The Second Life of Mirielle West

By Amanda Skenandore ,

Book cover of The Second Life of Mirielle West

Book description

The glamorous world of a silent film star’s wife abruptly crumbles when she’s forcibly quarantined at the Carville Lepers Home in this page-turning story of courage, resilience, and reinvention set in 1920s Louisiana and Los Angeles. Based on little-known history, this timely book will strike a chord with readers of…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

2 authors picked The Second Life of Mirielle West as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Amanda Skenandore’s beautiful and insightful novel about a silent film star who was sent to live in a Louisiana Leper Colony in the 1920s. The book is rich and full of surprising historical details. While it might seem like a downer – it is funny and heartwarming, with a beautiful coming-of-age story and romance at its heart.  Absolutely fascinating.

This is an intoxicating tale of a little-known, true-life, leper colony in the USA during the glamorous Roaring ’20s, as a silent film star’s wife is forcibly quarantined in the Louisiana institution known as Carville, where thousands of people were stripped of civil rights, branded as lepers, and forcibly detained throughout the 20th century.

If you love The Second Life of Mirielle West...

Ad

Book cover of The Unlocked Path

The Unlocked Path by Janis Robinson Daly,

The Unlocked Path presents and embraces a "New Woman" of the early 20th century: educated, career-minded, independent. In 1897 Philadelphia, after witnessing her aunt's suicide, Eliza Edwards vows to find ways to help and heal. Rejecting her mother's wishes for her society debut, Eliza enters medical college at a time…

Want books like The Second Life of Mirielle West?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 89 books like The Second Life of Mirielle West.

Browse books like The Second Life of Mirielle West

Book cover of The Second Mrs. Astor: A Heartbreaking Historical Novel of the Titanic
Book cover of The Moonshiner's Daughter: A Southern Coming-of-Age Saga of Family and Loyalty
Book cover of The Nurse's Secret: A Thrilling Historical Novel of the Dark Side of Gilded Age New York City

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

2,354

readers submitted
so far, will you?

Ad

📚 If you like The Second Life of Mirielle West, you might also like...

Book cover of Mirrors & Smoke

Mirrors & Smoke by Adrienne Stevenson,

Rebecca Plummer is an Englishwoman transplanted into colonial life. A herbalist and midwife with a shameful secret and feminist outlook, she is caught up in the War of 1812 in Niagara, Upper Canada. Rebecca struggles to keep her family and community together despite gossip and wartime deprivation.

A story of…

Book cover of I Meant to Tell You

I Meant to Tell You by Fran Hawthorne,

When Miranda’s fiancé, Russ, is being vetted for his dream job in the U.S. attorney’s office, the couple joke that Miranda’s parents’ history as antiwar activists in the Sixties might jeopardize Russ’s security clearance. In fact, the real threat emerges when Russ’s future employer discovers that Miranda was arrested for…

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in Louisiana, leprosy, and presidential biography?

Louisiana 123 books
Leprosy 16 books