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The Coast
Alice is only nine years old in 1910 when she is sent to the feared Coast Hospital lazaret at Little Bay in Sydney, a veritable prison where more patients are admitted than will ever leave. She is told that she's visiting her mother, who disappeared one day when Alice was two. Once there, Alice learns her mother is suffering from leprosy and that she has the same disease.
As she grows up, the secluded refuge of the lazaret becomes Alice's entire world, her mother and the other patients and medical staff her only human contact. The patients have access to a private sandstone-edged beach, their own rowboat, a piano and a library of books, but Alice is tired of the smallness of her life and is thrilled by the thought of the outside world. It is only when Guy, a Yuwaalaraay man wounded in World War I, arrives at The Coast, that Alice begins to experience what she has yearned for, as they become friends and then something deeper.
Filled with vivid descriptions of the wild beauty of the sea cliffs and beaches surrounding the harsh isolation of the lazaret, and written in evocative prose, The Coast is meticulously researched historical fiction that holds a mirror to the present day. Heartbreaking and soul-lifting, it is a universal story of love, courage, sacrifice and resilience.
As she grows up, the secluded refuge of the lazaret becomes Alice's entire world, her mother and the other patients and medical staff her only human contact. The patients have access to a private sandstone-edged beach, their own rowboat, a piano and a library of books, but Alice is tired of the smallness of her life and is thrilled by the thought of the outside world. It is only when Guy, a Yuwaalaraay man wounded in World War I, arrives at The Coast, that Alice begins to experience what she has yearned for, as they become friends and then something deeper.
Filled with vivid descriptions of the wild beauty of the sea cliffs and beaches surrounding the harsh isolation of the lazaret, and written in evocative prose, The Coast is meticulously researched historical fiction that holds a mirror to the present day. Heartbreaking and soul-lifting, it is a universal story of love, courage, sacrifice and resilience.
320 pages, Paperback
First published May 31, 2022
32 people are currently reading
799 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 108 reviews
July 26, 2022
Again, I am so pleased I selected a historical fiction, but I fear I need to apologise for another long review! This was a brilliant book; evocative and seamlessly flowing. The subject matter thoroughly researched, I felt I was living amongst the bias and hypocrisy of the times. 1910, Little Bay, Sydney Australia is the real-life hospital, The Coast. Separated into male and female lazarettes for leprosy sufferers to live the rest of their days in strict segregation.
The Matron, doctors and nurses felt real to me, some gracious and kind, and others who didn’t care about their charges. The audio format was perfect, with narration by Taylor Owynns outstanding. My friend Jools tells me this is the same narrator of which I read and loved, so I think I will listen to this one soon. The voice of the Matron was lively and entertaining, fitting of the time and of a cranky lady who didn’t care about her patients, so different to her predecessor who retired and returned to live out her days in Scotland.
Doctor Will Stegner, who I simply adored, possessed none of the bias and ignorance many in his profession did, he worked tirelessly for his patients for more than twenty years, with the descriptions of his character real; he loved his patients and the descriptions of them ingratiating his life and the way he held their confidences was brilliant. The level of research apparent with the way of the times showing through at every occasion. These patients did not need to be segregated at all, and Will carried out his duties with professionalism and understanding at every step, making his charges feel like they are human and worthy of touch, love, and respect.
Clea, a name which I adored, was sent to The Coast in appalling conditions, she was locked in a carriage, ignored, cold and wet � the conditions were terrible. Clea was Nellie in her former life, with the names of those suffering changed to save face for the families left behind, yet another case of shame. Having given birth recently and leaving two children behind, she was leaking breastmilk and in a terrible way. Welcoming her at the other end was Wil, who cleaned her and made her feel human again. Clea was a tough character, she fell in love with a young man when she was only a child herself, who gave her her first born, Hilda. Hilda became Alice.
Alice followed her mother a few years later as a nine-year-old, but her trip was made with her ma, another tough gruff woman on the advice of Clea, who refused her first born to be faced with that awful passage years earlier. Clea and her were able to reunite and become mother and daughter again. Alice was able to be free, the food was good, and she learned to read and be kind to others. Clea may have been rough and ready, a drinker who enjoyed the company of men, but she was kind and wanted to be loved.
Alice falls in love; these scenes are beautiful with the imagery of a girl finally feeling the touch of another palpable. Guy, formally Jack, is an Aboriginal which forms the ire of Matron, and the two sneak away and spend snatches of time together. Another serious theme of the Stolen Generation is covered, also, and we see little Jack’s upbringing and how he is bought to The Coast after his war service, as a member of the Light Horse Brigade. All descriptions of the beautiful and harsh Australian country seem to be just so, the sea, the city, and the bush. So well done.
Will faces his own battles, and we witness this over decades as the story comes full circle. A book to be cherished; this reading journey was what I love given my passion which is reading. I love to learn, and this book taught me so much.
