John Gregory Hancock

The Mortuary Arts John Gregory Hancock

Katherine O'Donnell was born with a disfiguring strawberry birthmark across the bottom of her face. In 1880s London, that was enough to discourage suitors. Love was something for which she yearned, but never found within her reach. Out of necessity, she became adept at hiding inside her home and behind makeups she formulated and applied herself. When tragedy upended her modest life and dumped her out onto the streets, she was bereft of options. Desperate, she answered an advertisement for a mortuary assistant, applying makeup to cadavers. She knew what she had to do when asked what skills she possessed that qualified her for the position. Kate brazenly used her kerchief to wiped away the concealing powders and stand before them, birthmark revealed and prominent. She learned to find beauty in her newfound art, forming masques to make the dead resemble the living. If only her education had ended there. A neo-gothic novella of growing suspense and horror, with 26 beautiful interior illustrations.