 |  |
Fatal Fever: Tracking Down Typhoid Mary by Gail Jarrow is a very interesting look at the efforts to fight the spread of typhoid in New York City and the surrounding area at the turn of the twentieth century. The most famous case of a healthy carrier was that of Mary Mallon, a young Irish immigrant who made her living as a cook. Mary is believed to have sickened dozens of people and caused at least three deaths. The exact totals are not known because Mary would not cooperate with authorities by revealing all of her employers or all the aliases under which she had worked.
Mary, too, was a victim. She spent more than three decades in isolation on North Brother Island in the middle of the East River in New York City at a facility that was intended to treat tuberculosis patients. Even today experts debate how Mary's case was handled. At the time of her death in 1938, there were at least 400 carriers identified in New York, but she was the only one forced to live in isolation. Book Trailer
Awards and Honors
I just finished reading Fever: A Novel of Typhoid Mary by Mary Beth Keane. I was interested to see how the author would handle this historical fiction. In comparing the information in the two books, I found that for the most part, Keane stuck to the known facts of Mary's life. There were some minor changes in the ages of those who supposedly died after contracting typhoid from her cooking. Of course, as fiction writers do, she was able to develop the character of Mary, to portray her as a real person not just a medical anomaly or a pariah to be feared an locked away from the public.
Awards and Honors
If you enjoy real life medical mysteries, you will enjoy this fast-reading nonfiction book. You might also enjoy the following books from the TAHS library:
Mary, too, was a victim. She spent more than three decades in isolation on North Brother Island in the middle of the East River in New York City at a facility that was intended to treat tuberculosis patients. Even today experts debate how Mary's case was handled. At the time of her death in 1938, there were at least 400 carriers identified in New York, but she was the only one forced to live in isolation. Book Trailer
Awards and Honors
- Booklist Best Young Adult Books of 2015
- 2016 CCBC Choices–Historical People, Places, and Events
- 2015 Cybils Awards Nomination, Elementary / Middle Grade Nonfiction
- Junior Library Guild selection
I just finished reading Fever: A Novel of Typhoid Mary by Mary Beth Keane. I was interested to see how the author would handle this historical fiction. In comparing the information in the two books, I found that for the most part, Keane stuck to the known facts of Mary's life. There were some minor changes in the ages of those who supposedly died after contracting typhoid from her cooking. Of course, as fiction writers do, she was able to develop the character of Mary, to portray her as a real person not just a medical anomaly or a pariah to be feared an locked away from the public.
Awards and Honors
- Mary Beth Keane was named one of the 5 Under 35 best authors by the National Book Foundation
If you enjoy real life medical mysteries, you will enjoy this fast-reading nonfiction book. You might also enjoy the following books from the TAHS library:
- An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 by Jim Murphy
- Terrible Typhoid Mary: A True Story of the Deadliest Cook in America by Susan Campbell Bartoletti (Nonfiction)
- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skioot
RSS Feed
