Mirielle is the carefree wife of Hollywood silent movie star Charlie West who has recently found a strange lesion that won't heal. Charlie is particularly worried about Mirielle hurting herself since the tragic death of their son. Mirielle is diagnosed with Leprosy and unceremoniously shipped off to the Carville Leprosy Colony in Louisiana. Mirielle quickly learns that her money and charm mean nothing, she is a prisoner of her disease until she receives twelve negative tests for the bacteria. Mirielle fights to get back home to her children and husband; however, as Mirielle begins to become involved in the Colony, things become more complicated between her two lives.

The Second Life of Mirielle West is a moving historical fiction novel about the Leprosy Epidemic in America. Now called Hansen's Disease, I did not know much about Leprosy, the epidemic in the USA or how people with Leprosy were treated. I was very interested in the Carville facility. I could easily tell that the author researched this facility as I could imagine the buildings, the staff, the residents and their activities. Mirielle's character was intriguing. As the glamorous wife of a Hollywood star, Mirielle's life is all about keeping up appearances. When Mirielle is diagnosed, everything about her diagnosis is hidden. She is whisked away in the middle of the night and her husband tells the press that she is in a psychiatric facility rather than admit the truth. As Mirielle finally gets to know the people around her at Carville, she learns that the disease treats everyone the same. I was amazed at the stigma that a Leprosy diagnosis carried. Those who were diagnosed were abandoned by their family, lost their jobs and the disease could be used as a grounds for divorce. Mirielle's journey of acceptance while in Carville was heartfelt as she juggled her needs to return to her family and the life she knew and the new life and family she created in Carville. Written with emotion and thoughtfulness, The Second Life of Mirielle West is a transformational read.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

Wow. This is a book that you will not soon forget. Thank you to The author for sharing with us a part of history that is not often discussed. Mirelle has it all until she became a leapor. She finds herself looking for a cure but it's easy to give up especially when you have lost everything including those close to you. As she fights to get better she finds a new part of herself and a live for those like her. This was AMAZING! I highly recommend this book to all!

I was very pleased to be granted the audiobook and ebook of The Second Life of Mirielle West. This is the story of Mirielle, who was living in Los Angeles in the 1920's. When she accidentally burns her hand and is rushe dto the hospital, the doctors discover she has leprosy. In those days, a diagnosis like this meant you were shipped to live with other patients in an enclosed community. She was dashed off quickly, without packing very much, but Mirielle reasoned how much would she need - maybe in a week or two she'd be cured and returning home. She lands up all the way across the country In Louisiana (Carville), and learns the reality of the disease.

I found this book sad, (you have to feel bad for these people who were yanked out of their homes with no explanations where they were going or for how long). Much credit must be given to the doctors, nurses, and volunteers who helped those who were stricken, lead as meaningful and comfortable life given their situation (and prognosis). This was definitely an interesting AND original book.

Thank you #netgalley and @highbrigeaudio and Amanda Skenandore for the audiobook in return for my honest review. Nicole Poole does a great job narrating.

I found this one hard to wrap my thoughts around. It was a very interesting look at the leprosy epidemic and how society treated those with the condition. It was also quite interesting to see the types of treatments that they tried which thankfully didn't seem as horrific as the ones used in tuberculosis/ mental heath hospitals.
However, I kept finding Mirielle off putting. It is really hard for me when the main character is so mean and whiny and just doesn't understand what is actually at stake for herself and those around her. I was fine with up to a certain point but she barely changed through the entire thing. Even just when I thought she was finally going to treat her fellow patients as humans, she'd do or say or think something that put me right off again.
But overall, interesting book for sure!

The Second Life of Mirielle West by Amanda Skenandore is an amazing historical fiction book which features the real life Carville Lepers Home in Louisiana during the 1920s and beyond. At Carville thousands of people spent decades in enforced isolation away from their homes. They shared a common disease, leprosy. This is now known as Hansen’s Disease, but then it was akin to a plague with much untruths surrounding it,

This book focuses on a fictional character who is the wife of a silent movie star, to protect the privacy of her husband she changes her name to Polly and obscures her past. As you can imagine the wife of a movie star is quite and anomaly at a leper colony. Polly arrives with ten trunks of clothing and aspirations to soon return to her luxurious life, This is not the case as she finds out she has a minimum of ten full months of confinement. She can not be released until she has that many negative skin tests and is officially cleared of the disease.

Polly has a major adjustment in her character from spoiled socialite to central member of this community of outcasts. I learned that Skenandore is a RN and her attention to medical details is fully apparent. This book transports you into an immersive experience of those who were plagued with leprosy. The experimental treatments they endured to have a hope of release from Carville were heartbreaking.

