What is Sera Reading? The Facemaker By Lindsay Fitzharris

Lindsay Fitzharris with her copy at the UK Launch. Old Operating Theatre in central London. May 25 2022.

A gentleman walked into the library at Stourport and handed this book directly to a college and me on the staff pod. He had taken The Facemaker off our newly arrived titles less than two weeks ago, and now he had to make sure someone else would read this amazing tribute. He was blownaway by its detail and clarity. I accepted the challenge and i’m so glad I did.

Seraphim Bryant, March 2023

Sera with Stourport’s copy of The Facemaker.

“In France, they were called les gueules cassées (the broken faces), while in Germany they were commonly described as das Gesichts entstellten (twisted faces) or Menschen ohne Gesicht (men without faces). In Britain, they were known simply as the “Loneliest of Tommies”—the most tragic of all war victims—strangers even to themselves.”

The Facemaker

My Review

Fitzharris is a medical historian but also a truly accomplished writer. There is a lot of information and facts in this book, but thankfully, Fitzharris knows the strength of a well-told narrative. Hardcore History readers’ comments say that the additional WW1 history is distracting in a book focused on such a narrow subject. [Not as narrow as you might think] The accomplishments and the pioneering techniques made during that time in surgery are not just talked about but shown against the staggering advancements in warfare. “The science of healing stood baffled before the science of destroying.”  These are not the only comparisons made, nor are doctors from other nations ignored for their efforts, influences and inspirations. Dentistry is shown in a new light, as we now have so much access to dental hygiene we forget how new the treatment is. More than just WW1, history plays a part in how this is miraculous and complicated. Fitzharris also goes on to tell us how plastic surgery went on to become so much more, but also, its partner, cosmetic surgery, grew out of need. Fantastic quotes from varied sources help to solidify the evidence. Yet, the best part of this book is hearing first-hand from soldiers’ accounts and their lives during and after treatment. For me, the closeness to the living subjects was the most brilliant read. The injured had so much to deal with; for those who survived, the chances of being welcomed back into society were slender. How Gillies did more than just treat a man’s injury but also his whole person. The importance of personal care that he instilled in his team, including the nurses, cleaners and artists, is a true testament to the greatness of this doctor. We can easily forget what we are handling when we talk and work with other people. The uniqueness and personality of a man or woman is that personal expression of self; it’s extremely valuable to us and society. So much of what we communicate is not verbal but in the way we move or look at each other.

Harold Gillies was an ENT (ear, nose and throat) surgeon, and he volunteered to go over with the British Red Cross when the war broke out. He was introduced to facial reconstruction on the western front by a really amazing character called Charles Valadier. He was a French-American dentist who retrofitted his Rolls Royce with a dental chair and drove it to the show under a hail of bullets; I mean, he was an absolute legend.

So Gillies went back to Britain and petitioned to open his own speciality facial reconstruction unit at the Cambridge Military Hospital in Aldershot, and that’s how it all began. Eventually, he was so overwhelmed by the number of men needing his help that in 1917 he opened the Queen’s Hospital, which later became Queen Mary’s Hospital, in Sidcup – a hospital dedicated to facial reconstruction.

This was when losing a limb made you a hero, but losing face made you a monster to a society that was primarily intolerant to facial differences. Whereas a prosthetic limb doesn’t necessarily need to look like the arm or leg it’s replacing, a face is an entirely different matter.

Anna Coleman Ladd fits a disfigured soldier with a mask. Although Gillies disliked masks, he recognised their importance in the recovery process (Photo taken from the book)

The masks were non-surgical solutions created by artists like the sculptor Anna Coleman Ladd, who worked out of a studio in Paris. Sidcup hospital also had a mask-making studio. These masks were all unique pieces of one-off art. When you look at them, it seems almost like a human face. But you have to remember that they are still unmovable. If you were sitting in front of someone wearing one of these masks, it could be a bit unsettling because the masks were expressionless; they couldn’t operate like a face. They were also very uncomfortable to wear, fragile, and didn’t age with the patient. So long term, they weren’t really a solution. Gillies hated them because the masks reminded him of the limitations of what he was doing surgically. However, he sometimes advised recovering patients that they might want to wear masks to go out into society and not be stared at. Time was tricky; it could take more than a decade to rebuild a soldier’s face.

Above: Sergeant Marsden suffered burns to his face and hands after a shell blast. His skin was left entirely blackened by the heat of the explosion. But these photographs, taken between June 22, 1916, and September 7, 1916, show the speed of his face’s complete recovery.

Some Flash Facts Facing Facial Reconstruction Surgery (Plastic Surgery) in History.

  • The term “plastic surgery” was coined in 1798. At that time, plastic meant something you could mould and shape – in this instance, a patient’s skin or soft tissue.
  • Rhinoplasty [reconstructing the nose] is one of the oldest surgical procedures on record, dating back to around 600 BC. 
  • Disfigurement has been strongly associated with shame because of its association with disease. Syphilis, which ravaged much of the world for centuries, caused “saddle nose”, where the nose would cave in. People associated syphilis – and the disfigurement it caused – with a moral failing.
  • During World War I, patients with facial injuries had to sit on unique benches painted blue when they went out so that people knew not to look at them.
  • During the Napoleonic War, there was a widespread practice of comrades killing any facially disfigured battle mates, “mercy killings”, to save them from later shame or ostracism.

