Leprosy Books

One of the most captivating stories I have read in years. I don't remember crying so many times whilst reading a fiction story, yet so amazing I could not put it down. Well done!
I have travelled to Molokai and seen the colony years ago, but this really made me feel I was there again and understood what was going on in such a beautiful mystic place.

I really enjoyed this book. The subject matter can be heavy at times but it's very enjoyable and characters are extrememly well-developed. I felt like I was living in the midst of them, and felt my heart being wrenched several times. I am a big fan of reading books set in the places I visit and really wish I had saved this one for my next trip to Hawaii.

Wonderful book! Poignant, inspiring. We hope to visit Molokai when we are in Hawaii next fall. A must-read!

Lately I have found I have been judging books by their ability to make me feel emotion. At first I wondered if Moloka'i could do that. This story begins with Rachel as an innocent, naive little girl, suddenly thrown into an unfamiliar world separated from all that she knows and loves. Her character grows into her adult self in this world of isolation just as any young girl would. The author expertly conveys the growth of this character slowly over time.
Shame and prejudice exist all over the world, only Rachel didn't realize that she was never alone until she found her family again.
Moloka'i made me angry and made me cry. This is a wonderful story set in an unusual place and it is a must read on my list.
Linda C. Wright
Author, One Clown Short
One Clown Short

I found this to be a very good book. Very well written and a very good story line. It was very touching. I felt like I was there seeing all of this happen.I felt so sorry for this character. It shows no matter what happens in life, good can come out of it. No matter what ailments befall us, we can make it through anything if we have the right attitude. We are all survivors in some way.

we loved this story I didn't not realize there was a history on these
people. and it was done so well I would recommend you read Malaki first
then this book after. good read

Aloha kakou,
Outstanding collaborative effort by two very important Native Hawaiian voices. This wonderful portrait details a man`s life spent well--dealing with the challenges and trials of surviving Hansen`s disease in Kalaupapa, Moloka`i. Not an in depth about Hansen`s or Kalaupapa, this is Henry`s story, his life, loves, talents and legacy. Henry tells his story, through Sally-Jo`s sensitive handling, with the self effacing, off hand manner of a true local Bruddah. Typical of Hawaiians of his generation, he can do a handful of difficult things really well. This celebration of a life lived with purpose also shows what can result from a life lived purposefully with Aloha. I strongly recommend this book.

In his powerful first book, "Uncle Henry" Nalaielua tells a story that has rarely been told, of a dark moment of Hawai'i's history; not from the distant viewpoint of the historian, but from the first-person testimony of its survivor.

With honesty, humor and vivid detail, Henry's courageous tale touched my soul, so profoundly, that I kept wanting to know more. I couldn't put it down and finished it in one sitting, wishing that it wouldn't end. It stirred emotions in the same way as Paulo Coelho's, "The Alchemist," in its message of following one's dream, despite all obstacles. (Except, this is no fable; it is a real life piece.)

Along with his brilliant co-author, Sally-Jo Bowman, he weaves an intimate story of strength and perserverence, which will surely be known for decades to come as one of the islands' finest mo`olelo.

This is a must read for everyone and makes for a wonderful gift. It will touch you in surprising ways, and make you want to meet this incredible man and the spiritual place that he would finally call, "home."

I've now given away so many copies of No Footprints that I should have bought a dozen or twenty at wholesale. Henry's is an amazing story of a kolohe kanaka - naughty Hawaiian - who had the misfortune to contract a dreaded disease in 1936. Sally-Jo Bowman's input makes it a fascinating read. Sounds just like Henry sat down and wrote it all by himself, but we know it doesn't work that way. I chuckled at Henry's can-do attitude. Man after my own heart. I'm glad the book includes all his Casanova events. What a guy, a real renaissance kanaka kane - Hawaiian man. Great title!

Reviewed by Richard R. Blake for Reader Views (3/07)

This is an amazing story. It is Henry's story. Henry Nalielua, diagnosed with Hansen's disease at the age of ten, was branded leprous. "No Footprints in the Sand" is an important memoir. It tells of the journey that took Henry from a sugar plantation community on the Island of Hawaii to Kalaupapa, a remote settlement on the Hawaiian island of Molokai.

Nalaielua's story is inspiring. Even in exile, with lifelong medical and physical challenges and isolation from his family, he faced life with hope, perseverance, courage, and humor. Henry learned to draw and paint. He became an artist. Henry loved music and mastered the ukulele and upright bass. He became a musician. Henry's mind was sharp. He was determined and quick-to-learn. He became an historian. Henry has also served on numerous public agency advisory boards. When the facility at Kalaupapa was named a National Historic Park, Henry became a guide for park visitors. He still resides at Kalaupapa

Co-author Sally-Jo Bowman worked determinedly over a period of years to help bring Henry's story to publication. She first met Henry in 1995, when he helped her with on-site research at Kaluapapa for several magazine articles about the Hansen's disease colony.

