THE SECOND LIFE OF MIRIELLE WEST
Amanda Skenadore
Kensington Publishing Corp
July 27, 2021
384 pages
Amazon | Goodreads
This is the story of the wife of a silent film star who contracts Leprosy and is sent to a Leper colony in Louisiana. The time period is the 1920s.
Mirielle is our protagonist. She has led a very privileged and entitled life when leprosy was discovered. She is the mother of 2 young daughters and a son who drowned several years earlier. In the beginning, she does not believe she is ill, she has no symptoms. She packs elegant gowns, shoes and jewelry for her “short stay” (until they discover the mistake, she believes). It is very easy to dislike her character. The reader gets to observe Mirielle’s evolvement and growth as she accepts her situation and starts to contribute to colony life.
There was a myriad of characters (residents of the colony) in the story. It was interesting to read about day to day life under less than ideal circumstances. The resiliency of human nature is amazing. And the portrayal of human emotions is well done. Denial, shame, anger, frustration, acceptance. There are a lot of life lessons.
The book is very informative. The colony, Carville, actually existed. I was surprised to learn that leprosy still exists, but is curable. Kudos to the author for all the research. It’s not a subject that many of us are well versed in.
I was reading through some of the reviews for the book and came across this link for the background of the research and writing. I thought I would include it too. It demonstrates how this book comes together. Check it out here.
This book might appeal to fans of Ellen Marie Wiseman, Susan Meissner and Fiona Davis.
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