My mother commenced reading this as I finished, she was a nurse in the 1960’s as this condition, now known as Hansen’s disease, began to slowly be more understood. This author is highly skilled given the subject matter and has portrayed a harsh but real subject matter eloquently. Highly recommended!
The Matron, doctors and nurses felt real to me, some gracious and kind, and others who didn’t care about their charges. The audio format was perfect, with narration by Taylor Owynns outstanding. My friend Jools tells me this is the same narrator of which I read and loved, so I think I will listen to this one soon. The voice of the Matron was lively and entertaining, fitting of the time and of a cranky lady who didn’t care about her patients, so different to her predecessor who retired and returned to live out her days in Scotland.
Doctor Will Stegner, who I simply adored, possessed none of the bias and ignorance many in his profession did, he worked tirelessly for his patients for more than twenty years, with the descriptions of his character real; he loved his patients and the descriptions of them ingratiating his life and the way he held their confidences was brilliant. The level of research apparent with the way of the times showing through at every occasion. These patients did not need to be segregated at all, and Will carried out his duties with professionalism and understanding at every step, making his charges feel like they are human and worthy of touch, love, and respect.
Clea, a name which I adored, was sent to The Coast in appalling conditions, she was locked in a carriage, ignored, cold and wet � the conditions were terrible. Clea was Nellie in her former life, with the names of those suffering changed to save face for the families left behind, yet another case of shame. Having given birth recently and leaving two children behind, she was leaking breastmilk and in a terrible way. Welcoming her at the other end was Wil, who cleaned her and made her feel human again. Clea was a tough character, she fell in love with a young man when she was only a child herself, who gave her her first born, Hilda. Hilda became Alice.
Alice followed her mother a few years later as a nine-year-old, but her trip was made with her ma, another tough gruff woman on the advice of Clea, who refused her first born to be faced with that awful passage years earlier. Clea and her were able to reunite and become mother and daughter again. Alice was able to be free, the food was good, and she learned to read and be kind to others. Clea may have been rough and ready, a drinker who enjoyed the company of men, but she was kind and wanted to be loved.
Alice falls in love; these scenes are beautiful with the imagery of a girl finally feeling the touch of another palpable. Guy, formally Jack, is an Aboriginal which forms the ire of Matron, and the two sneak away and spend snatches of time together. Another serious theme of the Stolen Generation is covered, also, and we see little Jack’s upbringing and how he is bought to The Coast after his war service, as a member of the Light Horse Brigade. All descriptions of the beautiful and harsh Australian country seem to be just so, the sea, the city, and the bush. So well done.
Will faces his own battles, and we witness this over decades as the story comes full circle. A book to be cherished; this reading journey was what I love given my passion which is reading. I love to learn, and this book taught me so much.
My mother commenced reading this as I finished, she was a nurse in the 1960’s as this condition, now known as Hansen’s disease, began to slowly be more understood. This author is highly skilled given the subject matter and has portrayed a harsh but real subject matter eloquently. Highly recommended!
June 17, 2022
Alice was two years old when her mother disappeared, and she then lived with her gran and siblings. It was 1910 when Alice was nine years old, and Gran took her to see her mother who had been living in Sydney for the past seven years. Alice was nervous about meeting the mother she didn’t remember, but their arrival at The Coast hospital and the special cottage Clea lived in, saw Alice discover her mother had leprosy and that Alice also had the disease and wouldn’t be returning home with Gran. The section of cottages was segregated from the rest of the hospital which saw other patients � tuberculosis, influenza and so on � keeping the lepers away from others. The misconception of how leprosy was passed from person to person was rife � no one went near the lazaret.
Young Jack, a Yuwaalaraay man, joined the Light Horse Infantry to fight the Turks but when he was injured, he was shipped back to Australia and eventually diagnosed with leprosy. His stay at the Peel Island lazaret off Brisbane � where his name was changed to Guy � wasn’t good, but after he contacted Doctor Will Stenger of the Coast hospital in Sydney, Guy travelled to there with the doctor’s permission. He was allocated a cabin which he shared with another man, and it wasn’t long before he met Alice. Will was a caring and compassionate doctor and did all he could for his patients, keeping them comfortable, easing their fears when he could. He could see Alice and Guy were affectionate toward one another and didn’t discourage it � although it was frowned upon by others�
The Coast is an exceptional, stand out historical novel by Aussie author Eleanor Limprecht which I thoroughly enjoyed. With fascinating insight, this novel is based on fact, a history of early nineteen hundreds Australia that I wasn’t aware of. The lyrical beauty of the area around the Coast hospital with the ocean at their doorstep vies with the harsh isolation of the lazaret, where sufferers generally didn’t leave, although some did. Heartbreaking and sad, it is also filled with hope, courage and love. Highly recommended.
With thanks to Allen & Unwin AU for my uncorrected proof ARC (which I won) to read in exchange for an honest review.
