The Tale of Raw Head & Bloody Bones by Jack Wolf, 2013 Paperback

The Tale of Raw Head & Bloody Bones by Jack Wolf, 2013 Paperback Set in 1750s England, The Tale of Raw Head & Bloody Bones follows Tristan Hart, a brilliant but deeply disturbed young man from a wealthy Berkshire family. Sent to London to study medicine under the renowned anatomist Dr. William Hunter, Tristan is intellectually driven by Enlightenment ideals—reason, science, and the study of anatomy. He seeks to understand the nature of pain, the mind-body connection, and the existence of God. However, Tristan harbors a dark duality: while he aims to alleviate human suffering, he is equally obsessed with inflicting pain. Plagued by hallucinations of the folkloric demons Raw Head and Bloody Bones, he struggles to distinguish reality from delusion. His sadistic impulses emerge through dissections, experiments, and violent encounters, including with Covent Garden prostitutes. As Tristan navigates relationships—particularly with Katherine, a younger girl who shares his dark desires—the novel explores themes of madness, sexuality, identity, and the clash between rational science and primal superstition. Written in a stylized 18th-century voice with frequent capitalization of nouns, the narrative blurs the line between psychological breakdown and supernatural horror. Ultimately, the story questions whether Tristan is a visionary genius or a dangerous psychopath—and what truths lie at the intersection of pain, love, and the human soul.