The Second Life of Mirielle West: A Haunting Historical Novel Perfect for Book Clubs
Jul 2021 · Kensington Books
4.7star
6 reviews
Ebook
384
Pages
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About this ebook
The glamorous world of a silent film star’s wife abruptly crumbles when she’s forcibly quarantined at the Carville Lepers Home in this page-turning story of courage, resilience, and reinvention set in 1920s Louisiana and Los Angeles. Based on little-known history, this timely book will strike a chord with readers of Fiona Davis, Tracey Lange, and Marie Benedict.
Based on the true story of America’s only leper colony, The Second Life of Mirielle West brings vividly to life the Louisiana institution known as Carville, where thousands of people were stripped of their civil rights, branded as lepers, and forcibly quarantined throughout the entire 20th century.
For Mirielle West, a 1920’s socialite married to a silent film star, the isolation and powerlessness of the Louisiana Leper Home is an unimaginable fall from her intoxicatingly chic life of bootlegged champagne and the star-studded parties of Hollywood’s Golden Age. When a doctor notices a pale patch of skin on her hand, she’s immediately branded a leper and carted hundreds of miles from home to Carville, taking a new name to spare her family and famous husband the shame that accompanies the disease.
At first she hopes her exile will be brief, but those sent to Carville are more prisoners than patients and their disease has no cure. Instead she must find community and purpose within its walls, struggling to redefine her self-worth while fighting an unchosen fate.
As a registered nurse, Amanda Skenandore’s medical background adds layers of detail and authenticity to the experiences of patients and medical professionals at Carville – the isolation, stigma, experimental treatments, and disparate community. A tale of repulsion, resilience, and the Roaring ‘20s, The Second Life of Mirielle West is also the story of a health crisis in America’s past, made all the more poignant by the author’s experiences during another, all-too-recent crisis.
PRAISE FOR AMANDA SKENANDORE’S BETWEEN EARTH AND SKY
“Intensely emotional…Skenandore’s deeply introspective and moving novel will appeal to readers of American history.”
—Publishers Weekly
Based on the true story of America’s only leper colony, The Second Life of Mirielle West brings vividly to life the Louisiana institution known as Carville, where thousands of people were stripped of their civil rights, branded as lepers, and forcibly quarantined throughout the entire 20th century.
For Mirielle West, a 1920’s socialite married to a silent film star, the isolation and powerlessness of the Louisiana Leper Home is an unimaginable fall from her intoxicatingly chic life of bootlegged champagne and the star-studded parties of Hollywood’s Golden Age. When a doctor notices a pale patch of skin on her hand, she’s immediately branded a leper and carted hundreds of miles from home to Carville, taking a new name to spare her family and famous husband the shame that accompanies the disease.
At first she hopes her exile will be brief, but those sent to Carville are more prisoners than patients and their disease has no cure. Instead she must find community and purpose within its walls, struggling to redefine her self-worth while fighting an unchosen fate.
As a registered nurse, Amanda Skenandore’s medical background adds layers of detail and authenticity to the experiences of patients and medical professionals at Carville – the isolation, stigma, experimental treatments, and disparate community. A tale of repulsion, resilience, and the Roaring ‘20s, The Second Life of Mirielle West is also the story of a health crisis in America’s past, made all the more poignant by the author’s experiences during another, all-too-recent crisis.
PRAISE FOR AMANDA SKENANDORE’S BETWEEN EARTH AND SKY
“Intensely emotional…Skenandore’s deeply introspective and moving novel will appeal to readers of American history.”
—Publishers Weekly
Ratings and reviews
4.7
6 reviews
Katelyn Whiteford
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December 16, 2021
I could not read this book fast enough, all the while trying to force myself to slow down knowing it would end all to soon. I spent every second emerged in Mirielle's world and every time I had to put the book down I couldn't get my mind to leave the pages for longer than a few minutes at a time. Historical fiction is not a genre that I spend much time with, a book has to truly call to me and for some reason this is one of those rare historical fiction novels that had me completely captivated from the first page to long after I read the last sentence. Even if you would rather read anything other than historical fiction, read this book. It will not disappoint, not even for a second.
About the author
Amanda Skenandore is a historical fiction writer and registered nurse. Her first novel, Between Earth and Sky, won the American Library Association’s Reading List Award for Best Historical Fiction. She lives in Las Vegas, Nevada. Readers can visit her website at www.amandaskenandore.com.
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