Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron review

by Janet Chan

Fans of Julia Quinn may be wondering why she is on a list of graphic medicine titles. Well, fear not dear readers, Ms. Quinn has not abandoned her signature romance genre. She has partnered with her sister, Violet Charles, to create the graphic novel, Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron, which is at heart a romance novel. What sets this graphic novel into the graphic medicine category are Ms. Butterworth’s adventures of being a survivor of a smallpox outbreak, provider of elder care, and medical detective.

The story starts with the 1797 birth of Miss Butterworth in Hampshire, England the day before a pox epidemic arrives at her village. The epidemic spares Miss Butterworth, her mother, and grandmother but tragically takes the lives of the rest of her family. This was not an uncommon scene before the widespread use of vaccines to combat smallpox. The mortality rate for smallpox was around 30% (CDC, 2021, reference below). Fortunately, smallpox was the first disease ever eradicated through a global vaccination campaign with the last reported case occurring in 1978 (CDC, 2021).

Miss Butterworth faces more hardship when her mother is imprisoned for tax evasion. She is raised by her loving grandmother until her grandmother’s death from consumption, also known as tuberculosis (TB). TB was once one of the most feared diseases on the planet and still accounts for over a million deaths per year worldwide. Although TB is treatable, drug resistant TB continues to be a public health concern (WHO, 2023, reference below).

Miss Butterworth goes to live with her aunt who begrudgingly takes her in. This begins her Cinderella phase where she is abused and forced to work as a servant for her aunt. Miss Butterworth can handle the abuse, but when she overhears her aunt’s plan to sell her, she quickly formulates an escape plan.

Once on her own, she ends up at the house of a wealthy family and is hired as a caregiver to the elderly lady of the house, Lady Savagewood. The lady does not speak, but she and Miss. Butterworth work out a communication method. Also in the house is the dashing Lord Savagewood, grandson of Lady Savagewood. A predictable romance ensues between the Lord and Miss Butterworth, but with a few twists and turns along the way. Rumors are rampant about the Lord killing his fiancé in a variety of ways. Fortunately, the analytical mind of Ms. Butterworth works out the medical mystery around the fiancé’s death and saves Lord Savagewood from his cousin’s plot to have him sent to an asylum.

The illustrations are beautiful and colorful. There are a few illustrations of people being killed by birds that may be too much for some readers. The story itself is mostly a predictable read and a bit on the silly side despite the unfortunate situations.

On a serious note, the only drawback to this graphic novel is that it does not appear that there will be any further works produced by this dynamic duo. At the end of the novel, Ms. Quinn reveals in a personal note that her sister was tragically lost in a car accident before this work was published. I extend my heartfelt condolences to Ms. Quinn and her family and their friends on her loss and am grateful that she chose to share this work with her readers.

References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2021, February 21). History of smallpox. CDC. Retrieved August 18, 2023, from: https://www.cdc.gov/smallpox/history/history.html

World Health Organization (WHO). (2023, April 23). Tuberculosis. WHO. Retrieved August 18, 2023, from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/tuberculosis#:~:text=Key%20facts,with%20tuberculosis%20(TB)%20worldwide.

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Janet Chan, MLIS, AHIP, RN is a research and education librarian at the University of South Florida Health Libraries. Her research areas include bibliotherapy, graphic medicine, and digital health.