Rationalist

"I raised my dress, and I saw his eyes move at last from the two escapes of window and door which until now had formed his whole world. I raised my dress, sir, like a curtain on a stage. And when I stood there, I saw a changed expression that vied with his terror. I will halt in these inspections, my modesty being gone. I halt for no other reason that than of economy. You may guess what happened. He was distracted. I do not know for how long, for a few minutes or the best part of an hour. When the time, short or long, was over, I felt for the first time that joy which I had denied myself for my whole life. I could have sung."    *     *     *     *"Madam, I apologized to you for stealing your thoughts. Now, be not so quick with mine. What I hear is music. A sweet tale. Where neither was happy, two are happy now, albeit briefly. I am a rationalist. If God's against that, I am against God."Set in 18th Century England, this wonderful tale begins with a horrifying account of an amputation.  The grisly details both mortify and compel.  Then the tale picks up with Dr. Silas Grange's encounters, both in society and in his walks down to the sea.  Not the least of these encounters is a beguiling and bewitching woman, Mrs. Quill, and her daughter Jane.  With sparse prose, interspersed with contrasting wordier excerpts from Scottish philosopher David Hume's A Treatise of Human Nature, Collins has crafted an magnificent novel. There are no extraneous words or happenings between the covers of this wonderful book.  This work is bound together very carefully, as with sutures. Everything ties together, including the allegories and metaphors.  The text pays tribute to Scotland in many different ways, which has its own effect of binding this novel together as well.  There are others: souls, salt, blood, meat, predators, wine, the color red, as well as the wonderful women in this work, and their interactions both with themselves and with the men in the story, each in her own special and unique way.  As for the men: Hargrove the Rake, the other physician and friend begins and ends the story, and appears at intervals to embellish the plot and widen the focus a bit; the Amputee returns, with his own special way of spicing and stitching together the story.  The good doctor himself makes a very compelling and fascinating and unforgettable addition as the protagonist. Physician, heal thyself, comes to mind at many times within the covers.  This work is in the top five of my all-time favorites!  Highly, highly recommended!