Lazaretto audiobook

Loved every bit of this book. Diane McKinney-Whetstone is a master storyteller from beginning to end. I know it's a bit early in the year to call this my favorite read of 2016, so I'll just leave it at being in the Top 5. Going to be hard to get better than this though.For a more detailed review, check out Stacia Brown's article in the Washington Post. She took the words right out of my mouth: ‘Lazaretto’ is a historical novel — and a perfect book for the end of the Obama era

The quarantine hospital called Lazaretto, outside of Philadelphia just after the Civil War is the setting for the second half of this novel . It is the place where people's paths cross in a ways that change there lives but it was the first half that held for me the real basis of what the book is about. This is when the author pulled me into the lives of this cast of characters that are so appealing that you just have to know what will happen to them . They are loving and kind women caring for children who are not theirs but loving them as if they were, two orphan boys who love their brother who is not really their brother but loving him as if he were . It also depicts a time in our society after slavery where racial boundaries abound. Two young women meet - one pregnant by her boss and the other learning to deliver babies, delivers her first. Both of their lives impacted from that day forward , as is depicted in alternating narratives . This is a beautifully written story that from the start kept me hoping for the day their paths would cross again. Meda, the young mother, who tries to find solace and meaning in her life after losing her baby opens her heart to two infant white boys at the orphanage, Linc and Bram. Yes , named after Abraham Lincoln , who is assassinated on the day she gave birth. Sylvia, the medical assistant , becoming a nurse but also care taker to a baby girl, brought into her life by her uncle who cannot take care of her . It isn't their paths that cross but the culmination of a reunion of sorts is painfully and beautifully rendered at Lazaretto. Predictable revelations and ending but still worthy of four solid stars .Thanks to Harper Collins and Edelweiss.

In the aftermath of the American civil war, on the night of Abraham Lincoln's assassination, two women whose paths cross briefly, are inadvertently linked for years. At the start of the story, a young black woman named Meda is toiling to give birth. The midwife's assistant Sylvia is shocked when the baby's father, takes the baby away and orders her to tell Meda the was stillborn. The secret will haunt Sylvia for the rest of her life. As a means to ease her grief, Meda bonds with two boys, Linc and Bram who reside at a nearby orphanage.Told through these women's points of view, I was treated to a lush story of dark secrets, hardship, and abounding love. The larger than life characters drew me into the story, each adding a different aspect to this multi-layered story. Lovely prose, wonderfully vivid descriptions, and a darn good yarn made me flip the pages at a furious pace. A definite 5 star read! A great book for book clubs too!Thank you to the author and publisher. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for visiting my blog, http://greathistoricals.blogspot.ca, where the greatest historical fiction is reviewed! For fascinating women of history bios and women's fiction please visit http://www.historyandwomen.com.

Favorite read of 2016.

After Sylvia helps deliver her first baby as an apprentice midwife, Meda, the mother, leaves believing the baby died at the request of the father, her wealthy, white employer. Meda tends to her grief by volunteering at an orphanage, where she takes on the care of two babies and helps raise them. Sylvia assuages her guilt by throwing herself into nursing, obtaining a post at Lazaretto, the first quarantine hospital in the U.S. Though from different socio-economic levels, Sylvia and Meda’s lives brush upon each other slightly throughout the years, though both women are unaware. A wedding party composed of black employees at the Lazaretto is quarantined due to a yellow fever scare. Sylvia must take charge of the ensuing chaos of racial terrorism upon the group on the boat over to the island and deal with white policemen whose purpose is unknown, but who are also quarantined with the wedding party. Meda’s boys end up in the middle and learn the truth of their mother.McKinney-Whetstone deftly portrays the precarious position of characters in a society that considers them invisible at best, and how they must carefully balance dignity with always a thought toward self-preservation. Though the characters hold their integrity through actions, the dialogue alternates between formal, stiff language without contractions and colloquial dialect, seemingly randomly, and can be distracting from the story. Systemic racism is nearly its own character in the tale, as even refined, strong-willed Sylvia deems it important to pamper the stranded detectives based on their color. Readers of historical fiction, lovers of secrets, and fans of flawed, complex characters will appreciate this novel.

Whew. There were a LOT of characters in this book. The second half of the book, I had a hard time keeping them all straight. There was a huge gap in time between the two; Bram and Linc were both babies, toddlers, and adolescents in the first half, the second half they are grown men trying to find their way. However, the heart of the story is a doozy, and one that I had never heard of. It explores the love between brothers, between mother and son, romantic loves, and love between friends. I enjoyed the story, once I quit focusing on how each character is related to one another.

