The Second Life of Mirielle West: A Haunting Historical Novel Perfect for Book Clubs
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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.
* A 2023 Silicon Valley Reads Selection *
* Reader’s Digest Editor’s Choice *
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.
“Scrupulous in her research and practically clairvoyant in her choice of urgent subjects — from the Indigenous boarding schools of her first novel to the disease and quarantine of The Second Life of Mirielle West — historical novelist Amanda Skenandore has quietly become one of the valley’s finest authors.” – The Las Vegas Review Journal
From the Publisher
Publisher : Kensington
Publication date : July 27, 2021
Language : English
Print length : 384 pages
ISBN-10 : 1496726510
ISBN-13 : 978-1496726513
Item Weight : 11.8 ounces
Dimensions : 5.46 x 1 x 8.21 inches
Best Sellers Rank: #8,647 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #14 in Medical Fiction (Books) #400 in Historical Fiction (Books) #887 in Women’s Literature & Fiction
Customer Reviews: 4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars (16,584) var dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction; P.when(‘A’, ‘ready’).execute(function(A) { if (dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction !== true) { dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction = true; A.declarative( ‘acrLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault”: true }, function (event) { if (window.ue) { ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } } ); } }); P.when(‘A’, ‘cf’).execute(function(A) { A.declarative(‘acrStarsLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault” : true }, function(event){ if(window.ue) { ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } }); });
11 reviews for The Second Life of Mirielle West: A Haunting Historical Novel Perfect for Book Clubs
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BritGirl –
Heartbreaking but beautiful
It’s been a minute since I thoroughly enjoyed a novel so much. I learned a tremendous amount about leprosy, in addition to what I already knew from visiting a lepor colony as a child in Guadalcanal… the residents seemed happy together despite their lost limbs and I remember in particular a lady who had lost an arm and a leg but had a sewing machine that she used to make everyone’s clothes! The novel is beautifully written, and the characters are so colorful. I could easily see this story as a hit movie…just wish I had the money to produce it because I’d be a millionaire!! Seriously, don’t hesitate, choose this book, kick back and enjoy an amazing story that will leave you grateful for modern medicine and so appreciative for this author’s gift and imagination!
petvol –
Good read
Especially as it is a true story, I thought this would be more widely known. I did not know that Kentish was curable.
Linda Weber –
Sensitive portrayal of a difficult subject. Beautifully written.
Book ReviewThe Second Life of Mirielle WestBy Amanda SkenandoreThe Second Life of Mirielle West was not a book to take in big gulps, but rather savored in sips like a fine vintage wine. Each issue raised required thought-time. Each challenge required the reader to ponder the circumstance and outcome. I could not hurry through the book. I needed space between the chapters to think deeply on what had happened. Each time I put it down I savored the opportunity to consider the previous scene or conflict. Bits and pieces of Mirielle’s story were hinted at though out but not fully revealed. I couldn’t let it rest for long before I was pulled back to find out what happened. By the mid-way point, I was so deeply engaged that I had to force myself to set the book aside and think about the issues it raised instead of rushing ahead to finish something I wasn’t sure I ever wanted to end.The book was difficult for me to engage with in the first forty pages because the protagonist was such an unlikeable person. But by the time I had reached the point where I thought I might not like the book something magical happened. The author has done a masterful job of showing how this character could and would grow and change over the course of her life. Sometimes I wanted to grab her and shake her, and other times I tried to put myself in her shoes and felt genuine sympathy.This story was a rollercoaster ride of up and down emotions; heightened expectations and dashed hopes; sympathy and frustration; anger and forgiveness; love and loss. Ms. Skenandore knows how to pull on the heartstrings.I lost myself in the beautiful writing, the vivid descriptions of scene, situation, and circumstance. I lost myself in the smells and flora, the visual contrast of the human conditions of the patients at Carville, and the beauty around them. I grew to truly care about each character who took a role in the telling of this story. Some exhibited behaviors I found irritating, others endearing. Each character, however insignificant their role, meant something and gave fullness to the story and the protagonist’s experience. I wept with Mirielle on many occasions and rejoiced with her in on others. I cried long and hard in the end.Skenandore has done it again. She has created a valuable story and historic look at a difficult subject with the precision of a surgeon. Her research is so thorough, and her descriptions of Carville so detailed I felt as if I had been there walking the walks, going in and out of the buildings, and living the experiences of the patients and staff as they journeyed through this unmentionable disease. I am a fan of this author and this, her third book, is as riveting and thought-provoking as either Between Earth and Sky or The Undertaker’s Assistant. I wait with eager anticipation to see what issue she will unearth for examination next.
sheryl morland –
It based upon a real life and event
When I read this deja vue crept up on me. This is about the wife and life of Charlie Chaplin! Wow good read, loved it.
Book Club Member –
Truth Stranger Than Fiction
I recommend reading the author’s notes before starting this novel of historical fiction. Otherwise, you might not realize how much of it is based on fact. Amanda Skenadore has invented a fictitious character, Mirielle West, and plopped her down into a Twentieth Century leper colony in the United States. Yes, a home for lepers really existed in Louisiana up until 1999. I was stunned to find that people were forced to live there against their will. Readers are introduced to Mirielle in the Roarin’ Twenties, when she was living what appeared to be a glamourous life as the wealthy wife of a silent movies star. Mirielle was already struggling to cope with alcoholism, depression, and the death of her young son, but none of those circumstances would be as challenging to her as was adjusting to life as a leper. “The Second Life of Mirielle West” could not be a more appropriate title, as her life can clearly be delineated into BEFORE and AFTER her diagnosis. At the colony, she lost all social status that she had previously enjoyed. Contact with family was limited to letters, as the colony had no telephones available to patients. Mirielle became obsessed with the possibility of returning home to her husband and two young daughters, which could happen only if skin scrapings that had no trace of the bacteria that causes leprosy could be recorded for 12 months in a row. Such releases were extremely rare. Skenadore populated the colony with a host of interesting characters and many mad adventures of failed escapes and attempts at brightening life for the residents, especially the children, at the colony. Although the hopelessness of the situation made the book a little depressing, the lives of the patients took twists and turns that I wasn’t expecting. The book should stimulate good discussions about stigmas of certain diseases, quarantines, and personal liberties. I will make it my next choice for book club.
Ximena Restrepo –
Great historical fiction, so much ignorance in the world
Beautifully written, the author captures some dramatic, intense and hardship stories of many Carville’s residents at the leprosy colony in the 1920 – 1940s time frame. The feeling of abandonment and loss of belonging for so many, and the resilience and hope that others managed to live by becomes the only social and moral support. All the nuns and doctors that have dedicated their entire lives to rehabilitate the patients is remarkable. The book is a must, it’s captivating and adventurous! Great ending too!
Nicole Roy –
Excellent story! Well written!
Kindle Customer –
I liked the pace of the book, mostly was the transition from wealth and acceptance to being an outsider in a different world. Her character was so sad and spoiled but the humane kindness was always there.
bookaddict –
A bit brutal if you did not already have some historical knowledge of this subject, but overall, it kept my interest to the end and was an enjoyable read, if sad in places.
Kindle Customer –
It is interesting to get an insight into life for someone with this disease in the 1920’s. The story follows Mirielle as she is diagnosed and sent to a specialist hospital. Although her story is sad, the emotion didn’t come through in the writing. Unfortunately it is sometimes hard to sympathise with her as she is a self-centred character. However, I enjoyed reading the book and meeting the other characters.
Kindle Customer –
Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Great characters living through awful circumstances.The author really brought a great empathy to the story.