4 memorable stars
Once again, Amanda Skenandore delves into a little-known historical subject and creates a wonderful narrative with strong characters who grow and evolve.

What happens when a sophisticated wife of a wealthy movie star gets leprosy? In the 1920s people with Hansen’s disease were immediately sent to Carville, Louisiana. No cures in sight. People not confined in Carville are fearful and prejudiced about the disease which is not highly contagious.

Mirielle is angry and self-centered when she is uprooted from the high-living California life she knows. She tries to do everything right so she can get back to her children and husband. As she works helping patients, she stretches who she can be and what she thought was possible. There is love and loss, heartbreak and triumph in the Carville community. This historical fiction captivates and informs.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was such an emotional read for me! I didn't realize that people were segregated from society if they had leprosy. I liked each character. I connected with them.

This book was filled with pain, sadness, happiness, love, and hope.

The Second Life of Mirielle West is set in the 1920’s; when it was perceived perfectly acceptable to whisk individuals away to Carville Leper Home - away from their families indefinitely simply for having the disease.

I didn’t love this book. But I also didn’t hate it. I think I appreciated and liked the historical aspects of it, and learning so much about an era, disease and horrific “treatment” that occurred that I didn’t know about (especially not being American myself - I was unaware this existed in the US in the 20’s). However, I had a HARD time reading Mirielle’s story. I never once felt sorry for her. She was a horrible person, and even though she had moments of repentance for her actions, she was SO selfish. It’s hard to read a book that’s meant to be about a tragic time in history and feel that emotion when the main character is so unlikeable. I never once felt desired to root for her, and then felt guilty because she was sick and stuck in a horrible place (which, no matter how awful she is, she shouldn’t be there…) but yet, I just couldn’t like her, couldn’t root for her,… kinda just was indifferent to her existence.

Grateful for the insight into a historical tragedy while reading this book, but otherwise, it was just ok.

I loved this book!

A huge thank you to Kensington Books, Amanda Skenandore, NetGalley and Highbridge Audio for my advanced copies.

What I Loved-

The History- I love historical fiction that teaches me new things. I had no idea that there was a leper colony in the United States. Amanda Skenandore did an amazing job of educating the reader on what leprosy is and the toll that it took on the people who were diagnosed with the disease. This book takes place in the 1920's - before there was a curable treatment. Thank you so much Amanda Skenandore for your knowledge and research while writing this novel.

The Characters- I was so invested in these characters. This book is recommended for fans of Marie Benedict and Fiona Davis and I agree BUT this book was giving me Kristin Hannah vibes. The attachment I had to Mirielle and the patients of The Louisiana Leper Home was very reminiscent of the way I feel when reading KH. I wanted all of them to do well and get better.

The Audio- I was gifted an early audio copy as well as a physical and I am so thankful. I went with the audio because it suits my busy lifestyle at the moment. This book is narrated by Nicole Poole. She did a great job.

Overall- Highly recommend. I cannot wait to tackle Amanda Skenandore's back list and I look forward to anything she publishes in the future.

My thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for allowing me to review this audio.

Our title character is the wife of a silent film star. They just lost their son Felix to drowning and while at the doctors, Mireille is diagnosed with leprosy and sent to the Carville Leper Colony .

I found the story and history of the colony very interesting, however I found Mirielle unlikable., selfish, and acting very privileged. She speaks of her love for her children, but then I read " oh the nanny told me, or the nanny this the nanny that. " Very contradictory. Mireille tried to display some good qualities but she was not very relatable. I was on the fence with this story. Was just ok.

This was an unexpected delight. I loved this story, it brought me back to one of my favorites books in its whole leper colony aspect: Victoria Hislop's The Island. A beautiful story on what is our life, how we make a life, and how to make do with any situation that we have. The character development of Mirielle was so well exposed, I was very impressed. The truest compliment of an audiobook, i was so enthralled by the story, that instead of stopping when i arrived in my house, i sat in my living room listening to the last 45 minutes remaining of the book because I just needed to know what happened. The ending was absolutely beautiful.

Thank you to NetGalley, Kensington Publishers and HighBridge Audio for a copy of this audiobook.

Unfortunately, I am in the minority on this one. I found the subject matter interesting and learned a lot about the leper colony at Carville, which I knew nothing about. I have read other books about leper colonies in Hawaii and knew of the stigma that people with this disease endured. However, I just never connected with the characters in this book. I did not really find the main character, Mirielle likable, so had a hard time empathizing with her. Although I did not dislike the audiobook narrator, I did not find that her narration helped to draw me into the story. I also found her male and female characters hard to distinguish and had to pay particular attention to figure out who was talking. I had trouble with the audio feed and many times it would stop and start. If I had not been given the book by NetGalley, I probably would not have finished the book.

