Deadly

Chibbaro, Julie. (2011). Deadly. New York: Atheneum/Simon & Schuster. Medical mysteries intrigue many of us, and this one has much to offer even though most of the mystery is solved during the first half of the book. Prudence Galewski, 16, leaves her vocational school in order to take a job working in the Department of Health and Sanitation in New York City. Her mother is a midwife and has taken her along during some of her deliveries, and her father, who went missing during his military service, had provided her with books and support for her curious mind. Her older brother Ben died as the result of gangrene after a street accident, and Prudence wonders if the family could have helped him if they had known how to do so. Consequently, Prudence has grown up with a keen desire to help her community and an inclination for the medical field despite the fact that few women became doctors in 1906 and 1907 when the story is set. Prudence loves her job and also feels an attraction to her new boss Mr. Soper. He immediately involves her in field work, where she takes notes as they interview individuals in different households who have fallen ill as the result of typhus. After compiling the data, they look for patterns, and eventually focus on an Irish cook, Mary Malone. But Mary herself is not sick; in fact, she even nursed some of those who were sick. Intent on obtaining samples of her blood and feces, Soper engages in some unethical practices and eventually brings Mary to the hospital for testing. The tests show that while she herself is not ill, she is a carrier for typhus, and can't be allowed to cook for others. What happens to her as the result of the investigation and a subsequent hearing provides much food for thought.

Additionally, the author provides a vivid picture of the living conditions of the poor, still struggling even after the publication of Jacob Riis's photoessay on New York City's tenements.  Prudence is allowed to evolve, stumble, and regain her steps even while her own mother finds new possibilities for happiness. While there are loose ends as the book concludes, overall, this is a satisfying read filled with many powerful passages.

Prudence is drawn more deeply into her dreams of possibly becoming a doctor once she has been befriended by a female doctor involved with the case. As she assists in solving the medical mystery, she also feels sympathy for the woman who will end up being called Typhoid Mary and her treatment by the medical profession and the press. The author raises issues of discrimination and medical ethics while also highlighting gender and class distinctions during the time period covered in the book. An Author's Note explains some of the liberties the author took with the amount of time it took to solve the mystery as well as her motivation for telling this story.

Favorite Lines:
Here, I can confess that I see sickness like a violent weed growing everywhere, in the rubbish bins that puff out ash clouds, in the dirty puddles that ooze in the streets, in the breath of the gin ladies who hang about the sidewalk, in the dead cats, the hungry mice that gnaw at the walls, when I go walking in the park and see packs of stray dogs making garbage of the city" (p. 7).

"I felt like a seesaw, tumbling down into thoughts, then working hard to pull back out again. Out into the sunlight, the fresh air, the voices of people and the sounds of moving traffic" (p. 284).