The other members of this community that develops were vastly different in their life experiences, but what formed was a true alliance and a family they chose when their true families turned their backs on them. A group of strangers became an alliance. It is well researched and brings you into the life of a history most are unfamiliar with.

However, the mission of helping others and the fight for giving back at all costs was made real. You will learn much, but more importantly be inspired by the strength of these unfortunate individuals imprisoned by no fault of their own,. Despite their many challenges they found ways to defy the societal bounds to enact meaningful change. What a legacy they left, you will be better after reading it. Their strength and determination should not be forgotten.

I was provided a free advance reader copy from Kensington Books in exchange for my honest review from Net Galley. The opinions shared in this review are my own.

I really enjoyed Skenandore’s book “Between Earth and Sky” so was eager to read this book. She did not disappoint. This book is based on the true story of America’s only leper colony, the Carville Lepers Home which functioned from 1894 to 1999. Over the years, thousands of people were stripped of their civil rights and forced into quarantine there.

Set in the 1920s, Mirielle West lived the glamorous life of the wife of a Hollywood silent film star. That is until she is diagnosed with leprosy and sent into quarantine at the Carville Lepers Home near New Orleans. In order to protect her family from the shame associated with leprosy, she enters Carville under the name of Pauline Marvin.

Mirielle refuses to accept that there is no cure for her. She has a husband and two children to return home to. Over time, she becomes friends with the compassionate Irene and comes to care for Jean, a precocious nine-year-old. But the longer she remains at Carville the more she feels her family slipping away - and the more she feels an attraction for one of her fellow lepers.

I was completely captivated by the characters in the story. They were all well-developed and distinct. While at first, it seemed that the sisters of the Daughters of Charity that staffed the hospital were rigid and harsh with the patients, I came to see them in a much more caring manner. And every time the sisters’ hats were mentioned, I envisioned The Flying Nun. There were members of the colony that will linger in my memory - the handsome Frank, the mysterious Mr. Li, Hector, Mr. Hatch.

There is no question that the story is a grim one. The patients are treated more like prisoners, and they know there is no cure for their disease. They all suffer from the isolation that the stigma of leprosy carries. They endure horrific experimental treatments. Yet there are moments of humor and celebration. I do believe it is human nature to look for the light when all around you is dark.

It is an emotional story as Mirielle fights to find a new purpose for her life. The depth of her character changes dramatically as she journeys from an entitled socialite to her second life in a leper colony. I enjoyed learning about a piece of American history I knew little about previously.

This book sounds really fascinating. I don’t know much about Carville (I heard a podcast on it once) or how lepers were treated in society. Mirielle West is a socialite, mother, and wife to a silent film star. She is spoiled and unlikeable. When she is diagnosed with leprosy and sent to Carville, she is initially in denial about her new status. I learned new things, but overall, this book moved very slowly. And although it may be authentic, the terms they use (even in serious moments) sound so silly that it would take me out of the story. The style of writing is very straight forward and feels vaguely YA-ish. It wasn’t engaging enough. Once it started to feel like a chore to read, I stopped.

Although I was born on the bayou and have lived in Louisiana my entire life, it wasn't until recently that I learned about the national leprosarium just up the river from me in Carville, Louisiana. I first heard about the leper colony through an episode of the podcast Criminal, and the subject of Carville hasn't arisen in my life again until Amanda Skenandore's new novel, The Second Life of Mirielle West, was published. I am glad that Skenandore is drawing attention to this little known piece of Louisiana history and is reimagining life at Carville for those who were unaware that a leper colony existed here in the Bayou State.

The Second Life of Mirielle West starts off rather horrifyingly. Mirielle West, socialite and wife to a silent film star, is admitted to a local California hospital for what she believes to be a mild skin condition, but she soon comes to find is leprosy. It's the 1920s and a cure for leprosy is long-off. Anyone diagnosed with the condition must be quarantined from the public, which is exactly the situation Mirielle finds herself in. She is whisked off to the swamps of Louisiana, where she is to live her life at the Carville leper colony for the interminable future.

Many of us living in modern day America likely never even considered the implications of quarantine until the COVID pandemic shook up the entire world. However, in the times of leprosy, it wasn't uncommon, and as bad as our COVID quarantines seem to be, they are nothing compared to what those diagnosed with leprosy went through. I was absolutely alarmed to learn that upon diagnosis, Mirielle was to be separated from her family, quite possibly to never see them again. Just think about how drastically people's lives could be altered with a leprosy diagnosis, which carried great shame, fear, and disgust with it. Once you were diagnosed, your life would never be the same again.

