Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of In the Sanctuary of Outcasts: A Memoir (P.S.)

In the Sanctuary of Outcasts: A Memoir (P.S.)
jazzysmom avatar reviewed on + 907 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1


This is the memoir of Neil White who was convicted and sent to prison in Carville in 1993 for bank fraud: For more than a century, Carville Louisiana, served as the United State's national leprosarium. Individuals who contracted the disease were forcibly quarantined at its remote location on the Mississippi river. By the 1900s, the number of patients at Carville had dwindled to 130, the very last people in the continental United States confined because of the disease. The facility had hundreds of empty beds, so the Bureau of Prisons transferred federal convicts to Carville. Mr. White's story is deeply moving & at times roll on the floor hilarious. The author does a beautiful job of introducing you to the patients and inmates at Carville. I fell in love with many of them. It became hard to find a stopping point so I finished this book in 2 days. It was enlightening in many aspects and I sure did enjoyed the 2 days I spent reading about Mr. Whites jailhouse redemption. Great book.