I was excited to have the opportunity to listen to the audiobook of The Second Life of Mirielle West. As the story took hold, I couldn’t help but dislike the entitled, condescending, and petulant Mirielle. The narrator’s execution of this beautifully written novel kept me engaged. Eventually, I found myself rooting for Mirielle as she found her way to her second life. Congratulations to the author and narrator for a wonderful piece of historical fiction.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, the narrator, and publisher for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook. The opinions in this review are entirely my own.

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Solid narration. I love this book about a leper colony in Louisiana in the 1920s--a snippet of history I knew nothing about (and had never even heard of) until I read the book. Skenandore is meticulous in her research and her prose. I always find her books to be enjoyable reads that explore ares of history not typically addressed by historical fiction writers. On audio, the narrator brings the story to life in a distinctly retro feel.

A Must read. Learning something I did not know is enlightening. Based on America's only known Leper colony.
Mirielle West is a stereotypical movie-star wife, rich, spoilt, vain, and self-obsessed. Living with her silent-film superstar husband Charlie and 2 young daughters in 1920s Hollywood, thirty-two year old Mirielle seems to have it all. But when a small skin lesion on her hand gets diagnosed as leprosy, she is carted all the way to Louisiana to the only leper colony in the United States, a mission hospital named Carville. The story is not just about Mirielle’s separation from her family but more about how people were branded as outcasts and shunned just because of this disease. Based on a true story. I was so fascinated with this brutally honest telling of what life was like finding out not only that you have leprosy but that you must leave your family and loved ones; sometimes forcibly to a Louisiana Institution just for “Lepers” called Carville. The intense feelings you feel for the characters make you think how the real life patients suffered and how they felt such isolation. It gives you such insight into a disease that at one time was held with such a horrible stigma that it could ruin the lives of the sick person and their families; sometimes losing everything. At the Institution, patients found others like themselves and formed friendships and tried to make a better life out of the hand of cards they were given. All hoping that one day they would be cured and be able to return home. What I did not know was about the institution named Carville in Louisiana that truly existed well into the early-mid 20th century and how the patients that resided there were treated. I am stunned that such archaic and atrocious practices took place in such modern times. This is fascinating as I did not realize that leprosery resided in the US let alone the timing of its existence, the stigma I am familiar with but fascinating learning about it. The author does a great job describing the isolation, loneliness and depression felt by the men and women living with such a socially stigmatizing disease. Lots of parallels could be drawn between people living with AIDS in the 80s, mental illness (at any time in history) and life during the pandemic right now even. This book will really make you think and appreciate modern medicine and how poorly treated these people were here in the US.

Pub Date 27 Jul 2021

Thank you to Netgalley, Kensington Publishing Corporation, Between the Chapters Bookclub, HighBridge Audio, and the author Amanda Skenandore for the ARC in exchange for a review.

Mirielle West is a wife of a famous movie star in Los Angeles. Her life gets turned upside down when her doctor finds these small patches on her hand. The doctor orders tests and it is confirmed to be leprosy. Mirielle is then shipped off without her husband and children to a hospital in middle of nowhere Louisiana. This hospital, Carville, is dedicated to treating patients with leprosy. The entire story was from Mirielle’s point of view and how she felt at first, she didn’t belong there and then slowly as she made friends and a new life for herself. It was a very interesting concept because I have never read a book before that focused on leprosy and the stigma that it brought to those who had it and to their families. The writing was wonderful and I loved the constant conversation throughout. This story was heartbreaking and a learning experience. It was based on true facts which makes reading this that much more intense. I enjoyed reading this and look forward to reading other works by Skenandore.

This book is an entire experience, it is a full emotional trip, and I am so so happy I found it. I picked this out on Netgalley as an audiobook because of the 1920s socialite theme, and I was given so much more. Every character felt important, deliberate, and so well developed, and every twist and turn and rise and fall just tugged at me so hard, that one at about 70% I realized that I was just too anxious about everything happening in the book to put it down, and listened for hours straight so that I could go to sleep calmly. I can’t get over how much of a pleasant surprise this book was, and I can’t recommend highly enough.
Side note: I won’t rest until I find a Frank in my life.

𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘧𝘶𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵-𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨!

This story really impacted me, you know me, I didn’t read the description and I thought I was going to read a story about a Hollywood socialite, and what a surprise. I had no idea about this colony. The writting was beautiful and I fell in love with all the characters. What a moving and heartfelt story.

Thank you Kensington Publishing Corp. , NetGalleyand HighBridge Audio for this gifted copy!

𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦: 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴.

https://www.instagram.com/booksandcoffeemx/

This was a fantastic read. The author did a great job of explaining the process of what happened when someone was diagnosed with Leperosy, and how their life was from then on.

