Author: Mary Beth Keane
ISBN: 978-1-4711-297-3
RRP: $$24.99
Mary Beth Keane has chosen a well known historical figure as the central figure of her latest novel, an historical figure whom I feel I should be much more familiar with – history was clearly not my strong point at school, and even now I don’t keep up with what’s going on in the world.
Mary Mallon, also referred to as Typhoid Mary, lived in the early part of the 20th Century in New York after emigrating from Ireland as a teenager. She started her career as a laundress and worked her way up to cooking for some very wealthy families, where she unknowingly spread Typhoid Fever. Apparently her story is quite widely known, unfortunately my history knowledge is limited. Keane has brought her into the limelight and inspired me to want to go and find out Mary’s story, to discover the facts of Mary Mallon’s life.
Keane’s descriptions of New York in the first years of the 20th Century made me wonder how so many people survived. There was garbage and manure piled in the streets and hygiene standards were certainly not what they are today. The fact that there was so much disease is definitely not a surprise, and that is something that Keane takes great pains to point out.
Fever is Mary’s story, there’s no doubt about that. Keane has given us a detailed self-portrait of Mary told in the third person. We get a look inside her mind and her heart. I had to keep reminding myself that this is a fictionalised self-portrait though its meticulous research shines through. It is a very realistic and believable self-portrait and for the majority of the novel I sympathised with Mary completely, there were times that she tested the limits of that sympathy but throughout it all I couldn’t help but feel for her.
Mary was the first person in America to be identified as a healthy carrier of Typhoid fever so it is more than plausible for an uneducated Irish cook to be unable to grasp the fact that she was passing on a disease she had never had. Having said that, I found that there were passages that I thought were almost hints from much earlier on that may have given some idea – but even so, I am moving to those conclusions from a 21st Century standpoint where we understand a lot more about germs, disease and their spread.
Keane’s writing style is engaging and kept me involved, I wanted to know how this story unfolded – even when I knew something was going to happen that I just didn’t want to read about. Drawn through Keane’s eyes, I don’t think Mary really grasped the extent of her choices as she made them, but hindsight painted things in a different light for her and that’s something we have all had to deal with at times. Hence the old saying, it seemed like a good idea at the time.
This was a very interesting read which involved me enough to want to do some research about the real Mary Mallon. I felt that Keane could have captured the real Mary because she has written her story so well, and in a way that leaves great doubt as to whether any of her actions were undertaken with malice or a clear understanding of the risks at the time she took the action. On reflection at the end of her life we can plainly see her begin to see the entire situation in a different light, but by that time it is way too late.
There is so much in this book that will appeal to more than just the lovers of history, or those interested in the beginnings of sanitation, disease control, New York. I would recommend it to anyone really.
I devour books, vampires and supernatural creatures are my genre of choice but over the past couple of years, I have broadened my horizons considerably. In a nutshell – I love to write! I love interacting with a diverse range of artists to bring you interviews. Perhaps we were perfect before – I LOVE WORDS!
I love true life stories like these and thought Fever was a thought provoking tale. I felt so sorry for Mary throughout the story , but was never really sure if she truly believed she was a carrier, I feel in the end she had resigned herself to the fact that she was. I really wanted to know more about the historical aspects of the time and will probably research the events furthur.
All in all this is a really good read that I certainly enjoyed and was left wanting to know more. Being a true story I would have liked to maybe see some photographs included but the author did a great job with the story, especially always giving the reader the sense of asking “Was she or wasn’t she”. A very tragic tale for all involved.
I enjoyed this novel and had trouble putting it down. The mere fact its based on a true story that really touched me. It was written and the author Mary Beth Keane wanted us to understand this conlict between Mary’s hardship and Alfred and in particular in those times which was ofcourse not easy to live and survive.
You notice the details and challenges you meet throughtout the story of people just trying to survive and migrating to a new country and just learning to fit in. Mary’s stubborn nature till the end of her old age makes you wonder if that too could have been her downfall. An excellent novel and well written that makes you wonder how difficult times were and was Mary must have felt to be isolated and alone. A strong and tragic story that leaves you wondering how would Mary life be if things had turn around for her
Thank you beauty and lace for this wonderful oppprotunity to review this novel full of intense and its history on the life of this lady called Mary. I reccommend others to read it.
This book is truly amazing! Before reading it I must confess I’d never heard of Typhoid Mary so this was all new to me.
From the start I was hooked…after a few pages in tears and then couldn’t put the book down. I have 2 small children so this book was a 2 part read for me over 2 nights.
At first I felt so incredibly sorry for Mary as it didn’t seem to me she understood her disease…and why would she being the early 1900’s and she had no symptoms herself? I felt also terrible for her since she could no longer cook and this was her passion.
