This moving, utterly stunning novel tells the story of some of the patients at the leper colony which was attached to The Coast Hospital at Little Bay, Sydney, in the early years of the twentieth century.
I am now ashamed of my ignorance about leprosy, having believed (if I thought about it at all) that leprosy was a highly contagious disease and sufferers had to live in isolation. In fact, leprosy “…comes from a bacteria. Most of the population is not susceptible, but it seems that susceptibility is inherited……” which the intelligent, compassionate Doctor Will Stegner understands completely as he administers to his patients.
Alice and Guy are central to the story and their lives before The Coast are described in brilliant, evocative detail, telling of the hardships they had both endured. They are sad but compelling stories but they are also stories of love, and hope, and I found it almost impossible to put the book down. Alice, Guy, Clea and Will became real to me and are going to stay with me for a long while.
Although fictional, The Coast surely represents accurately life in those times under those conditions. Leprosy sufferers were treated with fear and revulsion; Aboriginal soldiers in their World War 1 uniforms were allowed to drink in pubs but, out of uniform and not identifying as servicemen, they were not; and homosexuals had to keep their identities secret.
I’ve tried hard here not to give away any of the story while at the same time wanting to encourage people to read Eleanor Limprecht’s heartbreakingly beautiful book.
Definitely 5 out of 5!
Published by Allen & Unwin
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