Deadly

Title: Deadly

Author: Julie Chibbaro

Publisher: Antheneum Books for Young Readers (2011)

Genre(s): Realistic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Young Adult Fiction

Length: 287 pages

Synopsis:  Prudence Galewski didn't expect much more from life than a job as a typist or shopgirl.  That's what awaits her and all her classmates at Mrs. Browning's School for Girls, and, in 1906, that was typical.  Despite her expectations, Prudence is dreams of doing more with her life.  She watched her brother die of gangrene and her father ship off to war, never to return.  She longs to make a difference, to "get a job fighting death."  When she gets the chance to work as a secretary, typist, and assistant at the Department of Sanitation, she realizes her opportunity has come at last.  Together, she and her employer work to determine the cause of a recent outbreak of typhoid fever.  The closer they come to an answer, however, the more puzzling the case becomes.  All the cases seem to be related to a cook named Mary Mallon, but how can they convince a perfectly healthy woman that her very presence is deadly?

My Rating: 3 Stars

My Opinion: 

Though I may be flying in the face of general consensus, I was not really a fan of this book.  It earned the National Jewish Book Award in 2011 and the cover review blurb is from The New York Times.  Nonetheless, I was underwhelmed.  I am a fan of historical fiction, particularly this era.  I am currently pursuing my own Master's degree in epidemiology, so of course the subject matter was interesting.  It just... didn't click.  There are so many different facets to this novel-- Prudence's brother's death and her father's disappearance, her relationship with her mother and with a friend who moved away to Virginia, her schoolwork, her job with the Department of Sanitation.  And yet, none of them seem deeply interwoven.  Perhaps this is due to the view of Prudence's life through the pages of her diaries.  She describes events as she sees them and not as they relate to one another.  Accurate though this may be, it does not make for a deeply engaging read.  The historical aspects of this book are obviously well researched and well presented, but again, the scope is limited to Prudence's perceptions.  For readers unfamiliar with this period in history, there is little societal context presented beyond the disparate fragments of war, sanitation reform, and societal expectations for women.  As a public health professional myself, I was also a bit bemused by Chibbaro's choice of rebellious career for her protagonist.  Prudence's mother is a midwife and the field of nursing has always been dominated by women.  These would have been clear and respectable alternatives for Prudence if, as is evident so early on, she despises the idea of being a shopgirl.  Today, as a student of public health following in the modern equivalent of Prudence's footsteps, it is rather amusing for me to sit in classes that are 80% female, reading studies by women scientists and textbooks by women authors.  It's a field of science where women are not only permitted, but often predominate.  I do hope that this book inspires young women to pursue careers in their field of interest, whatever that may be, but if I were to recommend a book for that purpose, it wouldn't be this one.