Summary of Ingenious Pain
“Ingenious Pain” is a historical novel set in 18th-century England and Russia. It follows the extraordinary life of James Dyer, an Englishman born without the ability to feel physical pain. After a difficult childhood, and a serious of adventures involving charlatans, scientists, and so-called “freaks”, he becomes a skilled – yet emotionally detached – surgeon in Bath, in the south of England. His story eventually leads him to the cold and wintry St Petersburg in Russia.
Reasons to read Ingenious Pain
“Ingenious Pain” is a compelling but complex historical novel that won several major literary awards, including the 1997 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction, the 1999 International Dublin Literary Award, and the 1999 Grinzane Cavour Prize. It was the debut of Andrew Miller, a distinguished English writer of historical fiction, such as “Pure” (winner of the 2011 Costa Book Award for Novel) and “The Land in Winter” (winner of the 2025 Walter Scott Prize and the 2025 Winston Graham Historical Prize).
Setting: Bath, Bristol, London (England, UK) & St Petersburg (Russia)
“Ingenious Pain” unfolds across various locations in England, in particular Bath, Bristol, and London, before shifting to Russia. The principal setting is Bath.
Original title: Ingenious Pain
Year of publication: 1997
Nr of pages: 352