Young Jack, a Yuwaalaraay man, joined the Light Horse Infantry to fight the Turks but when he was injured, he was shipped back to Australia and eventually diagnosed with leprosy. His stay at the Peel Island lazaret off Brisbane � where his name was changed to Guy � wasn’t good, but after he contacted Doctor Will Stenger of the Coast hospital in Sydney, Guy travelled to there with the doctor’s permission. He was allocated a cabin which he shared with another man, and it wasn’t long before he met Alice. Will was a caring and compassionate doctor and did all he could for his patients, keeping them comfortable, easing their fears when he could. He could see Alice and Guy were affectionate toward one another and didn’t discourage it � although it was frowned upon by others�
The Coast is an exceptional, stand out historical novel by Aussie author Eleanor Limprecht which I thoroughly enjoyed. With fascinating insight, this novel is based on fact, a history of early nineteen hundreds Australia that I wasn’t aware of. The lyrical beauty of the area around the Coast hospital with the ocean at their doorstep vies with the harsh isolation of the lazaret, where sufferers generally didn’t leave, although some did. Heartbreaking and sad, it is also filled with hope, courage and love. Highly recommended.
With thanks to Allen & Unwin AU for my uncorrected proof ARC (which I won) to read in exchange for an honest review.
July 23, 2022
What a book!
What a wonderfully edifying and compelling story about the times and terms of life, in a not so very long ago Sydney, where even people in authority were driven to extremes by fears and prejudices.
It was in the year 1910 when nine year old Alice is taken away from her home by her grandmother, to make the long and arduous journey from her home in the Northern Rivers area, to the Coast Hospital at Little Bay on the east coast of Sydney...where Alice's mother Clea is an inpatient.
The hospital has specially purpose built wards called lazarets for patients diagnosed with Leprosy. There is a men's lazaret and a women's lazaret built some distance from the main hospital buildings, and although patients may visit each other, they are otherwise segregated.
The patients are kept from the rest of the population and hospital community, being attended to by regular daily visits from the doctor and nurses who change their dressings each day. All meals and so on are supplied by the hospital kitchen.
Patients cannot leave the hospital grounds, and although the lazarets are walled and gated on three sides, the patients do have access to the confines of the beach and surrounding bush from the rocky sandstone exit at the back of the lazarets.
The disease was very misunderstood by authorities and the public in general as very little was yet known about its indiscreet contagiousness. It could lay dormant in a person for many years and more, or it could make a rapid onset. The patient was usually left with hideous, disfiguring scars all over the body. It was these disfigurements that people were most afraid of, fearing that just being in the vicinity of a so called Leper could make them vulnerable.
There was no cure and not much in the way of relief other than regularly applying cream and fresh dressings to the affected areas.
Alice's mother Clea had been a resident there for many years now, having had no contact from family for years. When her mother wrote to inform Clea that her nine year old daughter Alice had tested positive and was to be taken by the authorities to The Coast Lazaret, Clea begged her mother to bring her personally and not to let the authorities bring her. Her own memories of that torturous journey still haunt her.
So Alice was not told about her condition or the reasons for her accompanying her grandmother, except that they were going to visit her mother....little does Alice know that this will be a one way journey.
From the tender age of nine, Alice's world will shrink even further as her only connection to people and the world at large will now be confined to the lazarets and the patients, doctors and nurses within.
Such were the conditions set down for people diagnosed with leprosy, they were virtually held prisoners. Their homes and belongings were destroyed by fire to ensure that no contagious effects remained, and they were taken away to be imprisoned in the lazaret at the Coast.
This story is told in different timelines and follows generations of the family members afflicted by the disease and how they were shamed and treated as "lepers." How the disease indiscriminately affected some family members and not others, and scarred them physically and mentally for life. How their families were also affected for life as a result.
This was a thoroughly immersing story that touched me deeply on many levels. Knowing what we know now, it's heart wrenching to realize that really not that very long ago right here in Sydney, people were being treated in this way out of sheer ignorance
Having just lived through the Corona Virus pandemic here, it is easy to envisage how people driven by fear of the unknown can behave in the face of a life threatening illness.
*Thank goodness for the goodness of those amazing people who always stand up during times like these, Doctors, Nurses, Essential services and Volunteers...Bravo.
Deeply moving and at times profoundly sad, where love and desire can never be fully imprisoned.
People who liked this book might also like:
by
I gave this 5�!
Many thanks to Allen & Unwin and the Author for my copy to read and review.
* The audiobook is also very nicely narrated by Taylor Owynns who lends some convincingly characteristic voices to the story.
What a wonderfully edifying and compelling story about the times and terms of life, in a not so very long ago Sydney, where even people in authority were driven to extremes by fears and prejudices.
It was in the year 1910 when nine year old Alice is taken away from her home by her grandmother, to make the long and arduous journey from her home in the Northern Rivers area, to the Coast Hospital at Little Bay on the east coast of Sydney...where Alice's mother Clea is an inpatient.
