From one of our most accomplished storytellers an extraordinary and arresting novel about a
women’s asylum in the nineteenth century and a terrifying doctor who wants to change the world
In this harrowing story based on authentic historical documents we follow the career of Dr.
Silas Weir Father of Gyno-Psychiatry ” as he ascends from professional anonymity to national
renown. Humiliated by a procedure gone terribly wrong Weir is forced to take a position at the
New Jersey Asylum for Female Lunatics where he reigns. There he is allowed to continue his
practice unchecked for decades making a name for himself by focusing on women who have been
neglected by the state—women he subjects to the most grotesque modes of experimentation. As he
begins to establish himself as a pioneer of nineteenth-century surgery Weir’s ambition is
fueled by his obsessive fascination with a young Irish indentured servant named Brigit who
becomes not only Weir’s primary experimental subject but also the agent of his destruction.
Narrated by Silas Weir’s eldest son who has repudiated his father’s brutal legacy Butcher is
a unique blend of fiction and fact a nightmare voyage through the darkest regions of the
American psyche conjoined in its startling conclusion with unexpected romance. Once again
Joyce Carol Oates has written a spellbinding novel confirming her position as one of our
celebrated American visionaries of the imagination.
