Although the history of dissection in general has received increasing attention, the importance of anatomizing female bodies has hitherto been neglected. Katharine Parks Secrets of Women is a first attempt to fill the gap. She relates a fascinating history of women on the dissection table. Central to her book are the almost unbelievable stories of an abbess whose heart contained a cross, a crown of thorns, nails and a lance, items well known as symbols of the Passion of Christ; the investigation of the body of a lactating virgin prophetess; the search for the cause of death of patrician wives and mothers; and the dissected body of an executed female criminal.
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