The Colony

I am a big fan of historical fiction, mostly because I like to learn the history indirectly through the lives of imagined people. Like my father, I love history, but I'm not often patient enough to sit through the dry recounting of historical events without a little drama to keep me turning the pages. That's why I loved this book. The Colony chronicles the heartbreaking exile of thousands of patients with Hansen's disease (formerly known as leprosy) in the name of public health to a small peninsula on the northern coast of the Hawaiian island of Molokai.

Many of you read my other blog and will remember that last year Jeff and I hiked down from "topside" Molokai to the small peninsula that served as the prison for leprosy sufferers and their caretakers. The peninsula sits at the base of the tallest sea cliffs in the world and experiences some of the worst weather in the Hawaiian island chain because of it's orientation toward the north east. Ironically, the day we visited was clear and calm. Our tour guide even commented that it was the most beautiful day he had ever seen after years of living there. The beauty didn't cover up the isolation of the place. Steep jagged cliffs kept injured and weak from climbing out, while rocky coastline and volcanic rock kept ships from being able to dock for more than a few days each year.

John Tayman did so much research for this book that the notes take up almost a hundred pages at the end of the book. With that much information, the reader might shy away thinking that the prose will be too laden with facts to be entertaining. I'm happy to report that Tayman does a wonderful job of weaving the story together so smoothly that the reader barely notices that one paragraph may have required heaps of research to produce. However, I must disclaim that I am a detail-oriented person by nature, so I probably enjoy minutiae more than the average book-reading bear. Don't let the research intimidate you, though. This book is well-written and engaging. I especially enjoyed his intimate description of Father Damien and others who conquered their fear and came to Molokai to help those desperately in need.

I wish this book were required reading in high schools across the nation. The story is one that needs to be told over and over again, because it reminds us of the mistakes we cannot afford to make again. Tayman even brings up the similarities between the way officials approached leprosy in the mid-1800's and the reaction to the HIV/AIDS epidemic as it began in the mid-1980's. Some health officials were recommending that AIDS patients be segregated from the population - some even went as far as suggesting they be sent to Molokai since the population of Hansen's disease patients there was waning. Tayman also includes a bit of the history of leprosy throughout the United States, including the lesser known population in Louisiana and the story of a man who became an activist for the cause of leprosy patients by repeated escaping from exile and sneaking to Washington D.C.

Even if you never plan to see the remains of the leper colony yourself, I recommend this book because it will give you greater appreciation for the complexities of responding to a public health crisis in a time when we are threatened by bird flu and ebola - and it will remind you that behind each number of newly diagnosed, there are faces and families and lives.