Deadly by Julie Chibbaro

            The book I read is called Deadly, written by Julie Chibbaro.  In it, a girl called Prudence Galewski does not like her finishing school.  She wants to become a doctor so that she can save people, because of the death of her brother and the likely death of her father.  She then looks for jobs so that she and her mom will have more money.  A man offers her a job as his secretary.  She immediately accepts when she finds out that he is trying to stop the spread of typhoid fever.  Unfortunately, she has to quit going to her finishing school in order to take the job.  Neither her mom nor her finishing school headmistress are very happy about her choice.  In her job, Prudence starts chasing Mary Mallon who is a woman who's presence is always followed by typhoid fever.  Mary Mallon is found to be the first healthy carrier of typhoid fever.  Prudence feels sorry for Mary but understands why the doctors are keeping Mary at the hospital.  In the end, Prudence helped track down the first recorded healthy carriers of typhoid fever.

          I think the theme of this book is that you can do what ever you want to do no matter who you are.  I decided that this is the theme because it is mentioned many times in the book.  One time it is mentioned is when Prudence says, "Truthfully I hunger for a job that's meaningful."  I think that it shows how girls and woman used to get less high quality jobs than men, but during that time period girls and woman started getting better jobs. Another sentence in which the theme is supported is when Prudence says, "It seems, the sort of job I've been looking for, one that is bigger than me." Also Prudence meets a woman doctor who encourages Prudence to go to college. The doctor says, "You know Prudence, I think you would make a good doctor."  That statement really pushes Prudence to do more with her life.  I think that these sentences support my claim that if you work hard enough, no matter who you are, you can do what ever you want.
            I would recommend this book to a friend but only if they like historical fiction.  This book does not have a sequel.  The book does not have a finalized ending either, so, I think that the author may write a sequel. There is another book by this author.  It is called Redemption and I think that it is another historical fiction, but I am not sure. I hope this author writes more books so I can read them.
           A historical character in this book is Mary Mallon more frequently called Typhoid Mary. She was the first healthy carrier of a disease to be found and recorded. Mary Mallon worked as a cook for eight different families and seven of them contracted typhoid fever. She was caught but refused to give the doctors samples, so she was later token into custody. The doctors found traces of Typhoid in her gallbladder, so she was put into quarantine for three years at a clinic on North Brother Island. Later the doctors decided to let Mary out if she promised not to be a cook. She became a laundress for a few years, but then changed her name to Mary Brown and went back to being a cook for five years causing more outbreaks.Finally the police caught up to her and she was quarantined for the rest of her life.
           I thought that this was a good book on an interesting topic.