule and think less off, but when they want they just flip the switch and suddenly these people are masterminds of evil deeds.
Noe'mi Kiss Deaki makes a beautiful job at writing this story, she may take some liberty in exactly what happened but in the end of the book she dose a great job of offering information, sources and other what's nots for the interested. The story is meant to awaken anger and disbelief in how Mary is treated, and unfortunately it isn't as unbelievable as I wish it would be.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 11, 2024
|| MARY AND THE RABBIT DREAM ||
#gifted @coachhousebooks
✍🏻
"If the poorest of the poorest suddenly find a woman in their midst with ability to give birth yo rabbits;
If the poorest of the poorest suddenly have a resource, an asset, capable of reproducing that most forbidden, most longed for animal, like a miracle;
If the poorest of the poorest suddenly had such an asset; it would spark a revolution. "
•
Published yesterday, Mary And The Rabbit Dream is a historical fiction book based on the infamous 18th century medical hoax in which a woman named Mary Toft was giving birth to rabbits. Noémi Kiss-Deáki did a wonderful job brings this story to the page. This reimagining is written with curiosity and wit, while exploring themes of power, poverty, body autonomy, horror, misery, class and gender. I couldn't put this down! I needed to know how it would all wrap up. I was unaware of the story of Mary Toft so I didn't look anything until I had finished it and then I did a deep dive on the history of it all. This is a great pic for Fall reading! It's horrific, disturbing, and curious. I don't usually do a ton of historical fiction but I really enjoyed this one probably because it focused a lot on women and women's issues and other important issues too.
For more of my book content check out instagram.com/bookalong
#gifted @coachhousebooks
✍🏻
"If the poorest of the poorest suddenly find a woman in their midst with ability to give birth yo rabbits;
If the poorest of the poorest suddenly have a resource, an asset, capable of reproducing that most forbidden, most longed for animal, like a miracle;
If the poorest of the poorest suddenly had such an asset; it would spark a revolution. "
•
Published yesterday, Mary And The Rabbit Dream is a historical fiction book based on the infamous 18th century medical hoax in which a woman named Mary Toft was giving birth to rabbits. Noémi Kiss-Deáki did a wonderful job brings this story to the page. This reimagining is written with curiosity and wit, while exploring themes of power, poverty, body autonomy, horror, misery, class and gender. I couldn't put this down! I needed to know how it would all wrap up. I was unaware of the story of Mary Toft so I didn't look anything until I had finished it and then I did a deep dive on the history of it all. This is a great pic for Fall reading! It's horrific, disturbing, and curious. I don't usually do a ton of historical fiction but I really enjoyed this one probably because it focused a lot on women and women's issues and other important issues too.
For more of my book content check out instagram.com/bookalong
January 22, 2025
An interesting fictionalized historical anecdote ( and an illustration) reveals motives and unintended community consequences. Mary Toft, a peasant in 18th century England, was the subject of a hoax; she was a rabbit breeder, giving birth to various animal parts. The book looks at the response by men of science who view her body as an experiment and subject her to harm. The book is a bit repetitive, with the story told in brief paragraphs. The anecdote is explained several times well after the reader understands the depravity of science unfettered or here newly birthed. The title is whimsical, the subject of a woman’s body and the abuses of power and physical examination less so. Fascinating historical anecdote but perhaps not quite enough material or not enough made of the story.
July 22, 2024
The irritating, everything-in-triplicate prose style (recalling an eccentric ’60s children’s book) and conceited typesetting strategy didn’t work for me, but the story and its themes are interesting, worthwhile. Did not get a sense of Mary Toft at all – still a distant curiosity, a faraway, tragic folk heroine lost to history. The phalanx of male doctors, meanwhile, are far more finely drawn and richly contextualised. Felt like a short story, a novella at most, that had been mercilessly tamped out. Kiss-Deáki’s little epilogue/outro is excellent, however, and ends up telling you all you need to know about the whys and wherefores.
April 23, 2025
I loved the writing style. It was captivating and clever and sarcastic and angry. It simply urges the reader to continue reading. I would have liked the author to have focused a bit more on Mary herself and her experience rather than the male doctors. On second thought, I’d say that the author by centring on the doctors’ actions emphasised even more the powerlessness and voicelessness of Mary. Her story was told from a feminist perspective, but it was still the male doctors who were the main characters. Mary was merely a body to be ‘strictly examined’.
I really enjoyed it, although at times I was deeply disturbed, which means that the book served its purpose!
I really enjoyed it, although at times I was deeply disturbed, which means that the book served its purpose!
August 14, 2024
Mary and The Rabbit Dream is a difficult one to review. It’s a really interesting and horrific tale about the abuse and control placed on women in history. Mary is forced to pretend she can birth rabbits with the promise she will escape poverty. Before she knows it she is being pushed further and further into the lie. Her health, freedom and body sacrificed.
The writing is where I had issues, I get it and it works for the most part but frustrated me at points and I found myself struggling to stay engaged. It’s creative and pushes conventional story telling, but It may not be for everyone.
The writing is where I had issues, I get it and it works for the most part but frustrated me at points and I found myself struggling to stay engaged. It’s creative and pushes conventional story telling, but It may not be for everyone.
December 19, 2024
I loved this book. When I bought it I thought it was a cute story about a girl really giving birth to rabbits😭
The authors writing style has been really mesmerizing, it captures the vibe of the 18th century so well and I've grown really fond of Mary Tofts story. I'll never forget this book!! Really good read
The authors writing style has been really mesmerizing, it captures the vibe of the 18th century so well and I've grown really fond of Mary Tofts story. I'll never forget this book!! Really good read
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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