Henry's story is unforgettable. It is told with intimacy and openness. "No Footprints in the Sand" is a heartwarming memoir that will inspire anyone facing adversity, long term illness, or needing encouragement. This was a very positive reading experience.

beautifully written and simply told. I read it in one night! I highly recommend this book. It is one to pass on as a gift...and keep a copy on hand as well.

I found this plot amazing. I wasn't sure if i wanted to read such a sad and depressing book, even right in the start of the book. I was angry at some spots and amused at others. This book is very easy reading. I liked the ending a lot. It was a complete ending, you felt good at the end. I am glad Sigmund Brouwer gave the book this ending.

Nathaniel contracted leprosy while serving in the British Army in India in the middle 1800's. Rather then expose his family to his disease; he secludes himself from the world. But when he finds a baby girl, how will her unconditional love change his out look on his life?

This novella is a quick read. I got through it in a couple hours one evening. But that doesn't make it any less powerful. Sigmund Brouwer has created a cast of characters that need the love of God, and works them through their problems. The ending had me in tears.

Anyone looking for a good story that will move you while making you rethink your own priorities need look no further. This powerful little book is must reading.

This beautiful novella is well-written, has a sweet story, and a solid message. It ministered to me in my own battle with a painful physical disorder.

The leper was a wonderful, moving story set in England in the 1800s. I couldn't put it down. My daughters ages 16 and 13 read it within the next two days and both loved the story also. It portrays the power of love which can enable people to change.

This is an excellent book. I bought several copies and distributed them to friends/acquaintances and sent one to my sister in England who requested more copies for distribution. The book accurately describes the church of the 21st Century. It causes even the reader to check his or her heart out to determine where they really are with the Lord. It is refreshing to know there are still "some genuine servants" of the Lord (though very few in number)in ministry for the right reasons. A very powerful book by a very annointed woman with the Spirit of understanding and wisdom; counsel and power; Knowledge and fear of the Lord, raised up by the Spirit of the Lord for such a time as this. I highly recommend this book and her tape(s) on Repairing the Temple, Leprosy in the Church and The Ashes of a red heifer. You will be blessed by the Spirit of the Lord pouring through this humble but bold vessel of the Lord. She is a blessing to the body of Christ.

This was an blatant in your face prognosis of the state of the church today. The diagnosis was not given without giving the reader a prescription that they could take to help cure the problem. She is an awesome writer and also takes you through so much history of the Bible in a short span.

Go to her website (Morrison Ministries) and purchase the video "Leprosy in the Church", it will have you on your knees crying out to GOD!!! She preached this at Juanita Bynum's Weapons of Power Conference and it was awesome. I highly recommend anything she puts out!!! She is truly anointed!!!!!

This book has come to CRY LOUD and SPARE NOT! It reveals the condition of today's chruch. It is powerful, prolific and the unadulteratrd Word of GOD.

This was a great story. It is extremely sad and poignant. It is not only heartbreaking that a beautiful people where losing their lands, but witnessing the terrible deaths they suffered before they passed on. It is up lifting to find that the author shared a spirit in the characters towards the end of the story that showed how truly beautiful these people were in how the accepted their fate. I believe Bushnell has a great voice of old Hawai'i. Like every great book it leaves you wanting more at the end.

I read this book in college while living in Hawaii and then read it again ten years later and it is still excellent! The three faces of the book bring a new dimension to the reader's experience. Bushnell uses each of the three characters to teach the reader about the time period and about the experiences of living on Kalapapa. He weaves a wonderful story about the lives of the Hawaii people who suffered from leprousy. Used the book for a book club and was loved by everyone!! Historical fiction!! Wonderful story!!!

Outside of Michener's famous novel, "Hawaii", this is one of the best fiction works about Hawaii. Fictional characters are woven into a tapestry around the real Father Damien and how all their lives are affected by the curse of leprosy and exile to Molokai.

I picked this up in a used bookstore in Hawaii expecting to get a little historical background on Father Damian and life in the leper colony of Molokai, but ended up discovering an utterly gripping novel. The story of a prisoner on death row given the option of life among the lepers in exchange for experimentation on his person in an attempt to find a cause for the spread of the disease. The story is told from three perspectives and fits together like a satisfying puzzle. The self absorbed Dr. Neuman is straight out of a Dostoevski novel. Highly recommended.