What is Sera Reading? The Corset by Laura Purcell

The main characters are Dorothea Truelove, who is young, wealthy and beautiful. She is involved in charity work at the fictional Oakgate Prison, where she meets Ruth Butterham. Ruth is young, poor and awaiting trial for murder. Her story is madness, but is it true?

Is prisoner Ruth Butterham mad or a murderer? Victim or villain?

THE CORSET

This book is a gothic-style novel, the telling is magical realism, which as a storytelling device can sometimes split opinion, but it is done brilliantly here. The writing is excellent, and it’s captivating. The setting is expertly rendered, and Purcell manages to recreate the Victorian period with an eye for detail and the differences that are sometimes overlooked. The result is that a reader requires minimal effort to become immersed.
Ruth’s story is beset with unhappy events. I’d go so far as to say tragic. Starting in her early school days when she is harshly bullied. Dorothea Truelove has wealth, beauty, and a certain amount of freedom. She is a bit pretentious, perhaps a little naïve in some ways. You think these two have nothing in common. However, Ruth could have shared a similar lifestyle to Dorothea. Had her mother not been so unlucky in her choice of husband. Her mother, originally from an upper-class family, is disinherited because she intended to love an artist. Her husband, Ruth’s father, is quickly living by the bottle. He becomes uninterested in his wife and daughter, and their lives lurch from poor decisions, debt, bad luck, unhappy disaster and loss until their family life is utterly ruined. Ruth is sold into what can only be described as slavery.
Some of the most interesting supporting ideas are Dorothea’s fascination with phrenology and her wish to test her hypothesis that the shape of a person’s skull can signal if they have evil or dark tendencies leading her to Ruth. Also, the mental health and physical effects of Ruth being taught by her mother to become a seamstress and her natural talent. The secretly crafted new corset that acts as a metaphorical armour against her fears and insecurities caught my imagination. In the final chapters, you can almost explain away all the magic, yet, it is magic how fate seems to pull on the treads of these two lives.
I have no hesitation in recommending The Corset, a thrilling story laden with clever ideas and plot twists.

Note* In the USA, Laura is published by Penguin Books, where The Corset is titled The Poison Thread and Bone China is called The House of Whispers.

What’s Sera Reading? Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart

Young Mungo is a 2022 novel by Scottish-American writer Douglas Stuart. It is Stuart’s second novel, following his Booker Prize-winning debut Shuggie Bain (2020).

15-year-old Mungo Hamilton is growing up in a Glasgow council estate. He is quite a gentle boy, very different from his older brother Hamish. There is a constant threat of violence in his life from warring gangs of Protestants and Catholics, plus a threat from alcoholic predators. For most of the story, Mungo is living at home and being cared for by his sister Jodie, with the constant threat of being taken away by social services in the absence of their mother, Maureen. He meets James, a Catholic boy who lives across the street from him. James, who has built a dovecote to raise pigeons, is the most beautiful person to Mungo. The two become friends and soon develop a romance.

The book confronts the homophobia, toxic masculinity and religious conflicts of society in the early 90s. Much like Shuggie Bain, it is a hard-hitting world for a young lad becoming a man. Stuart’s chapters alternate between a fishing trip that Mungo takes with two friends of his mother and a more expansive history of Mungo’s life leading up to the final chapter, where both narratives collide. The reader is taken by a brutal truth in a story you know is going to turn nasty. You will feel deeply for the protagonist as sexual and physical abuse are the main themes in this book. Yet, there is a beautiful story of love. Jodie and James are the islands of hope you find as a reader.

Yes, I did cry when I was reading this novel.

I did find the story to be gut-wrenching. The scenes at the loch were particularly difficult to stomach, and the weather aids the foreboding atmosphere, whose inevitability only serves to heighten its tragedy. Although I was glad to reach the end, this is defiantly a book that would take a second read; so much life is contained in the pages. Worth every moment.

An interesting fact to add [as I happen to be a student of photography] The cover depicts the well-known photograph “The Cock (Kiss)” by German photographer Wolfgang Tillmans.

What’s Sera Reading? The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

In 2022 Crime was the most popular genre across Worcestershire Libraries. Richard Osman topped the most borrowed books list with his latest novel, “The Man Who Died Twice”, borrowed a total of 970 times. His debut novel, “The Thursday Murder Club”, was borrowed 769 times! It was closely followed by Lee Child and Andrew Child’s “Better off Dead” with 733 issues.

Seraphim with Kidderminster Library’s copy

A proper cosy caper. Amateur sleuths in an upmarket retirement village investigate unsolved murder cases that the Kent police force has given up on. Cold cases are put aside temporally when a couple of killings occur on their doorstep. The Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty, but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves. Four distinct characters who would never have crossed paths are now the best of friends, and each brings their expertise, favours and insight.

The excellent debut of a fun mystery series. And I can see a TV series from it too.
It starts out great, but it gets more convoluted later. Osman may have meant that to be “red herrings”, but it’s just clutter. A brilliant, quirky and loveable cast. It is an intriguing and funny premise which delivers. “on to the next case!”