Mr Hammond and the Poetic Apprentice by Mellany Ambrose

Book Blurb
Summer, 1814. Thomas Hammond is an apothecary surgeon in a village near London whose dreams of a grand medical career were ruined by a shameful secret. He longs to see his apprentice, his son Edward, become a great surgeon. His other apprentice is eighteen-year-old local orphan, John Keats. Thomas sees John as a daydreamer who wastes time reading. John asks Thomas how he copes with his patients’ suffering, but Thomas has no real answer. After all, Georgian medicine is brutal with no anaesthesia, antisepsis or antibiotics. Leeches are used to bleed and medicines can poison rather than cure.

Thomas failed to save John’s mother four years earlier, and when John criticises Thomas’s methods tempers flare on both sides. Despite their differences, Thomas and John begin to develop a grudging respect for each other with Thomas seeing a humanity in the way John relates to patients. Their relationship deepens into one more resembling father and son while Thomas’s true son, Edward, disappoints his father. Thomas realises John is gifted and would make a skilled surgeon, but to help John succeed Thomas must confront his own past mistakes.

On the verge of qualifying as a surgeon, John unexpectedly abandons medicine for poetry. Thomas is devastated and struggles to find meaning in his life and work. As he faces one final challenge, can the master learn some valuable lessons about life from his poetic apprentice before it’s too late?

My Review
Mr Hammond and the Poetic Apprentice is the story of how before coming a poet, John Keats studied as an apothecary surgeon. In 1814 Keats was a young man who had lost both his parents and under his grandmother’s care he is persuaded to take on an apprenticeship under local apothecary surgeon Mr Hammond. Whilst there, Hammond’s son is also an apprentice and the two are rivals for being sent to Guy’s Hospital in London to train to be a surgeon. Differences in character make for a dificult relationship, but over time both learn a lot from each other.

Mr Hammond and the Apprentice was an eye opener for me in the fact that I never knew Keats studied medicine, it seems a strange choice for an up and coming poet who has become one of English’s most revered poet. What really made this book a beautiful read for me was the reltionship between Hammond and Keats, that becomes like a father and son as Hammond mentors the young Keats. Hammond has taken over from his father in the local surgery, who took over from his father before him. Throughout the book we know that Hammond was keeping secret from his family about how when he was training to be a surgeon there was a terrible accident that put an end to that career. This secret is what pushes him to be a good apothecary surgeon, not wanting to fail again, but it is also the reason he is has a detatched manner, not wanting to become personally involved with his patients. Keats is the complete opposite, he is a sensitive caring sole who feels that it is not only medicine that can help the patients, he believes that showing compassion and going the extra mile by talking and reading to them can help as well. It was wonderful watching how these two intriguing characters who’s differences that at first caused problems eventually made a huge difference to each others lives, both learning from each other.

Mellany Ambrose’s research into the lives of John Keats and Thomas Hammond is impeccable, the retelling of their lives in such a natural way, bringing them to life was imply brilliant; I felt like I was there with them and really knew them by the end of the book. The most fascinating aspect was the detail of the medical practices of this time, quite horrific at times. I couldn’t believe that blood letting, either by leeches or by cutting was the solution for almost everything, even lancing puss from a persons throat, it’s amazing so many survived and didn’t die of infection. Of course you can’t have a book about Keats without including some of his beautiful poetry. Mellany Ambrose includes only work written during his period with Hammond so is some of his earliest work, and just as beautful as his later more famous works. By the end of the book I had a tear in my eye as it was so emotional and the poetry chosen was perfect, and it’s not often that this happens to me.

Mr Hammond and the Poetic Apprentice is a beautiful book that really touched my heart. The relationship between Hammond and Keats is fascinating and highlights how two very different people can influence each other’s lives in such a positive way. The historical detail is exceptional and adds to the authenticity and enjoyment of the book. This is a wonderous read that shows a very different side to one of our most influential poets.

I woukd like to thank Anne Cater from Random Things Tours and Matador Books for inviting me to be part of the blog tour for this book.