BBNYA 2024 Semi-Finalist Tour | Mr Hammond and the Poetic Apprentice by Mellany Ambrose
Mr Hammond and the Poetic Apprentice by Mellany Ambrose is the perfect read for anyone who appreciates historical fiction, particularly those with a deep interest in the intersection of medicine, literature, and the human experience, as it masterfully weaves together the stories of a struggling apothecary and his unlikely apprentice, John Keats, in a poignant exploration of the power of poetry and the complexities of the human heart. (SG preview)
The Book Bloggers’ Novel of the Year Award (BBNYA) celebrates the books that made it to the semi-finals with a mini spotlight blitz tour for each title.
BBNYA is a yearly competition where book bloggers worldwide read and score books written by indie authors, ending with 16 finalists and one overall winner.
If you want more information about BBNYA, check out the BBNYA website https://www.bbnya.com/ or peek at Twitter @BBNYA_Official. BBNYA is brought to you in association with the @Foliosociety (if you love beautiful books, you NEED to check out their website!) and the book blogger support group @The_WriteReads.
Today is Day 25 of my 2024 BBNYA Semi-Finalist Blitz. From October 7 through December 4, I’ll feature one semi-finalist daily. I hope you will join the panelists in celebrating the books, authors, and illustrators that reached this epic milestone.
BBNYA 2024 Semi-Finalist Tour | Mr Hammond and the Poetic Apprentice by Mellany Ambrose | #historicalfiction #literaryfiction @mellanyambrose @BBNYA_Official @Foliosociety @The_WriteReads
Book Details
Mr Hammond and the Poetic Apprentice by Mellany Ambrose
Published by Independent Author on April 28, 2023
Genres: Age: Adult, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction
Format: eBook, Paperback
Pages: 361
Source: BBNYASummer, 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?
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Purchase Links for Mr Hammond and the Poetic Apprentice
- Amazon Kindle Edition
- Ambrose, Mellany (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 361 Pages - 03/29/2023 (Publication Date) - Matador (Publisher)
- Ambrose, Mellany (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 360 Pages - 03/14/2023 (Publication Date) - Matador (Publisher)
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About Mellany Ambrose
Mellany Ambrose worked as a hospital doctor and general practitioner in the NHS for nearly 30 years. My interest in Keats’s medical career arose when I discovered he’d grown up and trained as an apprentice close to where I was working as a GP. I spent many happy hours researching in the British and Wellcome libraries and visiting sites related to Keats’s life and Georgian era medicine.
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More posts from the 2024 BBNYA Semi-Finalists Tour
Lady of the Dragons by Shelby Elizbeth
Lost in the Crowd – Benji’s Story by Sarah McKnight
Lost Solace by Karl Drinkwater
Masquerade Fall by Estella G. Fogg
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