The Book of Human Skin

By: Michelle Lovric

Narrated by: Charlotte Strevens, Peter Noble

Length: 20 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

In 18th-century Venice, Minguillo Fasan, heir to a fortune, contrives to dispatch of his sister, Marcella, condemning her to the fate of a nun.

But Marcella Fasan is tougher than Minguillo imagines, and, aided by a servant, a painter, a skin-obsessed doctor, a Scottish merchant and a cigar-smoking pornographer, she pitches her wits against her brother....

©2010 Michelle Lovric (P)2015 W F Howes Ltd

Critic reviews

"A witty exciting page-turner which becomes increasingly addictive.... Quite unlike anything else around - and all the better for that." ( Daily Mail)

"This book is fabulous - funny, horrific, subversive - in short a wholly addictive read. I don't think I have enjoyed anything as much since Perfume." (Joanne Harris)

Glad I stuck with this one.

Almost couldn't continue listening to this. Parts of this story made my skin crawl. But I stuck with it and I'm so glad I did. Marvelous. The characters are top notch yikes

Fascinating novel

Any additional comments?

I really enjoyed the narration for this book - switching speakers and voices with the changing POV for each chapter really worked well, in my opinion. It was very easy for me to differentiate the POV's and engage with the text. The plot was almost gothic. I couldn't immerse myself into the main character all that well, because she rose above a childhood of horrific treatment by a sadistic brother and an apathetic mother. People like that do exist, it's just that it's hard for me to personally identify with that type of character in that context in that era. Having said that, the villains were excruciatingly well done and the supporting characters were very well drawn (by the author) and described (by the narrator). My interest level stayed high throughout the book and its changing scenery. I'll replay this audiobook again in the future, it's not going to the back shelf at all. The audiobook version of this book was a delight. Indeed, if I were to recommend this book to others, I would emphasize that the audio version is definitely worth it.

Despicable villain, predictable ending, but interesting.

Many colorful characters, locations & twists kept me reading in 'page turner' mode...until 2/3rds through the book, when I started asking how much more torment could the author put this ill-used lady through? When will the author make an end?

Finally, the 'good' lived happily ever after- we assume. But we should have seen the evil brother suffer MORE and longer to atone for just some of his perversion & fomenting hatred. He was 'punished' in a clever manner, but left alive in 'too good a condition' for this writer's lust for revenge. He was knowingly too evil to forgive. After reading 100's of pages of suffering he caused all those around him, I wanted at least 2-3 chapters to picture how much more HIS agonies would affect the rest of his (hopefully) long life.

Forgiveness is for people who have the possibility of becoming human again; this monster would always continue the same - as would his evil opposite, the mad nun.