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heather_on_the_moor 's review for:
The Second Life of Mirielle West
by Amanda Skenandore
"Funny now that death might truly be at hand how Mirielle found herself wanting to live."
Mirielle is the wife of a movie star, living a life of glamorous parties and few responsibilities until a spot on her hand is diagnosed as leprosy and she's sent off to Carville, a leper colony in Louisiana. Set in the 1920s, before a cure for leprosy (now called Hansen's disease) is discovered, Mirielle faces a future of growing disfigurement and potential amputations and blindness.
This was the first novel I've ever read with a main character with leprosy, and until I read it, I was unaware of the existence of Carville, one of the only leper colonies in America. It was fascinating to see how the residents of Carville and their families dealt with the stigma associated with their condition. Many take new names inside the colony to protect their families outside from being ostracized by association. While families could visit their relatives once a week, many didn't- either because they were too far away to do so, or because they feared contracting the disease themselves.
Mirielle has to face her own fears of the disease when she gets a job working at the infirmary and has to take care of patients whose disease has progressed much farther than her own case. She has to overcome her vanity and find her worth as a person and not just a beautiful woman, because leprosy is already marring her looks.
An interesting look into a little known chapter of America's history. 3.5 stars
*This book was won in a Goodreads giveaway*
Mirielle is the wife of a movie star, living a life of glamorous parties and few responsibilities until a spot on her hand is diagnosed as leprosy and she's sent off to Carville, a leper colony in Louisiana. Set in the 1920s, before a cure for leprosy (now called Hansen's disease) is discovered, Mirielle faces a future of growing disfigurement and potential amputations and blindness.
This was the first novel I've ever read with a main character with leprosy, and until I read it, I was unaware of the existence of Carville, one of the only leper colonies in America. It was fascinating to see how the residents of Carville and their families dealt with the stigma associated with their condition. Many take new names inside the colony to protect their families outside from being ostracized by association. While families could visit their relatives once a week, many didn't- either because they were too far away to do so, or because they feared contracting the disease themselves.
Mirielle has to face her own fears of the disease when she gets a job working at the infirmary and has to take care of patients whose disease has progressed much farther than her own case. She has to overcome her vanity and find her worth as a person and not just a beautiful woman, because leprosy is already marring her looks.
An interesting look into a little known chapter of America's history. 3.5 stars
*This book was won in a Goodreads giveaway*