Well. Wow. There was a lot about this book I didn't anticipate. The tone can be a bit challenging for a reader like me - there's a lot of hardship and injustice and tragedy. I can't lie. I found that rough going. There were things that kept my optimistic side happy and kept me reading, like Meda's love for Bram and Linc, or the friendship between Sylvia and Nevada, although so many rugs got pulled out from under me that it was hard to trust any of the nice things. But the world and the community felt real, and that's super important to me in historical fiction. Challenging as it was, I also thought it was a really good piece of fiction.That ending though. I'm not going to say anything about it. Just, you know. That ending!

This is one of my favorite authors. Her sense of time and place is second to none. the death of Abraham Lincoln is a cause for mourning in Philadelphia during the period of this book. A midwife delivers a child that was supposed to be aborted. The young assistant makes a choice that shapes the novel immensely. There is not too much brutality towards Blacks thankfully but an incident does mar a celebration. I thought Vergie was the answer. Read for yourself and enjoy the Philly based novel.

Picked this up on a whim and I'm so glad I did. I loved this book. Just kept getting better as the end neared and we began to see how tightly the stories wove together. Only holding back from five stars because it felt like it needed one more chapter to tie things up.

So good! A richly written historical novel that begins with a young midwife's helper training to be a nurse and spins out from there. I loved the first half more than the second (where we finally reach the titular Lazaretto) but I still enjoyed the latter too. And I think it ended in just the right place. ☺️

This author has a beautiful command of language. She evokes time and place with vivid accuracy. All her books are set in Philadelphia. In this novel, she recreates the post civil war period and infuses her characters with breathtaking life, interactions and emotions. This novel is a must read.

Incredible. I also don't know what more to say. Great character development with a perfect mix of history, race, class & love.

Lazaretto was very intriguing to read. Diane McKinney-Whetstone has been blessed with the phenomenal ability to keep her reader interested throughout. I honestly did not want to put the book down. A Philadelphia transplant from Savannah, I am very familiar with the Lazaretto facility in what is now Essington, PA, just outside of Southwest Philly, in Delaware County. The site has since been transformed into a tourist site with a nearby ballroom given the same name. Before there was Ellis Island, there was the Lazaretto, a quarantine station established in 1799 to examine incoming immigrants to the city of Philadelphia. Any sick passengers or crew members would be quarantined there.Diane gives us vibrant chararcters who feel more like family and friends than those from historical fiction. All of the emotions (laughter, shock, curiosity, tears, etc) will come forth while reading this novel. Lazaretto tells the story of love, family, unity, genuine togetherness, social class, and racial identity among the African-American community in South Philadelphia. Lazaretto deals with issues such as passing (both knowing and unknowingly), pathological medical conditions, rape, gambling, colorism, and drug addiction to name a few. The novel speaks to the strength and character of the women, who against the odds, held everything together. Though we like to think of novels as having one or two main characters, Diane gives us many main characters whose lives, stories, and histories are intrinsically intertwined. There are at least eight different, but connected stories throughout the book. However, the story of Linc and Bram will capture your heart. Throughout the novel, there is no greater love than the love between these two brothers. They fight, sacrifice and look out for one another to no end. Theirs is a true bond of unbreakable love, friendship, and brotherhood. The stories of Meda, The Benins, Buddy, Miss Ma, Nevada, Sylvia, Carl, Ann, Dr. Miss and the no count Lazaretto physician all serve as a backdrop to help tell the story of Linc and Bram. Each of the other stories gently touch on a current 21st century issue.The simultaneous death of Abraham Lincoln and the birth of a newborn lays the foundation of what plays out during this story. In this well laid out story of a woman and two babies, we find that love, truth, and understanding prevail. This 336 page novel is well worth the read as it is beautifully written.

I've been a fan of Diane McKinney-Whetstone for years (no relation that I'm aware of). I was so happy to see a new title being released this year and even happier when I won a free copy of it via Goodreads Giveaways. The book is centered around a young midwife, Sylvia and her first birthing mother, Meda, who believes she gave birth to a stillborn baby girl. The book follows their separate paths into adulthood. Their stories intertwine at Lazaretto, a quarantine hospital near Philadelphia when Meda's young ward turned adult, Linc goes in search of his missing brother, Bram. The rich and colorful characters are set amid the turbulent times following Abraham Lincoln's assassination.

Had a hard time sticking with this book. McKinney presents a tangle of characters and events in tumultuous post-Civil war society. It is an interesting story: a young midwife-in-training delivers her first baby in an unwelcome world. The child is immediately whisked away for better or worse, and the mother, a servant in a wealthy household, is paralyzed by grief. What follows is a drawn-out tale that explores the parallel lives of two children. The ending does provide the reader with some satisfaction, but the entire path of the story is almost too complex to come full circle in a way that the reader recognizes.