1847. Thousands of Irish emigrants are boarding ships to flee the potato famine at home hoping
for a better life in Canada. Yet many do not survive the crossing. Those who do reach Canada
arrive weakened starving and riddled with disease and are forced to stay in quarantine on
Grosse Isle an Island just outside Quebec. This is the story of one doctor's seemingly
hopeless struggle against the deadly disease that threatens to spread inland and affect other
large cities like Montreal and Toronto. Andrea Barrett's sensitive account of one of the 19th
Century's defining moments masterfully challenges readers' awareness and perception of current
events. After all history does have a habit of repeating itself.
