Taking the Cure: A Novel

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In 1945, tuberculosis was known as ‘the white plague and was one of the world’s leading causes of death. Victims were confined to sanatoriums under the control of state laws, and they were not allowed to leave. After she is diagnosed with tuberculosis, fourteen-year-old Betsy is taken from her home and forced to undergo treatment. For four years she remains in the hospital under punitive rules 'more like a prison than most prisons. At the age of eighteen, faced with disfiguring surgery called thorcoplasty that will leave her with a caved-in chest, Betsy manages to escape from the hospital. With the help of new friends she bravely creates a covert life for herself. Naively believing that nothing bad will happen, Betsy allows herself to be seduced by her first boyfriend. Her subsequent pregnancy causes her tuberculosis to flare anew, and she is forced to return to the hospital, where societal prejudices threaten her with the loss of her new baby. However, streptomycin and other new drugs finally cure the tuberculosis, and an unexpected romance ultimately transforms her life. Based on author Sarah Taggart’s own experiences, Taking the Cure is a reminder of tuberculosis’s history and dangers.