Which is what we see happen with Mirielle in this novel. Upon arriving at Carville, Mirielle refuses to accept her diagnosis, and tries to devise ways to get herself back home to the life to which she is accustomed, but her attempts soon prove to be futile. She is at Carville to stay. The Second Life of Mirielle West follows the title character through her time at Carville, as she becomes acclimated to the new environment she finds herself in. We also learn about some of the promising medical breakthroughs that were being trialed at Carville in hopes of finding a cure. But most importantly of all, we meet the people of Carville, the men, women, children, fathers, mothers, daughters, and sons from all over the country who were pulled away from their families and their former lives to live among people of their own kind in an isolated corner of Louisiana.

The Second Life of Mirielle West is a thought-provoking read that is sure to drum up a lot of interest in the history of leprosy in the United States. This is where this novel is strongest - in shining a spotlight on the trials and tribulations that those who were afflicted with leprosy faced, and how they had to create a new life for themselves at Carville. Where I didn't love this novel as much is in the storytelling. I did not find the narration to be entirely compelling or as heart-wrenching as I would expect it to be, given the situation. The story itself fell a little flat, never going deep enough or emotional enough to satisfy that part of me that ached in sadness for the people of Carville.

I’m a lover of historical fiction. I suppose one of the reasons I enjoy this particular genre is because it teaches me about different times and places and drives me to do my own research informing me about things I didn’t know. THE SECOND LIFE OF MIRIELLE WEST is one of those books. Who knew that there was a leper colony on the U. S. mainland where patients were forced into quarantine, stripped of their civil rights and basically held prisoner. It was the Carville Lepers Hospital in Louisiana…located approximately 16 miles from Baton Rouge and it remained in operation well into the 1990’s.

Author Amanda Skenandore takes us to the 1920’s and brings to light the inescapable stigma suffered by each patient diagnosed with leprosy (later Hansen’s Disease). Considered pariahs by their family, friends and neighbors most were shunned and forced from the towns in which they lived, often herded into boxcars for transport to the remote Louisiana hospital that would remain their “home” until a cure was found or they died (whichever came first).

This thought provoking novel follows Mirielle West, wife of a Hollywood actor (circa 1920) as she is diagnosed and ultimately transported to Carville. Mirielle assumes another identity at the hospital in order to protect her family and assumes she will return to her previous life in a matter of weeks. She is used to a certain lifestyle and is less than responsive to the other patients, but as the weeks become months she begins to warm to a few of her fellow patients.

This health crisis from America’s past will resonate with most readers who are just rebounding from our most recent experience, this time with a virulent virus rather than a devastating bacteria.

A film star's wife is torn away from her family and forced to live at Carville's Lepers Home after what she thought would be a routine visit to the doctor. Carville was a real institution for lepers in Louisiana which forcibly quarantined thousands of people with leprosy in the 20th century.
Mirielle West experiences a wide gamut of emotions and experiences as she falls from her stature of a socialite to an unknown, adopting a different name to avoid recognition and to protect her family.
The author's background in the medical field add to the authenticity of the story. As I was reading, I could understand a lot of Mirielle's behaviors and attitudes though she wasn't always likable. I needed to find out what would happen to her physically but also emotionally. I enjoyed this story and look forward to reading more.
Thank you, Netgalley

Don’t you love when a book opens your eyes to something you just weren’t aware of?

I’ve read so many books that do this , on subjects ranging from the racial aggressions Black people face daily (You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey) to the lack of justice on Native reservations (Winter Counts) to female Russian bomber pilots during WW2 (The Huntress).

I thought I had a pretty good grasp of early 1900s American history, though, especially as told through historical fiction.

But I had no idea there were still lepers in the 1920s (and it’s still a disease diagnosed today). None.

I loved The Second Life of Mirielle West by @amandaskenandore from the first page, as Hollywood socialite Mirielle discovers she has leprosy and is quickly whisked away form all she knows to a home for lepers in Louisiana, where the patients are kept secluded with little hope of returning home.

This was an emotional journey that tugged at all the heart strings. Mirielle’s personal journey was both believable wonderful. and The ending went in unexpected places in the best way possible.

If you’re looking for unique historical fiction, I definitely recommend picking this up! 4.5 stars

Thank you Kensington for a copy of this book!

This is a historical fiction book about Mirelle, the wife of a silent film star who is found to have leprosy in the 1920s and is quarantined in a leper home many states away from her husband and children. She struggles to adjust to her new less than glamorous life, and to admit that she does have the disease.

