Barbara Vine's new novel is about blood
- blood in its metaphysical sense as the conductor of an inherited title & blood in its physical sense as the transmitter of disease. The current Lord Nanther experiencing the reform of the House of Lords embarks on a biography of his great-grandfather the first Lord Nanther favoured physician to Queen Victoria expert on blood diseases & particularly the royal disease of haemophilia. What he uncovers begins to horrify him as he realizes that Nanther died a guilty man
- carrying a horrific secret to the grave. The Blood Doctor weaves effortlessly between past & present public life & private life. The result is a superbly satisfying novel about ambition obsession & bad blood.