Maligned

by Jude Fawley

In New York City, mysterious outbreaks of salmonella are devastating families. In Europe, decades before, rampant childbed fever is ending families before they even begin. Mary Mallon, an Irish cook, is pursued by the government. Ignaz Semmelweis, a Hungarian obstetrician, is being ridiculed by the medical establishment. No one is washing their hands.

Genres: Historical Fiction

144 pages, Paperback

First published May 18, 2015

About the author

When I first started writing, my mother told me, "Jude, that's not what an A is shaped like." And she was right, or at least it wasn't shaped like everyone else's. And the rest of the alphabet—similar problems, similar criticisms. But when you're a four year old, that kind of truth is much harder to swallow, and since I was obstinate my As were malformed for many years to follow.

What I would have argued, if I had my current perspective those many years ago, is that the shape of the letters never really mattered. The people that spent years practicing their penmanship, with their protractors and their rulers, never really had anything better to say. An A is nothing if it isn't in a word, a word is nothing if it doesn't have the context of thought, and a thought is nothing if it's coming out of stupid people.

So it came to be that the rest of my life, from the age of four to now, I've dedicated to the avoidance of becoming stupid, at the expense of my handwriting. It is my hope, then, that this will give context to my thoughts and meaning to my letters. With these thoughts I sit at a computer, using a keyboard rather than a pen, and string thousands and thousands of these letters together, so that they become books. It is up to you whether they have meaning. And if you find the font disagreeable, the medium by which these thoughts become accessible to you, it won't be my handwriting to blame, but rather some seventeenth century typographer who was just trying to make a living and is now dead. You can blame him, you have my permission.

Reviews

[Eva Sawyer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ummm,

Was enjoying the story, but ended really abruptly. Disappointing to say the least. Would have liked to have seen the conclusion of Mary's life

[Lasciel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A scary journey into the world before modern medicine, where people who appear to be helping are actually killing customers and patients alike, through ignorance and arrogance. I liked the very flawed nature of the main characters involved. The ideas behind the story are interesting and well thought out. Unfortunately, the story itself isn't great it doesn't feel complete as a reader. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the slightly factual scary nature of Maligned.

[Ruth Failor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, easy read. It certainly piqued my interest about the evolution of sanitation in the medical field. The story is well constructed. The conclusion leaves me wanting to learn more about Typhoid Mary and the eventual acceptance of personal hygiene, particularly hand washing, as a means used by the medical profession to prevent the spread of disease.