The story follows a girl, named Marie Claire, and showcases how her friends and family are directly effected by the war that the Canadians are becoming an ally in. The main plot of the story is all about how tuberculosis sweeps the war torn nation, and more importantly, 16 year old Marie Claire's family. After Marie's uncle comes to live with her family they find out he's infected with TB. After contracting it, Marie Claire was sent to a sanatorium with her two younger siblings to try and cure the disease, which is called "chasing the cure." In that time Marie Claire grows up a lot after losing her younger brother to the disease and she develops a special and bittersweet friendship with her roommate in the sanatorium.
The character development of Marie is excellent, and Martha Brooks grew up in a sanatorium having contracted TB at a young age, so this narrative was just an extension of her past. I really like reading the book and I think it's a great read for young adults. The historical aspect of the book was eye opening and interesting, but the story was compelling enough to keep you reading, and reading quickly.
3 comments:
To be honest, I am greatly fascinated in World War II because it demonstrated the extremes of humanity and how humans overcome and thrive to live despite the hardships of the Great Depression and War. I read a book by Elie Wiesel "Night" and I learned what I did not in history books. Literature provides an in depth dive into the thoughts of humans.
I also agree with you, we hardly know what was Canada during World War II and I also suffered exposure to TB and it is something that until recently can be cured.
My question is how would you compare Marie's experience in the sanatorium to the experience of holocaust survivors in concentration camps?
Wow! This sounds very interesting. I'm always astonished at my mind's ability to say "Oh, WWII. US, UK, France vs the other guys" but I have never really thought about what was going on in other countries at the time. Gosh, that sounds awful. Haha!
Anyway, I really like historical fiction and this one sounds really intriguing. You can count on author's putting their own experiences into their novels and this sounds like a great perspective.
The following website has loads of interesting information about Canadian's involvement in WWII. I especially recommend the Virtual Memorial. http://www.canadaatwar.ca/
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