This book focuses on consumption (or tuberculosis) and how it made its way to the stage and, eventually, became a commonplace trope for playwrights to use in order to garner tears from the audience or make commentary upon society.

I am interested in consumption as a topic, and I absolutely love 19th century theatre history, so this book is a match made in heaven for me. I was aware of many of the plays mentioned but had never delved too deep into their purpose upon the stage. The author shows through copious quotes and reviews that consumption was often utilised in a way to underline inherent failings found in women; often a character dying from the disease was said to have inherited it from their mother, who had loose morals and values in contrast to the purity of their expiring child, or the woman selflessly sacrificed herself to try and better or support her love interest. The examples go on and on, but it seems often to involve a woman and her faults, which I had not anticipated to be the case and am now fascinated by the evidence. I am intrigued too at the way in which consumptive plays were used to uphold whiteness as a form of purity as I had never dreamt of that connection, either, and it is interesting.

I also enjoyed the pictures the author included alongside some examples referenced, especially with regards to the looks the actors employed for their consumptive roles, as it helps to give the reader an inference into roles they may not know.

I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A nonfiction book about the history of tuberculosis which was actually incredibly interesting. I would say that it’s probably 30% medical history and 70% history history.