This true story of an astonishing man's life deserves attention.

I accidentally ran across a battered old copy of this book at a rotting mountain lodge, tucked among other dusty, abandoned books. Thankfully, I was just bored enough to begin reading it. It only took a few pages to hook me.

At the time, I had recently become disabled. Before my disability, I was physically fit, and I had a successful career, for which I had struggled to obtain a doctoral degree. I was newly married. Suddenly, life was no longer what I had planned, and I had a hard time figuring out why I should continue with this "new" life.

This man, in a similar position, faced even greater disappointments. Yet, he found meaning for his life and helped others live what life they had left with joy and purpose, all under extraordinarily difficult circumstances.

I resist using the "politically correct" name for the disease that is the subject of this book; I prefer to call it "leprosy," for two reasons. First, I don't think that word has the religious and social stigma it once had, at least not here in the U.S. Second, calling it "Hansen's" disease, after the doctor who identified the bacteria that caused it, seems to have had the unintended effect of imparting the belief that "science" has leprosy under control and that no one suffers from it.

Incidentally, there is still no cure for all leprosy types, and its damage cannot be repaired. Although, the bacteria that causes leprosy was discovered in 1873, exactly how it is "caught" or communicated among people is still a debated mystery. Some argue that leprosy may still be contracted in the U.S., and it most certainly still exists in many places around the world. There was a leprosy colony here in the mainland U.S. and one Hawaii. The "new" remedies used in the 1920s, discussed in the book are still partially in use, although improved today. So, the factual story is also still current, as well as the message.

If you need a reminder, as we all do at times, that life can be full of purpose, love and joy no matter what curve ball life pitches -- then this is a simply written story that will indelibly embed that notion into your heart.

I read this book in the 8th grade for the first time. I think it was great and have read it over and over again. It is a fast read and very touching.

About the courage and trials of a patient with leprosy who spent much of his life on a leper colony in the phillipines. Excellent!

This book is perhaps the most moving account of persoanl suffering, and courage, I've ever read. It's made all the more so by the fact that thed 'hero'--unlike our Hollywood hereos--is a normal guy, and the story is unknown and unheralded. ( I found my copy for 50 cents at a library's throw-away bin, kind of like the people it talks about in the book) A Spanish-American war veteran returns from the Phillipines to begin his young life only to find out a few years hence he was infected with leprosy. The real enemy is not so much the disease as the immediate ramifications which include exclusion from normal life and society. The heartbreak, sorrow, hopelessness, courage and truth that unfold are a lesson for anyone who ever wonders whether their life counts. Lessons abound for anyone faced with physical, emotional, or social ills that seem to bar them from living a meaningful life.

This book is far and away the best look at the history of the disease, colonies, and treatment, out there. On top of being extremely informative, it is not a dry read in the least bit. I finished it in a day. I particularly enjoyed the time taken to deal with Carville, it's founding and patients, particularly the amazing Stanley Stein. If a person has any interest in the disease at all, this book needs to be on their shelf.

Hear the world 'leprosy' and you tend to think of bygone eras and diseases no longer threatening modern societies - but A DISEASE APART: LEPROSY IN THE MODERN WORLD shows otherwise, tracing the history of leprosy and surveying the legends, realities, and medical concerns surrounding the disease. From pioneers of early treatments and diagnosis to local epidemics of leprosy, chapters survey the controversies, research, and health risks which have surrounded leprosy. Treatments for cases caught early have been in effect since the 1950s - but there's still lots of misunderstanding and myth surrounding leprosy - and thus the need for this detailed medical history.

Everyone knows what you mean if you refer to someone as a leper: someone others shun. There are worse diseases, more painful ones, more numerous ones, and many more contagious ones, but leprosy was a horror of its own. This was largely because leprosy was visible; blotchy skin, bloated face, extremities dissolving away. Lepers had more problems in that they lost their sight, but more particularly they lost their sense of touch, and with it the capacity to feel pain, the blessing in disguise that protects us from the world's blows. It is a terrible disease, but the horror it inspired in others made it unique. In _A Disease Apart: Leprosy in the Modern World_ (St. Martin's Press), Tony Gould shows that in the past couple of hundred years, the disease has lost its capacity to shock. It still exists, but there are good treatments and we know that sufferers need not be objects of fear or horror, and that they are certainly not victims of some sort of curse from gods of any type. Gould has not pointedly drawn comparisons to AIDS in our own time, but the similar arc of social reaction to the disease is clear.

