Michael du Preez graduated from medical school in 1958 and went on to become a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons. Since retiring in 2001, he’s spent over a decade researching the life of Dr James Barry. He lives in Cape Town, South Africa.
Jeremy Dronfield is a writer, biographer and novelist. He lives in Ely, Cambridgeshire.
‘A scintillating portrait of Barry’s life…that feels almost
Dickensian in style.’
*Guardian*
‘An astounding story – of obstinacy, ambition, genius,
fearlessness and pioneering feminism.’
*Daily Mail*
‘Thoroughly engaging.’
*Sunday Times, Books of the Year*
‘Gripping, unusual, moving.’
*Times, Books of the Year*
‘A comprehensive account.’
*London Review of Books*
'Fascinating’.
*History Today*
‘Thoroughly researched, stimulating…Highly recommended’.
*The Lady*
‘Fascinating’
*Irish Independent*
‘An irresistible little byway in 18th-century medical and social
history’.
*Oldie*
‘An elegant and sensitive biography…du Preez and Dronfield have
done Margaret Buckley and her alter ego proud in this absorbing
book.’
*The Times*
‘At each turn of this quite gripping biography I found myself
gasping in disbelief…the excavations of Michael du Preez…and Jeremy
Dronfield…have yielded startling new evidence about the
period…Their research is authoritative and prodigious’.
*Literary Review*
‘This fantastic book is so much more than a biography of a very
remarkable woman. The thread of her personal story weaves its way
through a meticulously researched record of a fascinating period in
world history…compulsive reading.’
*Dame Margaret Turner-Warwick, first female President, Royal
College of Physicians*
‘A cracking story’.
*Spectator*
‘This is a fascinating account of the life and career of Dr James
Barry as a doctor working in the early nineteenth century. Although
Dr Barry obtained a Diploma from this College in 1813 it is only
now through this book we are able to fully understand and recognise
her achievements.’
*Clare Marx, President, the Royal College of Surgeons of
England*
‘I found the book immensely enjoyable. It’s a fascinating story,
told with verve, sensitivity and skill – the result of an
awe-inspiring amount of research and detective work, managed with
delicacy and flair. I felt the book had a real feel for the times
and I appreciated its firm historical grounding, and the way in
which imagination and a rigorous approach to fact played so well
together. A marvellous read, and a story worth telling.’
*Rodney Bolt, author of The Impossible Life of Mary
Benson*
‘This is the extraordinary and remarkable story of the
transformation of Margaret Bulkley, a red-haired Irish girl from
Cork, into Dr James Barry, physician, medical reformer, friend of
the rich, friend of the poor and fearless and irascible scourge of
the stupidity, complacency, ineptitude and greed of Britain’s
Colonial establishment. Dr James Barry kept his great secret for
over fifty years and the truth that he was, in fact, a woman
was only revealed to an incredulous public after his death.
Meticulously researched and written with great verve, this
biography is about as good as it gets.’
*Neil McKenna, author of Fanny & Stella: The Young Men Who
Shocked Victorian England*
'Extensively researched, a fascinating story of a woman taking
extreme measures to work in a man’s world.’
*Richard Hollingham, author of Blood and Guts: A History of
Surgery*
Ask a Question About this Product More... |