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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
Well researched, well told story of Carville patients with leprosy who were quarantined on site before there was a known cure.
Before reading this, I had no idea about this historical context.
Really wanted to like this book but has to force myself to stay focused. Perhaps it is because I loved Molokai and this was very different. But it did make me Google to learn more about the history of the place
Could not put this one down. I had no idea there was ever a leper's colony in the U.S, much less what it would be like to live in one. I also had no idea the stigma, fear, and shame the disease of leprosy raised around its victims and their families. Just horrific. Especially, since it was all so unnecessary.
The story starts galloping right out of the gate and doesn't stop for much, if anything, until it's over. Very well written, suspenseful, and unpredictable. (Ok. I had a feeling certain things might happen, but was mostly surprised every time I turned the page.) Finished it in two days.
It was nice to read something this fresh. So many books seem to be written about the same time periods (WWII) and geographical areas (Appalachia). It's nice to read something completely different and so unexpected. Not to say I don't enjoy WWII and Appalachia stories, but they do get old after a while.
The story starts galloping right out of the gate and doesn't stop for much, if anything, until it's over. Very well written, suspenseful, and unpredictable. (Ok. I had a feeling certain things might happen, but was mostly surprised every time I turned the page.) Finished it in two days.
It was nice to read something this fresh. So many books seem to be written about the same time periods (WWII) and geographical areas (Appalachia). It's nice to read something completely different and so unexpected. Not to say I don't enjoy WWII and Appalachia stories, but they do get old after a while.
adventurous
challenging
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Funny thing is historical fiction isn’t my general genre. I wasn’t sure at first but found the story super compelling and the writing really well done. A little predictable in the character development for the main character but still - a good book and I also learned about something I’d never known about.
Amazing tale of a woman stricken with leprosy in the 1920s and the exclusion and shame that these people felt Can’t imagine the loneliness they felt as their lives were shut off from those they love.
Learned a lot about the myths I’ve believed and I appreciate that. The writing was redundant and I began skimming toward the end.
Compelling in a different way than Moloka’i (Brennert). A take on the disease and societal response to it that really brings home the impact incarceration had on everyday people in mainland US.
In silver screen Hollywood in the roaring twenties, contracting leprosy carried more of a stigma than possibly anywhere else in the country. It would signal the end of a leading man’s acting career, even if it was the leading man’s wife who was afflicted. Mirielle is a coddled, high society, tinsel town, leading man’s wife. She has extravagant tastes, a stunning wardrobe, no job skills, and a confirmed case of the dreaded disease.
Her diagnosis is shocking to her. She is in major denial. With hasty farewells to her husband Charlie, and her young daughters Helen and Evie, Mirielle suddenly finds herself riding in a cattle car on a train bound from cosmopolitan Los Angeles to a backwoods Carville, Louisiana leper colony run by nuns. She is fully convinced that she’ll be sent right back home.
Mirielle is forced to accept some hard truths. She must radically change her attitude, not just toward the disease but toward her fellow patients and her relationship with her husband. She forms attachments to the medical staff and establishes kinships with her tough co-worker Irene and a mischevious ten-year-old girl, Jane. The proprieter of the canteen, Frank, plays a central role in key scenes. The damage the disease visits on the psyches and the bodies of her fellow sufferers is always in the forefront. Be prepared for a heavy read. Other, perhaps lighter novels regarding leper colonies are “Molokai” by Alan Brennert, set in Hawaii and “The Covenant of Water” by Abraham Verghese, set in India.
Her diagnosis is shocking to her. She is in major denial. With hasty farewells to her husband Charlie, and her young daughters Helen and Evie, Mirielle suddenly finds herself riding in a cattle car on a train bound from cosmopolitan Los Angeles to a backwoods Carville, Louisiana leper colony run by nuns. She is fully convinced that she’ll be sent right back home.
Mirielle is forced to accept some hard truths. She must radically change her attitude, not just toward the disease but toward her fellow patients and her relationship with her husband. She forms attachments to the medical staff and establishes kinships with her tough co-worker Irene and a mischevious ten-year-old girl, Jane. The proprieter of the canteen, Frank, plays a central role in key scenes. The damage the disease visits on the psyches and the bodies of her fellow sufferers is always in the forefront. Be prepared for a heavy read. Other, perhaps lighter novels regarding leper colonies are “Molokai” by Alan Brennert, set in Hawaii and “The Covenant of Water” by Abraham Verghese, set in India.