Her partner Alfred … in my opinion was pretty much a loser – her drank far too much, barely wrote to her while she was away … then got engaged to another woman – who in the end he didn’t have the courage to even face when he left her to go back to Mary.
Toward the end when Mary’s passion for cooking overrode her not being certain about having Typhoid or if she’d even pass it on made me question her integrity. After taking a job in a bakery and again being caught then to use a different surname and work in a kitchen in a Maternity Hospital (of all places) and pass on typhoid there…this made me quite angry. I feel even if she only had the slightest knowledge that she could harm another why would she even consider working with food again.
Overall I love this book and will be passing it on.
Next time one of my children develop a fever I’ll be thinking ‘Oh god please not Typhoid’!
Thanks Beauty and Lace for yet another brilliant read xxoo
I love historical novels and truly enjoyed reading this book! Loved the strength of the min character Mary. Was a fascinating glimpse into the lived of single independent women in the past and how unfair and challenging it could be. Loved the detailed information about her working day, the kind of chores she could be called upon to perform.
Really empathized with her in her determination in believing that she was in the right. I do think that somewhere deep inside her she knew that she was in the wrong but facing it meant the scary feeling of losing her sense of self worth in her abilities as a cook which she relied on not just for her income but how she viewed herself.
Was not happy with the story of Albert as felt it did not add much to the main story. His trip to the wilderness started off as a life changing event but he just turned back to his old ways. He was the main weakness in Mary’s life and in the story!
Loved the warmth of the characters in the building where she lived and the support they gave her which was so non judgmental. Wish Mary had taken up her romance with the gardener/caretaker at the hospital so she could have had a happy ending.
Was a thoroughly enjoyable read and loved the book, was entertaining yet informative.
I enjoyed reading Fever immensely, I was hooked from the first page. Over the course of the book I was gripped by many emotions, firstly pity for Mary, then anger at her ignorance and inability to realise she could be responsible for the deaths of many people, even though the evidence was there. As for her going to work for a bakery, thinking baking was different from cooking, I just wanted to grab her and shake some sense into her.
Her love affair with Alfred was sweet and bitter. I think that she lost all her bravado and willpower when he passed away and that is why she gave up so meekly to Soper and didn’t put up any fight when she was taken back to North Brother.
If she’d only done as she was told and not cook for anyone again, she would have been left alone and allowed to be free, but apparently she knew better and refused to believe she was a carrier of typhoid, putting other people in danger by cooking, for goodness sake, she even took up a cooking position in a maternity hospital.
This of course is only my opinion. I highly reccomend reading this book and coming to your own conclusion.
How many times do you wash your hands each day? Do you shower regularly? Clean with disinfectants, bleach, hot soapy water? Mary Beth Keane’s novel ‘Fever’ takes us back to a day when all of these things were unheard of, and where, instead, death and disease lurked around every corner, among the heaving piles of garbage and human waste that lined the city streets.
Immigrating from Ireland to New York in 1884, Mary Malone worked hard to establish herself in the working class. From a young aged she worked her way up to becoming a well established cook. She has a genuine knack for food and cooking, for menu ideas, and how to make the most out of the often limited supplies available to her. Mary is proud of what she has achieved in her life, and for good reason – she has held a number of ‘situations’ for important and wealthy New York families. However, death and disease seem to follow Mary where ever she goes. It doesn’t alarm her though – after all, in the early 1900s, people did, quite often, get sick. Once they got sick, they often died. Mary was a compassionate woman, caring tenderly for any members of the families she worked for if they got sick.
Until one day when her life is uprooted by one Dr Soper, who believes her to be a carrier of Typhoid, spreading the fever through her cooking. Dr Soper is abrupt and rude in his interactions with Mary, treating her like a low-class idiot. Not surprisingly, strong-willed, quick tempered Mary refuses to submit to his request for urine and stool samples, writing his claims off as ridiculous and going about her work. Until she gets taken away, quarantined on a small island for what may as well be, the rest of her life.
Mary Beth Keane’s novel seamlessly bridges the gap between fact and fiction, bringing to life a historical character with compassion and empathy. Prior to reading this, I could only vaguely recollect the name ‘Typhoid Mary’, as she was so dubbed. I knew littler about this period in history nor this woman, and I found that this was the perfect blank slate to begin reading Fever. I think if I had known more of the facts, I would question if the author had everything right, I would ask how she knew what Mary or any of the other characters felt – but reading this without any background knowledge or prejudices I was happy to get swept up in the story.