The hospital has specially purpose built wards called lazarets for patients diagnosed with Leprosy. There is a men's lazaret and a women's lazaret built some distance from the main hospital buildings, and although patients may visit each other, they are otherwise segregated.
The patients are kept from the rest of the population and hospital community, being attended to by regular daily visits from the doctor and nurses who change their dressings each day. All meals and so on are supplied by the hospital kitchen.
Patients cannot leave the hospital grounds, and although the lazarets are walled and gated on three sides, the patients do have access to the confines of the beach and surrounding bush from the rocky sandstone exit at the back of the lazarets.
The disease was very misunderstood by authorities and the public in general as very little was yet known about its indiscreet contagiousness. It could lay dormant in a person for many years and more, or it could make a rapid onset. The patient was usually left with hideous, disfiguring scars all over the body. It was these disfigurements that people were most afraid of, fearing that just being in the vicinity of a so called Leper could make them vulnerable.
There was no cure and not much in the way of relief other than regularly applying cream and fresh dressings to the affected areas.
Alice's mother Clea had been a resident there for many years now, having had no contact from family for years. When her mother wrote to inform Clea that her nine year old daughter Alice had tested positive and was to be taken by the authorities to The Coast Lazaret, Clea begged her mother to bring her personally and not to let the authorities bring her. Her own memories of that torturous journey still haunt her.
So Alice was not told about her condition or the reasons for her accompanying her grandmother, except that they were going to visit her mother....little does Alice know that this will be a one way journey.
From the tender age of nine, Alice's world will shrink even further as her only connection to people and the world at large will now be confined to the lazarets and the patients, doctors and nurses within.
Such were the conditions set down for people diagnosed with leprosy, they were virtually held prisoners. Their homes and belongings were destroyed by fire to ensure that no contagious effects remained, and they were taken away to be imprisoned in the lazaret at the Coast.
This story is told in different timelines and follows generations of the family members afflicted by the disease and how they were shamed and treated as "lepers." How the disease indiscriminately affected some family members and not others, and scarred them physically and mentally for life. How their families were also affected for life as a result.
This was a thoroughly immersing story that touched me deeply on many levels. Knowing what we know now, it's heart wrenching to realize that really not that very long ago right here in Sydney, people were being treated in this way out of sheer ignorance
Having just lived through the Corona Virus pandemic here, it is easy to envisage how people driven by fear of the unknown can behave in the face of a life threatening illness.
*Thank goodness for the goodness of those amazing people who always stand up during times like these, Doctors, Nurses, Essential services and Volunteers...Bravo.
Deeply moving and at times profoundly sad, where love and desire can never be fully imprisoned.
People who liked this book might also like:
by
I gave this 5�!
Many thanks to Allen & Unwin and the Author for my copy to read and review.
* The audiobook is also very nicely narrated by Taylor Owynns who lends some convincingly characteristic voices to the story.
June 20, 2022
Beautifully written but also heartbreaking. It is also very detailed and confronting given the topic of leprosy and the way lepers were treated as a result, not by everyone but certainly the majority of people. The exception is Dr Will Stegner, who treats those with leprosy with compassion and gentle care. I found this book hard to read and could only deal with it in small doses as it was so graphic and detailed. That’s not to say it is all heavy going, there is some evocative scenery with stunning beaches and sea cliffs surrounding the hospital, and some lighter moments. There is also a romance, but not everyone approves of it.
Those who end up at the Coast Hospital and the lazaret always take on a new name so as not to embarrass family. Nellie becomes Clea. Her daughter Hilda, who is nine when taken to the lazaret, takes the name Alice after Alice in Wonderland. Jack, becomes Guy. The place is a virtual prison. Most of them will never leave the Coast hospital or they will die there as the feared disease takes hold.
I knew of The Coast hospital in Little Bay as a place for isolating those with scarlet fever, but I had no idea it had ever been used as a hospital for leprosy. Wonderfully historic it shows a place and time in Australia I suspect many others may also have never heard of before. Interesting reading.
There are also touching and sad stories of the treatment handed out to our indigenous people and the attitudes that led to the stolen generation. A Yuwaalaraay man who fought and was injured in World War 1 arrives at the Coast hospital and brings something unexpected to the lazaret and especially to one of the women there.
With thanks to Allen & Unwin for my ARC which I won. This is fascinating historical novel that involves the reader in the lives of the four main characters and stirs the emotions.
Those who end up at the Coast Hospital and the lazaret always take on a new name so as not to embarrass family. Nellie becomes Clea. Her daughter Hilda, who is nine when taken to the lazaret, takes the name Alice after Alice in Wonderland. Jack, becomes Guy. The place is a virtual prison. Most of them will never leave the Coast hospital or they will die there as the feared disease takes hold.
I knew of The Coast hospital in Little Bay as a place for isolating those with scarlet fever, but I had no idea it had ever been used as a hospital for leprosy. Wonderfully historic it shows a place and time in Australia I suspect many others may also have never heard of before. Interesting reading.
