Immortality by Dana Schwartz Narrator: Mhairi Morrison, Tim Campbell
Series: Anatomy Duology #2
Published by MacMillan Audio on February 28, 2023
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy Romance
Length: 12 hours, 2 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Library
Goodreads
Amazon, Audible, Libro.fm, Barnes & Noble, Apple
Hazel Sinnett is alone and half-convinced the events of the year before—the immortality, Beecham’s vial—were a figment of her imagination. She doesn’t even know if Jack is alive or dead. All she can really do now is treat patients and maintain Hawthornden Castle as it starts to decay around her.
When saving a life leads to her arrest, Hazel seems doomed to rot in prison until a message intervenes: Hazel has been specifically requested to be the personal physician of Princess Charlotte, the sickly granddaughter of King George III. Soon Hazel is dragged into the glamor and romance of a court where everyone has something to hide, especially the enigmatic, brilliant members of a social club known as the Companions to the Death.
As Hazel’s work entangles her more and more with the British court, she realizes that her own future as a surgeon isn't the only thing at stake for her. Malicious forces are at work in the monarchy, and Hazel may be the only one capable of setting things right.
When Dana Schwartz’s novel Anatomy ended with some unresolved story arcs, it was an easy decision, well, more like a necessity, to pick up Immortality: A Love Story, the second and final installment in The Anatomy Duology. I expected a continuation of Hazel’s journey towards being a surgeon mixed with a gothic mystery set in the atmospheric graveyards of Edinburgh. While it does have a mystery, Immortality takes place during the glittering Season of Regency London. It is less about romance and body snatching and more about court intrigue and secret societies. However, at its heart, Immortality is about a young woman’s challenge of societal conventions and her quest for autonomy.
Immortality picks up about a year after the completion of Anatomy. Hazel has been practicing medicine in Scotland and has begun to build a reputation in her community for quality care and compassion. It is this reputation, and the fact that she is a woman, that allows her to escape a grim fate and lands her amid the glittering London ton, serving as physician to the ailing Princess Charlotte. While she gains a celebrity status in society, she doesn’t seem to lose the qualities that made us like her as a character to begin with. She’s still down-to-earth and compassionate, and it is her holistic approach to treatment that helps her identify, and eventually ‘solve’ the Princess’s problem.
Hazel’s newfound celebrity catches the attention of The Companions to the Death. I loved the creation of a secret society of immortal, brilliant scholars and artists (both alive and believed to be deceased). They are more in love with their own genius and less interested in humanity, whom they profess to be using that genius to benefit. No stranger to the darker side of immortality, Hazel doesn’t understand or trust their motivations for offering her membership in the club. The author may or may not be drawing a correlation between The Companions and the modern day reverence of science and technology.
The part I enjoyed most about Immortality was the re-imagining of historical outcomes in a plausible and believable way. Hazel helps a brilliant young physician solve what ‘ails’ Mad King George and the ‘death’ of the beloved Princess Charlotte isn’t exactly the tragedy one might expect.
I’m not sure I would have subtitled this novel “A Love Story,” but Hazel does finally find true love and her HEA in Immortality. I was rooting for a different romantic outcome for Hazel, but I can’t be totally disappointed with the way things ended.
Although it was very different in tone than Anatomy, I still found Immortality to be well-written and enjoyable. Hazel is a modern and believable character that isn’t out of place in early eighteenth-century England. I appreciated the creative tampering with history and really enjoyed the different intrigues Hazel faces in her time in London. I think it was a fine end to the duology and would be happy to read future novels by the author.
Narration:
I really love Mhairi Morrison‘s narrating voice. She has a young, fresh tone that fits well across many characters. The story is written in the limited third person, so her performance is well-suited for Hazel. I prefer to listen at 1.2x, but I believe it would equally as easy to follow at higher speeds.
Listen to a clip: HERE
About Tim Campbell
Tim Campbell is an award winning actor and singer who lives in Los Angeles, CA. He works primarily in audiobook narration and voice over and has narrated hundreds of titles spanning almost every genre. He has won or been nominated for almost every major award in the audiobook industry, including most recently a 2018 Audie, a 2019 Audie (nom), a 2019 Voice Arts Award, and several Independent Audiobook and Audiofile Magazine Earphones awards.
He lived and trained in the UK and Germany, narrates as both an American and a Brit, and has studied performance diction in German, Italian, French, Spanish and Japanese, and Latin. He specializes in accents, dialects, and character work and holds three degrees in theater and music as well as graduating from the esteemed two year Great Books Colloquium of Pepperdine University.
In his other, musical life, Tim sings regularly with the LA Master Chorale, Los Angeles Opera, and in studio sessions for TV and Film. Highlights include principal ensemble in Candide at LA Opera, Courfeyrac in Les Miserables at Fresno Grand Opera, Jud in Oklahoma with Cabrillo Music Theater, and Anthony in Sweeney Todd with Pacific Opera Project and singing on the soundtrack for Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker and films such as Creed 2, Venom, and many others.
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I've developed a preference for audiobooks over the last few years, which allow me to complete chores, run carpool, or work on my many building and craft projects while 'reading.
My all time favorite selections include Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, Karen Marie Moning's Fever series, and all of Robin Hobb's books set in the Farseer world. Honorable mentions to Elle Kennedy, Penny Reid, Meljean Brook, Ann Aguirre, Krista and Becca Ritchie, Jeaniene Frost, and Kristen Callihan.
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- 🎧 Immortality by Dana Schwartz @DanaSchwartzzz @MhairiCMorrison @TimCampbellVO @MacmillanAudio #LoveAudiobooks @4saintjude - December 6, 2024
- 🎧 Anatomy by Dana Schwartz @DanaSchwartzzz @MhairiCMorrison @TimCampbellVO @MacmillanAudio #LoveAudiobooks @4saintjude - November 1, 2024
- 🎧 Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty @TheGoodDeath @RecordedBooks #LoveAudiobooks @4saintjude - October 4, 2024
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