I really enjoyed this book and bonus points that it’s about a subject you don’t read about much! It’s my favorite out of the three books of Amanda’s I’ve read. I had a love hate relationship with Mirelle: on the one hand, there’s something really endearing about her and relatable as she’s in denial about what’s happening to her. At the same time, she can’t see beyond her own nose, as one of the characters put it. She is clearly used to having her way but is also dealing with a lot from her life before. She has quite a journey by the end of the book!

The Second Life of Mirielle West by Amanda Skenandore is an intense historical read based on actual events in US history. Hanson's Disease/ leprosy is a subject I knew very little about before reading this book. No dry facts here; honest emotions of the afflicted are explored, as well as the public's view. I love books that make me feel, think, and stay with me long after the conclusion.
Mirielle is a socialite, married to a silent films star, mother to two daughters---with a tragedy in her past. Self-absorbed and depressed from the tragic event, she disassociates herself from her family and friends. Daily she struggles to keep up appearances, until a burnt finger sends her to the family doctor...and down a twisted path she could never have anticipated.
The way the people with this disease were treated is so shocking, the pain of leaving their families behind ---I don't know how I would cope. Mirielle did cope and she evolved into a stronger person as the story goes on. I learned so much about this emotional subject, and became attached to the characters, that the conclusion was both hopeful and satisfying. Clearly one of the best books I have read this year.
Thank you to #NetGalley and #KensingtonPublishing for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. I review books I love for my friends and followers.

One thing I love most about historical fiction is how it makes me smarter about certain periods of time or events or people. Before reading The Second Life of Mirelle West, my experiential knowledge of leprosy was limited to Biblical lepers and an episode of Monk. After turning the final page, I can say I now have a deeper, more compassionate view of the people who suffered from it. While I don’t have to endure nearly the stigma or hopelessness or visible illness that patients with leprosy did historically, I do know what it’s like to have a life-changing disease with no known cure and to be willing to try just about anything for the promise of restored health. More than just words on a page, the patients in this story connected with me on a human level, from their emotions to their resilience and everything in between.

Mirielle is a complicated protagonist with a great deal of character growth as the novel progresses. Yet, just like nonfictional people, sometimes that growth regresses before it finally sticks. These ebbs and flows in Mirielle’s time at Carville made her all the more realistic, and I appreciate the author’s choices in shaping her character this way. Admittedly, Mirielle isn’t always that likable but she is relatable when the reader allows herself to imagine her own reactions if what was happening to Mirielle should happen to her too. Putting yourself in Mirielle’s high heeled shoes will stir your compassion and soften some of Mirielle’s rough edges.

Bottom Line: Imagine going to the doctor for a simple burn or an allergic reaction and being immediately isolated and taken away from your husband, your children, and your comfortable Hollywood life to live in a leper colony on the opposite side of the country with little to no explanation. Imagine the emotions you would be experiencing – denial, rage, grief, fear, disgust, regret. Now you’ve got an idea of what our protagonist is facing in The Second Life of Mirielle West. The history is fascinating and disturbing, all at once, and I immediately wanted to learn more about this time of medical science and social stigmas. Even against the backdrop of an illness that has had significant medical advances in the last 100 years, you begin to realize that human nature never really changes, a fact that makes this novel infinitely more relatable than it first appears to be. An intriguing testament of the will to survive and the power of perspective.

(I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book)

Overall Rating: 4/5
Short Chapter Rating: 3.5/5

Overall I enjoyed this novel by Amanda Skenandore. I have never read anything by her before, but was drawn to the story and the historical element. The book is set in the 1920's Los Angeles with Mirielle West, a woman who enjoys a lavish lifestyle with her movie star husband is diagnosed with Leprecy and sent way to Carville Louisiana to live. She goes from living the high life to being a leper living in a sub optimal living situation.

I liked that Mirielle was forced to acknowledge her life, her emotions and re-ignite her sense of purpose through her time at Carville. It goes through all her struggles being there and the people she meets along the way. The author did a good job at creating Mirielle's character and making her multi dimensional, and someone you were rooting for. I always like when you can rally behind a main character.

The beginning of the book gets right into it which I appreciated. I found it kept a good pace, but would have liked to see more happen as it all seemed to really pick up in the last 1/3 of the book. I liked it, and I would recommend this to anyone who likes historical fictions, wants to learn about this time in the 1920's and how those with Leprecy were treated. I got a bit squeamish sometimes at the depth of descriptions of their ailments, but it wouldn't deter me from reading it.

THE SECOND LIFE OF MIREILLE WEST By Amanda Skenandore
Historical fiction
384 Pages

Socialite Mireille West has it all- a successful actor husband,  a mansion with everything she could ask for, and two beautiful daughters.  She thinks her life can't get better until she is diagnosed with leprosy. This disease estranges her from everyone and everything she's ever known. It may just be the most humbling thing to ever happen to her though.

