jjares reviewed on 2/5/2021 + 3292 more book reviews

In the pre-scientific age, wrathful supernatural forces were seen by the population as the most likely cause of various maladies. Typhoid Mary was a tragedy on two fronts. She was vilified as a carrier of typhoid (something she was unaware of) and she was a prisoner of a system she did not understand. Strangely enough, Mary was an itinerant cook for wealthy houses. If she had stayed at one home, she would have been apprehended sooner and her effects would not have been so widespread.

An Irish immigrant, Mary Mallon was named 'Typhoid Mary' by the American Medical Association, not some yellow-rag newspaper. When they released Mary from her private prison, they told her to find a different job. No effort was made to see that she had other job skills and she soon returned to cooking -- with disastrous results. Then, she was incarcerated until her death. Mary brings up an interesting case; the conflict between her civil rights vs. the rights of the community. On that level alone, this is a fascinating case.

This book makes another point; Mary never really understood her problem. The doctors talked to everyone but Mary. She saw the doctors doing something to her, not for her. She must have been terrified; we already know that she was furious.

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