A simple doctors visit turns into a life altering diagnosis. From that moment, Mirielles life changes as she assumes a new identity to protect her socialite family in California, and leaves for Carville, Louisiana, to live at a leper hospital.

I had leaned about the leper colony in Hawaii in the Novel “Moloka’i.” But I had no idea one was down south. As Miriville accepts her new life, she comes to know the other residents at the hospital, and learn about the struggle they have each had to face. These people were shunned from their families, considered unclean, and many were even experimented on by medical professionals.

The author did a really good job explaining what was happening to these people, and balancing it with the understanding in necessity of research in order to find a cure. I think the epilogue was my favorite part of the book and I enjoyed how the book was pulled together at the end.

Mirielle West used to a life of luxury as the wife of a famous film star in the 1920s finds herself in a different world when transported to a hospital and treated for Lepers. Forced to quarantine with others suffering from the same illness, she finds herself changing in ways that her former self would not have recognised.

While fighting the stigma of the disease in her own head and the world around her, Mirielle finds solace in assisting with medical treatments at the colony where she and others like her are residing. Wanting to get out of there as soon as possible to see her family, she becomes determined to test negative and escape, but she soon finds out that what she thinks she is escaping from might not be the colony or the disease...

I absolutely loved this book. Historical fiction has a special place in my heart, and I felt myself growing emotionally attached to each of the characters as the story went along. I can understand the struggles (not entirely, of course) that Mirielle speaks of in the book and those of her friends that she finds along the way.

Amanda Skenandore wrote this book with a special language that makes you feel as though you, too, can feel societies judgements upon these characters who want to be with their families and friends and be loved.

I went into this book not having read any background or synopsis so I was pleasantly surprised that the topic was completely new to me. The story revolves around the wife of a famous actor in the 1920s who finds out she has leprosy and is then forced to quarantine at a leper colony.
Two things made this book stand out to me. The first being that it was based on the true story of America's only leper colony - Carville Lepers Home. This is the first book that I've read regarding leprosy in America, and it was a great way to get introduced to a history I knew nothing about - the main reason I love historical fiction is it being a wonderful way to get exposed to new and lesser known pieces of history. The second thing I liked about this book was the personal growth and many layers of the main character. Her complex past made her more than a snobby rich lady forced to quarantine in a shabby Lepers Home. The ways she dealt with grief and loss, her frustration at being locked away from her family, and even the repeated lashing out against people made her relatable and three dimensional. It also demonstrated the various ways different people deal with difficult life circumstances and how they are able to grow and adapt.
Overall, between being a unique topic to expose the reader to, as well as the development of the characters, this book was a wonderful read.

If you like reading about strong women and little known parts of history this book about a 1920s LA socialite turned literal pariah might be right up your alley. Married to a silent film actor and mother to two children, Mirielle West's entire life gets turned upside down after a leprosy diagnosis. She is immediately put into forced quarantine and sent to Caville Hospital, a leper colony in Louisiana. In an attempt to spare her family shame, Mirielle changes her name and no one is told where she has really gone.

The author does a great job describing the isolation, loneliness and depression felt by the men and women living with such a socially stigmatizing disease. Lots of parallels could be drawn between people living with AIDS in the 80s, mental illness (at any time in history) and life during the pandemic right now even. This book will really make you think and appreciate modern medicine and how poorly treated these people were. I felt the story dragged a bit in the middle (I personally felt it was a little too long) but this was a heartbreaking and eye-opening reading experience.

Highly recommended for fans of Ellen Marie Wiseman, Marie Benedict and books like Moloka'i (about a leper colony in Hawaii) and The woman they could not silence (about women locked away in mental institutions against their will). Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my advance review copy.

CW: suicide, death of a child, forced separation of a mother and infant

The Second Life of Mireille West by Amanda Skenandore was a interesting book about leprosy and how people with the disease were treated in the in the 1920's. I always find books more interesting once I learned that it was inspired by a true story.

Thank you to NetGalley and HighBridge audio for the early listen! Will start off saying the narrator did an amazing job. Had absolutely no problems following Mirielle's story and what a story. This story will give you all the emotions possible while listening. At first I didn't care for Mirielle but realized she was just dealt a devastating blow about having Leprosy and had to come to terms with accepting her dx. Loved reading about how she came to accept her disease, her personal growth, and overcame her fear when it came to the others at the colony. The love and second life she found within the colony. I highly recommend this book and will suggest to many.

I enjoyed Mirielle's story of her time in a leprosy hospital. I haven't read a book from this perspective before. Mirielle had to make so many different decisions and choices in her time there and I loved the person she became with all the challenges and successes she had. This made a fantastic audiobook as well because the narrator had a great voice to represent Mirielle. This would make a great book club book as there is much to discuss!