Description

The Speckled Monster tells the dramatic story of two parents who dared to fight back against smallpox.  After barely surviving the agony of smallpox themselves, they flouted eighteenth-century medicine by borrowing folk knowledge from African slaves and Eastern women in frantic bids to protect their children.  From their heroic struggles stems the modern science of immunology as well as the vaccinations that remain our only hope should the disease ever be unleashed again.

Jennifer Lee Carrell transports readers back to the early eighteenth century to tell the tales of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu and Dr. Zabdiel Boylston, two iconoclastic figures who helped save London and Boston from the deadliest disease mankind has known.

About the Author

I've always wanted to write books; early on, my fallback career choices were ballerina and astronaut. It has something of a surprise, though, to find myself writing thrillers. I am now working on a novel of historical fiction about one of my favorite paintings, Jan Van Eyck'sArnolfini Wedding.Learn more at my web site:www.jenniferleecarrell.com, or visit me onFacebook. I welcome interaction with readers!A NOTE ABOUT MY REVIEWS: I include the following:Five Stars: books of many genres that hang incandescently in my imaginationEverything else - unstarred: books that I admire in the genres of historical fiction, mystery & thriller, fantasy & fairy tales, Shakespeare, and History. For the sake of time and my sanity, I include here only those books that are in some way relevant to what I write. The exception is my Children's Book list, which lists the books I loved most as a child.If a book is listed here, I have either read and admired it, or it's in my "must read" pile. I'll be gradually trying to say why for many of them...