There are also touching and sad stories of the treatment handed out to our indigenous people and the attitudes that led to the stolen generation. A Yuwaalaraay man who fought and was injured in World War 1 arrives at the Coast hospital and brings something unexpected to the lazaret and especially to one of the women there.
With thanks to Allen & Unwin for my ARC which I won. This is fascinating historical novel that involves the reader in the lives of the four main characters and stirs the emotions.
June 11, 2022
This is a book that I found just so intriguing and sad, having formerly worked at Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital in Melbourne. There we had a 'Hansen's' clinic the name used to de-stigmatise leprosy.
In this book 'The Coast' is an infectious diseases hospital near Sydney, which has wards dealing with tuberculosis, Spanish flu and other communicable diseases. Alongside the hospital is a compound referred to as the lazaret, where by law, sufferer's of leprosy are impounded and legally not allowed to leave. Nellie is sent to the lazaret when as a young mum she is found to have the lesions on her skin that her father 'Joe the leper' had suffered from. Her transport to The Coast was abominable as people shrunk from her in fear of catching something from the leper. At the lazaret she takes the name of Clea, as all residents are encouraged to take a new name and save their families from the shame of being associated with them.
Dr Will Stenger is a doctor at The Coast and one of the few medical staff that works willingly with those who have leprosy, attending to their needs and assisting them as much as he can. He too, is self isolating unable to live with his own perceived weakness.
Hilda is the daughter of Nellie/Clea left in dirt poor circumstances to be raised by her grandmother. She suffers the taunts and stigma of being from the 'leper family' and does her best just to get by.
This is a tale of great suffering and what happens when appearance means everything.
Thank you Allen & Unwin for the copy of this paperback ARC that I won. I am happy to recommend the book, but be aware that the description of the disease the book is based on can be quite graphic and potentially disturbing for some.
In this book 'The Coast' is an infectious diseases hospital near Sydney, which has wards dealing with tuberculosis, Spanish flu and other communicable diseases. Alongside the hospital is a compound referred to as the lazaret, where by law, sufferer's of leprosy are impounded and legally not allowed to leave. Nellie is sent to the lazaret when as a young mum she is found to have the lesions on her skin that her father 'Joe the leper' had suffered from. Her transport to The Coast was abominable as people shrunk from her in fear of catching something from the leper. At the lazaret she takes the name of Clea, as all residents are encouraged to take a new name and save their families from the shame of being associated with them.
Dr Will Stenger is a doctor at The Coast and one of the few medical staff that works willingly with those who have leprosy, attending to their needs and assisting them as much as he can. He too, is self isolating unable to live with his own perceived weakness.
Hilda is the daughter of Nellie/Clea left in dirt poor circumstances to be raised by her grandmother. She suffers the taunts and stigma of being from the 'leper family' and does her best just to get by.
This is a tale of great suffering and what happens when appearance means everything.
Thank you Allen & Unwin for the copy of this paperback ARC that I won. I am happy to recommend the book, but be aware that the description of the disease the book is based on can be quite graphic and potentially disturbing for some.
July 17, 2022
The Coast is the fourth novel by Australian author, Eleanor Limprecht. The audio version is narrated by Taylor Owynns. When, at nine years of age, Alice is diagnosed by the local doctor with leprosy, her Gran takes her from their Northern Rivers home to Sydney, to the Coast Hospital at Little Bay. She thinks she’s visiting her mother, Clea, but is then told she, too, is a leper. She caught it from her mother, although it didn’t manifest until after a bout of influenza. Both inherited their tendency to succumb to the disease from her grandfather.
When compared to other lazarets, the one at Little Bay is civilised, enlightened: the patients are mostly treated with care and respect, living in cottages with access to a private beach, a boat from which they can fish, good food and the most up-to-date treatments. It doesn’t alter the fact that they are, effectively, prisoners, and the isolation results in extreme boredom.
“For him there was never enough time. For me there was far too much. It slowed and pooled around me, viscous and sticky.�
Dr Will Stenger is a young, unmarried and dedicated to his patients. Even when he is busy with other patients at the Coast Hospital, he tries to make time to visit his patients in both the male and female lazarets. He keeps this from his parents, who would be horrified at his regular and continued contact with this biblical disease. And perhaps even more horrified by the other secret he keeps.
Despite his efforts to educate the other doctors and carers about the extremely low transmissibility of the disease, many are averse to any contact, so his care is highly valued by his patients. As his youngest patient with leprosy, and the only child there, he tries to be extra kind to Alice, bringing her books to read and answering her many questions, feeding her fascination with medicine and literature.
Taken from his mother when he was only five, half-caste Yuwaalaraay boy, Jack Flint grows up in a Catholic Boys Home where he relies on Guy, an older boy, for friendship amongst the cruelty and loneliness. Even after they leave the Home, they maintain their connection, and eventually end up serving together in the Light Horse Brigade in Egypt.
