ROMANCE

Quarantine

by John Smolens
Pegasus. 2012. 384p. ISBN 9781605984186. $25.95; ebk. ISBN 9781453271414. F
COPY ISBN
Summer, 1796. A foreign ship is stopped in Newburyport Harbor, MA, by the harbormaster but not before a gruesome malady is let loose by a few escaping sailors. Giles Wiggins, a local who learned his medicine on the battlefield, tries to fight the spreading disease and the accompanying prejudice that arises among the townsfolk. He also has to deal with his squirrely half-brother and their conniving mother. Plus, there's a long-lost love and a newfound love. People go crazy, one may have been murdered, and someone ought to hang.
VERDICT Smolens's (The Schoolmaster's Daughter; The Anarchist) lastest novel offers an accurate portrait of a post-Colonial New England community, but his promising story line gets pulled under by the lack of a strong central figure. The weak hero gets overshadowed by some of the supporting actors. Readers who enjoy tales of early America and can overlook the mostly sketchily drawn characters should enjoy the mix of history, ravaging illness, and avarice.
Reviewed by W. Keith McCoy, Somerset Cty. Lib. Syst., Bridgewater, NJ , Jan 04, 2013
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