Fever - by Mary Beth Keane (Paperback)

About the Book

"On the eve of the twentieth century, Mary Mallon emigrated from Ireland at age fifteen to make her way in New York City. Brave, headstrong, and dreaming of being a cook, she fought to climb up from the lowest rung of the domestic-service ladder. Canny and enterprising, she worked her way to the kitchen, and discovered in herself the true talent of a chef. Sought after by New York aristocracy, and with an independence rare for a woman of the time, she seemed to have achieved the life she'd aimed for when she arrived in Castle Garden. Then one determined 'medical engineer' noticed that she left a trail of disease wherever she cooked, and identified her as an 'asymptomatic carrier' of Typhoid Fever. With this seemingly preposterous theory, he made Mallon a hunted woman."--

Book Synopsis

From the bestselling author of Ask Again, Yes, a novel about the woman known as "Typhoid Mary," who becomes, "in Keane's assured hands...a sympathetic, complex, and even inspiring character" (O, The Oprah Magazine).

Mary Beth Keane has written a spectacularly bold and intriguing novel about the woman known as "Typhoid Mary," the first person in America identified as a healthy carrier of Typhoid Fever.

On the eve of the twentieth century, Mary Mallon emigrated from Ireland at age fifteen to make her way in New York City. Brave, headstrong, and dreaming of being a cook, she fought to climb up from the lowest rung of the domestic-service ladder. Canny and enterprising, she worked her way to the kitchen, and discovered in herself the true talent of a chef. Sought after by New York aristocracy, and with an independence rare for a woman of the time, she seemed to have achieved the life she'd aimed for when she arrived in Castle Garden. Then one determined "medical engineer" noticed that she left a trail of disease wherever she cooked, and identified her as an "asymptomatic carrier" of Typhoid Fever. With this seemingly preposterous theory, he made Mallon a hunted woman.

The Department of Health sent Mallon to North Brother Island, where she was kept in isolation from 1907 to 1910, then released under the condition that she never work as a cook again. Yet for Mary--proud of her former status and passionate about cooking--the alternatives were abhorrent. She defied the edict.

Bringing early-twentieth-century New York alive--the neighborhoods, the bars, the park carved out of upper Manhattan, the boat traffic, the mansions and sweatshops and emerging skyscrapers--Fever is an ambitious retelling of a forgotten life. In the imagination of Mary Beth Keane, Mary Mallon becomes a fiercely compelling, dramatic, vexing, sympathetic, uncompromising, and unforgettable heroine.

Review Quotes

"Gripping... a richly sympathetic and provocative portrait of the very real person behind the pariah." --Caroline Leavitt, The San Francisco Chronicle

"Wholly absorbing, deeply moving... Mallon emerges as a woman of fierce intelligence and wrongheaded conviction... a novel that thrums with life." --Kate Tuttle, The Boston Globe

"In Keane's assured hands, Mary Mallon becomes a sympathetic, complex and even inspiring character... a compelling read." --O, the Oprah magazine

"Keane is a talented storyteller, her style plain and steady, not unlike Mary's demeanor. What's most remarkable about this novel is its brilliantly visceral vision of everyday life in early-1900s New York City, a rich and detailed working-class backdrop." --Don Oldenburg, USA Today

"A tender, detailed portrayal of willed ignorance collapsing in the face of truth." --Patrick McGrath, The New York Times Book Review

"In this compelling historical novel, the infamous Typhoid Mary is given great depth and humanity by the gifted Keane." --Joanne Wilkinson, Booklist (starred review)

"Keane's Mallon is a fiercely independent woman grappling with work, love, pride and guilt... turns a maligned figure of legend into a perplexing, compelling survivor." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Fever manages to rescue a demonized woman from history and humanize her brilliantly. Mary Beth Keane brings to light a moving love story behind the headlines, and she carries the reader forward with such efficiency, you will hardly notice how graceful are her sentences and how entwined you have become with this fascinating, heart-breaking story." --Billy Collins

"Fever is a gripping, morally provocative story of love and survival that will take you by surprise at every turn. It is also a radiant portrait of a uniquely indomitable woman and of a uniquely tumultuous time in the history of our country." --Julia Glass