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    Lazaretto: A Novel
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    Lazaretto: A Novel
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    Lazaretto: A Novel
    Ebook395 pages9 hours

    Lazaretto: A Novel

    By Diane McKinney-Whetstone

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    “Vibrant. . . . Completely engaging. . . . A unique blend of poetic language and graphic depictions of the injustices suffered by African Americans in the post-Civil War period.”— Booklist (starred review)

    Diane McKinney-Whetstone's stunning historical novel, Lazaretto, begins in the chaotic back streets of post-Civil War Philadelphia as a young black woman, Meda, gives birth to a child fathered by her wealthy white employer. In a city riven by racial tension, the father’s transgression is unforgivable. He arranges to take the baby, so it falls to Sylvia, the midwife’s teenage apprentice, to tell Meda that her child is dead—a lie that will define the course of both women’s lives. 

    A devastated Meda dedicates herself to working in an orphanage and becomes a surrogate mother to two white boys; while Sylvia, fueled by her guilt, throws herself into her nursing studies and finds a post at the Lazaretto, the country’s first quarantine hospital, situated near the Delaware River, just south of Philadelphia.

    The Lazaretto is a crucible of life and death; sick passengers and corpses are quarantined here, but this is also the place where immigrants take their first steps toward the American dream. The live-in staff are mostly black Philadelphians, and when two of them arrange to marry, the city’s black community prepares for a party on its grounds. But the celebration is plunged into chaos when gunshots ring out across the river.

    As Sylvia races to save the victim, the fates of Meda’s beloved orphans also converge on the Lazaretto. Here conflicts escalate, lies collapse, and secrets begin to surface. Like dead men rising, past sins cannot be contained.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateApr 12, 2016
    ISBN9780062126986
    Author

    Diane McKinney-Whetstone

    The author of the critically acclaimed novels Tumbling, Tempest Rising, Blues Dancing, Leaving Cecil Street, and Trading Dreams at Midnight, Diane McKinney-Whetstone is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Black Caucus of the American Library Association’s Literary Award for Fiction, which she won twice. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband. For more on Diane McKinney-Whetstone please visit www.mckinney-whetstone.com or follow her on Twitter @Dianemckwh.

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    Reviews for Lazaretto

    3.5/5

    19 ratings4 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Location is most important in Lazaretto by Diane-Whetstone. Also, the unique way of remembering President Abraham Lincoln's death. Birth and death and just the chaotic days of a life will speed you through the pages.
    • 4/5
      Post Civil War, Philadelphia, on the evening of President Lincoln's assassination a few things will happen that will effect some of these characters but will remain a secret untold for decades. Relations between blacks and whites were still fraught with mistrust and anger, anger that sometimes boiled over. Many also thought that orphans were throwaway children. All these things would come to a head at the Lazaretto, the first quarantine hospital built in the United States.Wonderful descriptive prose, vibrant and likable characters, well for the most part, we have to have a few bad guys. . Just loved Linc and Bram, Meda, Sylvia, Carl and Dakota and a few more. Very easy story to get into, the setting and the tone places the reader firmly in this time period. If at times it was a bit dramatic that was okay and while the ending may seem a little too pat for some, I thought is was fitting and well deserved.Loved the historical feeling in this one, the small accurate details, but it very much a character driven story and the characters had amazing depth. Will be seeking out more from this author.ARC from Harper Publishing.
    • 3/5
      3.5 stars.Even a quick summary will give away too much of the story, though it might not be obvious. Or maybe it would be.Lots of characters (I love that) living in a Philadelphia post-Civil War African American neighborhood. But the story revolves around two white orphans, Linc and Bram, who are raised as brothers because they arrived at the orphanage as infants within days of each other. What are their back stories? Because they spend a lot of time with Meda, their wet nurse, and in the home of the Benins, her employers, they have more opportunities than many orphans--and the other kids know it. They also learn a lot about gambling and the African-American community from hanging out at Meda's brother Buddy's gambling hall. As they grow up and run from the law, they end up in New York. Only Meda's death years later brings them back to Philly. And that is where the meat of the story begins—and the book is already half over.After all the lead-up and several story lines that have nothing to do with the main story, there is a very abrupt ending. I want to know more! How does Buddy react? What happens with the quarantine? What happens with Bram? The doctor? Where does Linc go after the quarantine ends? What about Vergie? So. Many. Questions. So many loose ends.
    • 3/5
      This book opened with an engrossing scene - a mother giving birth and then lied to about the fate of her child - and then the story seemed to meander before coming together again towards the end. I struggled with the middle and while I appreciated the conclusion (and one of the revelations towards the end), something about this novel just didn't work for me.