Jack returns to NSW alone, broken-hearted at the loss of his friend, and unaware for some years of the disease he has contracted. When he is diagnosed with leprosy, he is put on Peel Island near Brisbane, until he takes the initiative to get to somewhere better. By this time, he has taken another name, as leprosy patients do to save their families from the stigma, that of his dear friend, Guy. At the Coast Hospital, he gets better treatment, and meets Alice and Clea.
Limprecht’s descriptions of how Clea, her father and, in particular, Guy, an indigenous man who has lost a leg in the service of his country, are transported to their lazaret, powerfully demonstrates the stigma that surrounds this disease, despite it being less transmissible that other diseases also common at the time like tuberculosis.
“He was probably terrified to have been given this job of looking after the black leper. Guy reassured him early on that he was going to keep his distance. He wondered what frightened them more - his blackness or his leprosy.�
Limprecht includes a wealth of information about the disease and attitudes of the early twentieth century, weaving it all into story that keeps the reader enthralled. The continuing repercussions of stigmatising illness and the long-term effects of isolation are effectively conveyed. This is a tale of sadness and heartbreak, but also of hope and joy, deep love and great compassion. A fascinating piece of Australian history, beautifully told.
When compared to other lazarets, the one at Little Bay is civilised, enlightened: the patients are mostly treated with care and respect, living in cottages with access to a private beach, a boat from which they can fish, good food and the most up-to-date treatments. It doesn’t alter the fact that they are, effectively, prisoners, and the isolation results in extreme boredom.
“For him there was never enough time. For me there was far too much. It slowed and pooled around me, viscous and sticky.�
Dr Will Stenger is a young, unmarried and dedicated to his patients. Even when he is busy with other patients at the Coast Hospital, he tries to make time to visit his patients in both the male and female lazarets. He keeps this from his parents, who would be horrified at his regular and continued contact with this biblical disease. And perhaps even more horrified by the other secret he keeps.
Despite his efforts to educate the other doctors and carers about the extremely low transmissibility of the disease, many are averse to any contact, so his care is highly valued by his patients. As his youngest patient with leprosy, and the only child there, he tries to be extra kind to Alice, bringing her books to read and answering her many questions, feeding her fascination with medicine and literature.
Taken from his mother when he was only five, half-caste Yuwaalaraay boy, Jack Flint grows up in a Catholic Boys Home where he relies on Guy, an older boy, for friendship amongst the cruelty and loneliness. Even after they leave the Home, they maintain their connection, and eventually end up serving together in the Light Horse Brigade in Egypt.
Jack returns to NSW alone, broken-hearted at the loss of his friend, and unaware for some years of the disease he has contracted. When he is diagnosed with leprosy, he is put on Peel Island near Brisbane, until he takes the initiative to get to somewhere better. By this time, he has taken another name, as leprosy patients do to save their families from the stigma, that of his dear friend, Guy. At the Coast Hospital, he gets better treatment, and meets Alice and Clea.
Limprecht’s descriptions of how Clea, her father and, in particular, Guy, an indigenous man who has lost a leg in the service of his country, are transported to their lazaret, powerfully demonstrates the stigma that surrounds this disease, despite it being less transmissible that other diseases also common at the time like tuberculosis.
“He was probably terrified to have been given this job of looking after the black leper. Guy reassured him early on that he was going to keep his distance. He wondered what frightened them more - his blackness or his leprosy.�
Limprecht includes a wealth of information about the disease and attitudes of the early twentieth century, weaving it all into story that keeps the reader enthralled. The continuing repercussions of stigmatising illness and the long-term effects of isolation are effectively conveyed. This is a tale of sadness and heartbreak, but also of hope and joy, deep love and great compassion. A fascinating piece of Australian history, beautifully told.
July 2, 2022
The Coast by Eleanor Limprecht
Synopsis /
Alice is only nine years old in 1910 when she is sent to the feared Coast Hospital lazaret at Little Bay in Sydney, a veritable prison where more patients are admitted than will ever leave. She is told that she's visiting her mother, who disappeared one day when Alice was two. Once there, Alice learns her mother is suffering from leprosy and that she has the same disease.
As she grows up, the secluded refuge of the lazaret becomes Alice's entire world, her mother and the other patients and medical staff her only human contact. The patients have access to a private sandstone-edged beach, their own rowboat, a piano and a library of books, but Alice is tired of the smallness of her life and is thrilled by the thought of the outside world. It is only when Guy, a Yuwaalaraay man wounded in World War I, arrives at The Coast, that Alice begins to experience what she has yearned for, as they become friends and then something deeper.
My Thoughts /
First and foremost, a huge thank you to Allen & Unwin for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.
Eleanor Limprecht’s latest offering The Coast is set in the 19th century, in a remote coastal area just outside of Sydney, known as Little Bay. It is here, at a place called the Coast Hospital, that Limprecht recreates a point in time that damned its inhabitants to a life of eternal isolation. Individuals were forcibly relocated here after being diagnosed with the disease called, leprosy.
