Fever

Mary Beth Keane has published her first novel, Fever to critical acclaim.  She won awards for it and it is recommended as an important book to read and she was named as one of the 5 under 35 special authors to watch for 2013.

All of this leads to the recommendation of this book by this blogger also.  It is a fascinating story that tells the story of Mary Mallon, better known as Typhoid Mary.  It is written as a novel, but it reads in a dry no nonsense style that to me read almost like a non fiction account of the facts and experiences of Mary.  There is no added dialog to stir up emotions.  This is a strict bare bones account of Mary and her relationship with Alfred, who she is in a relationship with for over 20 years.  They never marry but live together for most of those years.  Mary came to America from Ireland when she was 17 years old.  She starts off living with her aunt and uncle and her first job is in a laundry.
After her aunt passes away, she moves in with Alfred and starts looking for jobs in kitchens.  She enjoys cooking and is able to find various positions working in wealthy New Yorker's homes cooking for the family and for their dinner parties.  Her reputation builds and she is always a well sort after cook.

But the unusual part is that in every household eventually someone gets sick with the fever.  Mary is a great help to the family during the time the illness is int he home.  She is there to help nurse people back to health.  She always seems to know what to do.  Most of the people recover, but the children are the ones who are most susceptible and some die.  Eventually Mr Soper, the city sanitation supervisor starts to see the pattern emerging.  He comes to take Mary into quarantine. Medicine is not very advanced yet at that time, they are working on a vaccine and cures. They realize that Mary is a carrier, even though she has never shown signs of the disease herself.  They are not sure how to handle her situation.  She is sent away to an island off New York where they are treating TB patients and they build her a cottage there.  Though she lives out the end of her life there, there are some mishaps along the way as she gets a chance to go back to her old life, promising never to cook for anyone again, but not being able to keep that promise for long.

Keane sets the scene well describing New York City of the early 1900s.  Also putting Typhoid Mary's life in perspective with the other tragedies of the time period, including the Triangle Factory fire and the use of the drug morphine for pain treatment and the discovery of its addictive qualities.

Mary's a strong character, who is ignorant of the science and confused by her stubborn attitude and caught up in her own heartbreaking life.  In the end I do think she recognizes her moral responsibility to society e3ven though it is almost too late.