Voices of the Dead: Battling the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1878: A Novel (Creole Voices Book 1)
By John Babb
Her patients are dying. And it’s not just the yellow fever that’s killing them.
Yellow fever. In 1878, the words sent shivers down the spines of anyone living near a body of water. From New Orleans, up the Mississippi River to Memphis and beyond, thousands of people sickened and died during that terror-filled summer.
A determined band of volunteers fought for their patients’ lives. A Creole nurse traveled north from New Orleans to help, bringing with her a very special necklace. An Irish chambermaid learned nursing and put her life at risk trying to lower her patients’ fevers. A Jewish physician volunteered despite lacking immunity to the virus. A fisherman became one of the first black policemen in the South when the white force was decimated by the disease.
Priests, sisters, reverends, rabbis, hearse drivers, gravediggers, retired military, an unashamed madam, a gambler…
Some survived. Others paid the ultimate price. And with patients dying from something that wasn’t yellow fever, only one person could hear the voices of the dead and help.
Listen to the beginning of this excellent historical tale right now.
“This is an extremely absorbing book about a difficult topic. The author has woven engaging character stories into the sad, but authentic newspaper reports from the time. Not all of the characters are heroes. They are every sort of individual whom we might have encountered in Memphis in 1878. Do you want to learn the history of what an epidemic like this one can do to a city when there is no known cure, and how ordinary and not so ordinary people cope? Read this book. Do you just want something engrossing and interesting to read? Read this book. It has heroism, cowardice, love, hope, and despair - all the human emotions that can surface in a story as powerful as this one.” From a review on Amazon
John Babb is a retired Assistant Surgeon General and a retired Rear Admiral in the US Public Health Service.
Not yet available as an audiobook, you can purchase the ebook or trade paperback here: https://surgfict.biz/2LAmnhw
////////////////////
THE SURGICAL FICTION PODCAST is narrated by Edison McDaniels.
Edison McDaniels is a physician, surgeon, wordsmith, author, and audiobook narrator. More here: https://SurgicalFiction.com.
SUBSCRIBE and check back regularly for another episode of The Surgical Fiction Podcast. In the meantime, please REVIEW THIS PODCAST here: http://surgfict.biz/reviewSFP and scroll to the bottom of the page to rate and review. If you need more information, read or listen to my short episode “How to Review a Podcast” at https://apple.co/2N8oObh.
Catch up with Edison McDaniels on Audible here: http://surgfict.biz/EPMonAudible
Edison McDaniels is also an author. His many novels and other stories are available on Kindle. http://amzn.to/2cv2iFs
Thanks for listening. Please wear a mask to protect yourself and others until we can safely gather together again!
049