Let's learn things:
Leprosy (also known as, Hansen's disease), is a chronic long-term bacterial infection that can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, the skin, and eyes. Nerve damage results in sufferers having a lack of ability to feel pain (numbness), which can lead to the loss of parts of a person's extremities from repeated injuries or infection through unnoticed wounds. An infected person may also experience muscle weakness and poor eyesight. Leprosy is spread between people, and the spread is thought to occur through a cough or contact with fluid from the nose of an infected person. It is thought that genetic factors and immune function play a role in how easily (or not) a person catches the disease.
The disease is curable with multidrug therapy.
This disease is yet to be eradicated and the World Health Organisation has reported there were 127558 new leprosy cases detected globally in 2020, according to official figures from 139 countries from the 6 WHO Regions.
Although leprosy still exists today, a greater understanding of the disease and a name change (to Hansen’s Disease) has helped sufferers experience less hatred and fear than those described in The Coast.
To the Story:
While researching my second novel, Long Bay, I spent some time at Little Bay and visited the Prince Henry Nursing and Medical Museum. I learned then that a small leper colony had been part of The Coast Hospital and was immediately curious. Later, I read a wonderful essay by Rebecca Solnit about leprosy called “The Separating Sickness� in Harper’s Magazine and realised that our familiar perceptions of what is now known as Hansen’s Disease are completely wrong. It is not at all contagious, people’s extremities do not ‘fall off� and the stigma around the disease can be far worse than the symptoms. In Australia, leprosy meant lifelong imprisonment for most sufferers until the late 1940s - the government could lock you away and there was no cure. It wasn’t until a cure was discovered in the 1940s in Carville, Louisiana in the USA that the treatment and stigma around the disease began to change.
� Eleanor Limprecht
The Coast is a meticulously researched historical fiction story that is both equal parts heartbreaking and uplifting. A beautifully written story of courage, sacrifice, resilience; and, a love that will break your heart.
To hear Gran's voice, sharp and clear, calling me for tea. Perhaps we long most for the things we can no longer have. The places we can never return, because they only exist in our memories.
� Alice, 1926
Alice was a very young girl when her mother, Clea, left the family home and no-one has spoken about her since. Now nine years old, and unbeknown to Alice, she has started to develop the tell-tale marks of leprosy on her otherwise unblemished skin. Her grandmother, recognising the signs and symptoms brings Alice to Sydney, to the Coast Hospital which houses one of New South Wales few leper colonies. When they arrive, Alice discovers that her mother (whom she hardly knew) is also a patient at the hospital.
The main thread of this story follows Alice, how she copes as a young girl realising she has to live a life of isolation. Restarting a relationship with a mother she hardly knew and battling the stigma of her disease and the narrow-mindedness, ignorance and bigotry of some of the hospital staff. There are some silver linings amongst the darkness; her treating doctor, Dr Will Stenger is caring and kind and becomes like a father figure to young Alice. At the hospital she has plenty of food to eat and will never go hungry.
Down the Narran was where they played: rounders, drop the hanky. Where they caught fish in the weir: catfish, yellabellies. Some days Jack went yabbying with a chunk of meat on a string.
� Jack, 1905
The author's writing moves seamlessly through each thread. Jack's story is recounted by a pansophical narrator. It is here we are faced with yet another form of ignorance and bigotry. Jack is a 'half-caste' Aboriginal boy who has been forcibly removed from his home. Jack is one of the stolen generation.
� Stolen Generation, what happened and why
Between 1910 and 1970s, many First Nations children were forcibly removed from their families as a result of various government policies. The generations of children removed under these policies became known as the Stolen Generations. Children of First Nations and white parentage were particularly vulnerable to removal because authorities thought these children could be assimilated more easily into the white community due to their lighter skin colour.
The forcible removal of First Nations children from their families was part of the policy of Assimilation, which was based on the misguided assumption that the lives of First Nations people would be improved if they became part of white society. It proposed that First Nations people should be allowed to ‘die out� through a process of natural elimination, or, where possible, assimilated into the white community.
Limprecht provides astonishing well researched details about The Stolen Generation and the treatment of people of colour at this time in Australia’s history. When Jack leaves for war service, Limprecht provides a deep historical insight into the Light Horse Brigade, the load the horses had to carry and the Battle of Beersheba.
But the mainstay of this story is about the lives of those who have leprosy.
When a tree catches fire, it burns from the outside in. Flames lick the twiggy flappy parts that catch. Only when the wind has fanned the flames and the fire is crackling does it eat the heart. Only then does it burn the insides.
Leprosy is the same.
This is the book whose story will get under your skin (pardon the pun) and remind you that nobody is immune to disease. It reminds us that any illness or disability should be approached with caring, compassion and understanding. It illustrates how isolation can have a detrimental affect on our mental health. As well as highlighting something of Australian's shameful history. This is a novel that is emotional; heartbreaking; cruel but joyous, each in equal parts.