This is my first book by this author and to say I loved it is an understatement. This book was written so beautifully and amazing. The story of this novel is amazing and fills you with so many emotions while you read it. This book will definitely make you think more about leprosy that you did before. Personally I've never given it much thought but I am definitely curious about learning more about it after reading this book.
The medical knowledge in it is astounding and the characters so lovable you can't help but fall for them. This is truly an amazing book and I highly recommend it to everyone.  I can't say enough great things about this book.

I really fell in love with this story. I am from Louisiana and have heard stories about the Carville Hospital. This was something different in historical fiction and I loved it. I would have liked a bit more back story on Mirielle's marriage and maybe some point of view from the husband. Bit it was a book I ran through very quickly. Good story, new and different subject and very well-written.

What a wonderful read this is! Mirielle has known tragedy and heartache- her son Felix died- but little does she know what's ahead for her when she sees the doctor for a burn from a curling iron. Diagnosed with leprosy, she is forced into a box car and sent from Los Angeles to Carville, Louisiana. Her name is changed to Polly so that no one will know that the wife of a movie star has been diagnosed. She is appalled by how she is treated, how she must live, by the treatments, and by how the other patients appear. A wise doctor and nun put her to work. And then small things sneak in- a young girl who was dropped off and never visited, Hector whose story is heartbreaking, and Frank. Her husband does write to her and her daughters send photos but they can't visit and she can't leave. Yes this is about a woman slowly becoming less self centered and more sympathetic to others but its also a carefully researched and interesting novel about the very real problems faced by patients. The characters are terrific, the storytelling well done. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. Excellent historical fiction.

For the first time in a while, I finished a book with a "wow" and that book hangover you get when you are suddenly back in the real world.

I love historical fiction that teaches me something new. This is the first book I have read where it tells the story with leprosy in the background. I knew almost nothing about the disease except that it was highly contagious -which is turns out is totally incorrect. I was fascinated by the facts that I learned - about the disease, about the horrible things they tried to cure it, and about the total stigma.

Mirielle is a socialite - a self centered, superficial Hollywood wife. She contracts leprosy, and is sent away to a leper "colony". This is the story of her life there. But it is also the story of the many other people who had the disease and how it affected their lives and the lives of their families. It reminded me of the early days of AIDS (and even today) when people wouldn't touch you or want to be in the same room as you for fear of contagion. And the stigma associated with it. Now imagine that if people knew about it, it not only would ruin your reputation forever, but that of your family - your spouse, and your children.

I didn't like Mirielle at first, and didn't like how she acted at first. But how would I act if I were taken from my family and couldnt see my children, and my friends were all lost to me. Now you have to build this whole new world with the people who were locked up with you.

This book fascinated me. It made me cry. It made me smile. It made me FEEL.

I want to thank the author, the publisher and #netgalley for the ARC which did not impact my review - I obviously loved this book.

This book was a pleasant surprise. I must admit I knew next to nothing about the subject of leprosy in North American, in fact, I was surprised to learn that it still existed. A century ago, in the 1920s, leprosy was something still being dealt with in a secretive, primitive way in a changing world. This story while fictional, is based on the true story of America’s only leper colony in Louisiana known as Carville. It starts with the very glamorous and spoiled wife, Mireille West, of a silent film star who has been living a depressed and reclusive life after the drowning death of her seven-year-old son. Drinking heavily and leaving the raising of her two young daughters to the nanny, she is emotionally removed from her husband as well.

Due to a small spot on her thumb, and diagnosed by her doctor as a leper, she is suddenly uprooted from her home and sent to Carville many miles from her home and privileged lifestyle. The method of departure is brutal, her husband won’t even touch her when saying goodbye and she must travel in a boxcar to her destination which is quite a cultural shock for someone of her stature.

I can’t even begin to describe the horrors and repulsion felt by the public towards the people labeled lepers. At first, Mireille can only accept that she has been misdiagnosed, then that she will soon be cured. All she wants is to get back to her family. Finally, as realization sets it, she goes through many phases of despair, hope, and acceptance.

As she settles into the leper community, she begins making friends with people she once would not have even spoke to and begins to care about things once unknown. As she grows mentally and spiritually, she realizes her own self-worth and purpose.
This book while educational and amazing did drag a bit in places, but that did not detract from my enjoyment and appreciation of the story. I was astonished to learn that something of this magnitude happened in our country a century ago and the atrocities that these people experienced.
I thank NetGalley and the publisher, Kensington Publishing, for the opportunity to read this book for my honest opinion. I gave this book four stars!