I was impressed by the imagery created in this novel, of both the New York landscape and of Mary’s long time partner, Alfred. A drunk, later a drug addict, with no ability to hold down a steady job – I imagine he was part of the reason Mary felt like she couldn’t give up her work as a cook. To put it simply, they needed the money. But there was more to it than that – Mary had a strong sense of pride. After years of working for some of the best families, she felt it was beneath her to work in a laundry or any other menial job, and it was this that was her ultimate downfall.
The characters of Dr Soper and the other medical professionals were infinitely infuriating – rather than trying to explain things to Mary, they treated her like an imbecile. They punished her for being strong-willed and believed that her temper and pride made her a ‘bad’ woman. She was stripped of her rights and refused legal representation. She wasn’t even allowed to contact Alfred to tell him what had happened – it took months for them to get in contact via mail.
Of course the argument could be made that Mary’s attitude did little to help the situation – she didn’t cooperate, she didn’t apologise and, once she had left the island, she didn’t continue to check in. She outright refused to abide by the order to never cook again. And yet, Mary Beth Keane has created in Typhoid Mary a woman that we feel for deeply, a woman that we feel frustrated for, even when she goes about putting more and more people in danger. We wish she knew, like we know, what she was doing – but accept that she was just trying to maintain a life for herself. This is where the author has done a great job, in eliciting compassion for a character who, right up until her old age, refuses to admit she has done anything wrong.
It is only in the last pages of the book that Mary looks back over her life and wonders if she has, in fact, caused the deaths that she has been accused of. It is only then that she asks forgiveness, and it is then that she completely wins the reader’s heart.
Thank you Beauty and Lace for letting me review this book. I found ‘Fever’ such an interesting read. History is not my forte, so although I had some vague memory of hearing about a typhoid plague in the past I didn’t really understand what it meant. I felt so sorry for Mary. How awful for her to be persecuted like that. I’m assuming that it’s typical of the era for women to be treated that way. She must have been a really strong person to be able to survive the way she did. It must have been so frustrating for her to put up with men who wouldn’t tell her a thing, tell her she’s criminal and let her be sort of free, but not really and to do it all by herself because she couldn’t really rely on poor old Alfred. I don’t know how much of this story is real, but now I want to find out more. I wonder how typhoid was passed on and I wonder if Mary really had to live that isolated life?
Not knowing how typhoid really was spread, I’m glad that Mary did get released and had that chance to live a somewhat normal life. She even got to go back to baking, which she loved. Surely back then with the poor hygiene that existed, there were other ways of typhoid being spread? Reading some of the other reviews, the reviewers were angry for Mary’s irresponsibility. I really sympathised with her though and feel that if she was given more information and treated fairly (like the farmer carrier) then her life could have looked a whole lot different. Having said that, I have three children myself and if we were living back then, I probably would have had completely different views. A wonderful read that will be passed around to all of my friends. Thanks again >:o)
I was so excited to be selected to read “Fever” by Mary Beth Keane. I have a natural love of Irish history and medicine and this book captured my attention from the get go. She was a feisty woman who spoke her mind and didn’t suffer fools gladly. It was unfortunate for her that she was born in the period that didn’t have the medical knowledge and understanding that could have could have saved her. Her great and unfailing love for Alfred was beautiful and all she wanted in return was faith and understanding. It is a pity that her relationship with John Cain didn’t go further, but in his own simple ways he understood her and supported her. Thank you for allowing me to read this book. It will be passed onto many family and friends.
Thanks for the opportunity to read and review Fever. I know little about the history of typhoid and I hadn’t heard of the case of Mary before so this book was all totally new for me. I am impressed at how the author Mary Beth Keane has thorough researched details of life at the time so the book seems realistic and you can believe that is what life would have actually been like 100 years ago.
This book drew me in much more than I ever expected it would! I didn’t think I would be quite so interested as history is not really my thing but it was a captivating read. The book had chapters mainly from Mary’s point of view but there was a few from Alfred’s as well which completed the story more fully. The letters also helped.
I felt myself emotionally involved with the characters, from feeling sorry for Mary, trapped with her, angry at Alfred and a general feeling of unfairness of the whole situation that occurred. Then there were times when I was angry with Mary – for example when she went and cooked again. I know it would have been hard for her but that was something she was forbid to do and could be arrested for again. There were times when I really wished I could tell the characters what to do and that they would listen. I lost the respect I had gained for Alfred from stopping drinking, when he later became a drug addict. It seemed all he wanted was to be with Mary yet he always made life hard.
The ending of the book was not exciting or surprising like I had hoped, but instead it was just sad and full of sad acceptance. Mary lost her fight and instead surrendered to the isolation. It was sad she no longer had any friends to even so much as visit her. I was slightly disappointed in the ending but I found the book on a whole was very good, and I couldn’t wait to read a bit whenever I had the chance! Thanks again for the great read!