One Thousand Porches

By Julie Dewey

Set in the majestic yet untamed Adirondack Mountains of New York more than a century ago, and extraordinary story unfolds about a little known town called Saranac Lake.  The town is home to a man with a disease known as consumption, white plague, or as some called it, the red death.  It is here that Doctor Edward Livingston Trudeau finds a hopeful cure for tuburculosis in the form of open air.

Trudeau's patients vary in age, gender, class, and race, but they have one thing in common.  They must all choose to embrace life, even in the face of death, if they wish to heal at the Sanitarium.

Christine, a woman at the helm of her family, has already lost two childrento the dreaded plague.  But when her daughter, Collette, contracts the disease, she is determind to keep her alive.  Venturing into unkown territory, Christine risks her own health and that of her unborn child, as well as her marriage, to help her daughter seek a cure that to many is absurd.  Christine embarks upon a life-changing journeyas she moves from caregiver to patient.  In the face of adversity she must find the courage to sustain herself.

When Lena, a factory worker and mother of three, begins coughing up blood she is faced with  decision no mother wants to make.  She either stays with her family and risks her own death, or leaves her loved ones behind while she goes off in hope of a cure at the Sans.

Big Joe, once a strong man for a traveling circus, seeks a quiet place to live out his final days in hiding.  When he is sent to the Sans he is terrified to learn he will be housed with fellow circus performers, for he is a hunted man.  Gaunt and thin, he cna only hope no one from his past recognizes him in his current state.

Little Amy, a six year old child, must care for her entire family of seven, all whom are afflicted with different froms of plague.  When she is diagnosed with a very rare form herself, she is sent to ethe Sanitarium and put under the care of Dr. Trudeau.  Alone and afraid, Amy faces her fears and allows herself to dream of a future.

With a cast of characters so vivid, One Thousand Porches, is a heart warming and engaging story that will instill hope in even the most pessimistic reader.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Julie Dewey
• Release date: Nov 5, 2014
• ISBN: 9781502244512

Reviews for One Thousand Porches

[Juliebeans29 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was an uplifting and engaging story about tuberculosis and how it was treated a century ago. I fell in love with the characters and Dewey's style of writing. Well done.

[nossanna_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A lovely book about an unpleasant topic, TB. This historical fiction flows along with narrative from several characters impacted by TB in the pre-antibiotic later 1800's. The book relates the true story of Dr. Trudeau and his fresh air "cure" on the porches of houses in the Sarnac Lake, NY area. This book is a definite recommend!