James Miranda Barry: Reissued

At the turn of the nineteenth century, ten-year-old James Miranda Barry enrolled as a medical student in Edinburgh, the start of a glorious career as a military surgeon. Across the Empire, Barry achieved fame not only as a brilliant physician, but also a legendary duellist and a celebrated social figure. But James Miranda Barry was also a woman. Her greatest achievement of all had been to ‘pass’ for a man for more than fifty years. Patricia Duncker’s novel tells Barry’s story for the first time, in a richly inventive and entertaining tale of dark family secrets, adultery, questioned paternity and colonial history. It confirms her rare talent as a writer of profound ideas and immense storytelling power.

Reviews of James Miranda Barry: Reissued

'A miracle of a book that is richly atmospheric and gains the murky excitement of a Victorian thriller' Sunday Times 'A marvellous work … superbly imagined and flamboyantly written' Beryl Bainbridge 'The finest literary historical novel since Rose Tremain's Restoration' Time Out 'A powerful atmospheric and highly original novel, full of extraordinary events. Her book is both a superb historical recreation and a magical tour de force' Mail on Sunday