Much of what people know about leprosy comes from the Bible, and it certainly inspired the missionaries in their efforts against the disease, but probably those missionaries were fighting a different one than that known in Old Testament times and locales. The involvement of Christianity by means of missionaries to sufferers is a theme throughout this book. One victim himself wrote, "There is no mission to the tubercular, no mission to the diabetics, no mission to syphilitics.... there seems to be some special reward for working with 'lepers'." Such missions are not now fashionable, and we know missionaries are not an unalloyed force for good. Gould has focused in on one region after another to tell histories that all include the cruel management of sufferers and the eventual freeing of them to more enlightened ways. Perhaps the most famous is Father Damien, the Belgian priest who ministered to lepers in Hawaii from 1873 to his death from leprosy in 1889. An American Protestant missionary met him there, and wrote a private posthumous letter critical of Father Damien ("He was not a pure man in his relations with women, and the leprosy of which he died should be attributed to his vices and carelessness.") which the recipient published. Damien's cause was taken up by another previous visitor to Molokai, none other than Robert Louis Stevenson. The controversy only swelled interest in the colony and made Damien a martyr and a figurehead for fundraising.

Leper colonies were not only in far away, impoverished places full of people with dark skin. The American version was in a lovely place, if a little swampy, called Carville, Louisiana. Huge oaks, songbirds, and gorgeous flowering trees made it a place of inspiring natural beauty. "It should have been a tonic to the soul. Except that we were fenced in." So wrote Stanley Stein, a Jewish pharmacist from Texas who edited the patients' publication _The Star_. He was the bane of the U.S. Public Health Service, always campaigning in a spirited American fashion for more rights. The campaign worked, as gradually patients were allowed more time on the outside, and the fences that had held them were taken down. Stein became a star himself, touring the country and hobnobbing with the likes of Tallulah Bankhead. He died in 1967, but Carville still exists as does his paper. The facility was formally closed as a leprosarium in 1999, but some with the disease still live there; having been isolated all their lives, they fear trying to live in the outside world, although they could do so with which much less stigma due to Stein's campaign. Gould shows that this has been the pattern in one locale after another as scientific evaluation of leprosy as a disease has shown that it isn't anything more than a disease, and not a very dangerous one at that, especially now. There is a contradiction, though, in that sufferers and healers who insist that it is just a disease are taking away its special status. The special status may have been founded on fear, but take it away and the focus on treatment and rehabilitation may be lost, especially in poor countries with other diseases to fight. It is one of the many paradoxes in an engaging and moving book.

I loved this book. Ms. Jarrett is a nurse who spent a year caring for the remaining patients and residents of the Kalaupapa peninsula on Molokai, Hawaii. In her memoirs, she describes the pain and suffering of that the elderly patients/residents of Kalaupapa endured at the hands of the State of Hawaii. The reason was leprosy, a contagious and deforming disease which was rampant on the Hawaiian islands in the 1800's and the first half of the 20th century. Although a cure was found, these remarkable and brave people still faced prejudice; and therefore, most decided to remain on Kalaupapa even after the quarantine was lifted. Ms. Jarrett does not mince words or beat around the bush in this diary. Her descriptions of the patients/residents, the people with whom she worked, the gorgeous scenery of Molokai, and her adventures in Kalaupapa are sure to bring tears to even the most indifferent readers. In addition to her own words, she provides excerpts and letters from former employees, as well as correspondence between the nuns and priests who sacrificed everything to provide a better life for the residents of Kalaupapa.

I found this by its ISBN, the folks at Amazon.com appear to have fluffed on the title! (Which concludes "Diagnostic criteria for research", important in distinguishing it from the "Clinical descriptions and Diagnostic Guidelines" edition) Whilst not essential, this book nicely complements the indispensable ICD-10 "Clinical descriptions and diagnostic guidelines", to which it adds some specifics for those engaged in research in this area. If as a clinician you find the ICD-10 adequate, this is not a necessary addition. I obtained my copy as a student mental health nurse, and as time progressed it has proved its worth alongside the aforementioned main "Chapter V" text, particularly in my current role as a nurse lecturer. Not a must-have but certainly a nice-to-have!

PS: In the U.S. the DSM-IV is more likely to be what you require in this department. Still no harm to check out how the rest of the world has classified mental & behavioural disorder! :)

Boy, did I have insensitive feet. Mine were always telling me I was overweight, criticising my clothes (I happen to like orange) and generally using every opportunity to reduce me to tears with their spiteful comments.

That said, revenge has been sweet...so, so sweet. Paul Brand's book unwittingly solved my dysmorphic disorder by reminding me of limb-eating properties of leprosy. Admittedly, it was difficult to catch and the incubation period long but now my foot problems are reduced to which room to leave them in when I go out.