| Edition |
First edition. |
| Physical Description |
338 pages : illustration ; 24 cm. |
| Summary |
Isolated on an island where two rivers meet, the Lazaretto quarantine hospital is the first stop for immigrants who wish to begin new lives in Philadelphia. The Lazaretto’s black live-in staff forge a strong social community, and when one of them receives permission to get married on the island the mood is one of celebration, particularly since the white staff—save the opium-addicted doctor—are given leave for the weekend. On the eve of the ceremony, a gunshot rings out across the river. A white man has fired at a boat carrying the couple’s friends and family to the island, and the captain is injured. His life lies in the hands of Sylvia, the Lazaretto’s head nurse, who is shocked to realize she knows the patient. |
| Subject |
Quarantine -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- Fiction.
|
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African Americans -- Social life and customs -- 19th century -- Fiction.
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Historical fiction.
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