Synopsis /
Alice is only nine years old in 1910 when she is sent to the feared Coast Hospital lazaret at Little Bay in Sydney, a veritable prison where more patients are admitted than will ever leave. She is told that she's visiting her mother, who disappeared one day when Alice was two. Once there, Alice learns her mother is suffering from leprosy and that she has the same disease.
As she grows up, the secluded refuge of the lazaret becomes Alice's entire world, her mother and the other patients and medical staff her only human contact. The patients have access to a private sandstone-edged beach, their own rowboat, a piano and a library of books, but Alice is tired of the smallness of her life and is thrilled by the thought of the outside world. It is only when Guy, a Yuwaalaraay man wounded in World War I, arrives at The Coast, that Alice begins to experience what she has yearned for, as they become friends and then something deeper.
My Thoughts /
First and foremost, a huge thank you to Allen & Unwin for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.
Eleanor Limprecht’s latest offering The Coast is set in the 19th century, in a remote coastal area just outside of Sydney, known as Little Bay. It is here, at a place called the Coast Hospital, that Limprecht recreates a point in time that damned its inhabitants to a life of eternal isolation. Individuals were forcibly relocated here after being diagnosed with the disease called, leprosy.
Let's learn things:
Leprosy (also known as, Hansen's disease), is a chronic long-term bacterial infection that can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, the skin, and eyes. Nerve damage results in sufferers having a lack of ability to feel pain (numbness), which can lead to the loss of parts of a person's extremities from repeated injuries or infection through unnoticed wounds. An infected person may also experience muscle weakness and poor eyesight. Leprosy is spread between people, and the spread is thought to occur through a cough or contact with fluid from the nose of an infected person. It is thought that genetic factors and immune function play a role in how easily (or not) a person catches the disease.
The disease is curable with multidrug therapy.
This disease is yet to be eradicated and the World Health Organisation has reported there were 127558 new leprosy cases detected globally in 2020, according to official figures from 139 countries from the 6 WHO Regions.
Although leprosy still exists today, a greater understanding of the disease and a name change (to Hansen’s Disease) has helped sufferers experience less hatred and fear than those described in The Coast.
To the Story:
While researching my second novel, Long Bay, I spent some time at Little Bay and visited the Prince Henry Nursing and Medical Museum. I learned then that a small leper colony had been part of The Coast Hospital and was immediately curious. Later, I read a wonderful essay by Rebecca Solnit about leprosy called “The Separating Sickness� in Harper’s Magazine and realised that our familiar perceptions of what is now known as Hansen’s Disease are completely wrong. It is not at all contagious, people’s extremities do not ‘fall off� and the stigma around the disease can be far worse than the symptoms. In Australia, leprosy meant lifelong imprisonment for most sufferers until the late 1940s - the government could lock you away and there was no cure. It wasn’t until a cure was discovered in the 1940s in Carville, Louisiana in the USA that the treatment and stigma around the disease began to change.
� Eleanor Limprecht
The Coast is a meticulously researched historical fiction story that is both equal parts heartbreaking and uplifting. A beautifully written story of courage, sacrifice, resilience; and, a love that will break your heart.
To hear Gran's voice, sharp and clear, calling me for tea. Perhaps we long most for the things we can no longer have. The places we can never return, because they only exist in our memories.
� Alice, 1926
Alice was a very young girl when her mother, Clea, left the family home and no-one has spoken about her since. Now nine years old, and unbeknown to Alice, she has started to develop the tell-tale marks of leprosy on her otherwise unblemished skin. Her grandmother, recognising the signs and symptoms brings Alice to Sydney, to the Coast Hospital which houses one of New South Wales few leper colonies. When they arrive, Alice discovers that her mother (whom she hardly knew) is also a patient at the hospital.
The main thread of this story follows Alice, how she copes as a young girl realising she has to live a life of isolation. Restarting a relationship with a mother she hardly knew and battling the stigma of her disease and the narrow-mindedness, ignorance and bigotry of some of the hospital staff. There are some silver linings amongst the darkness; her treating doctor, Dr Will Stenger is caring and kind and becomes like a father figure to young Alice. At the hospital she has plenty of food to eat and will never go hungry.
Down the Narran was where they played: rounders, drop the hanky. Where they caught fish in the weir: catfish, yellabellies. Some days Jack went yabbying with a chunk of meat on a string.
� Jack, 1905
The author's writing moves seamlessly through each thread. Jack's story is recounted by a pansophical narrator. It is here we are faced with yet another form of ignorance and bigotry. Jack is a 'half-caste' Aboriginal boy who has been forcibly removed from his home. Jack is one of the stolen generation.
� Stolen Generation, what happened and why
Between 1910 and 1970s, many First Nations children were forcibly removed from their families as a result of various government policies. The generations of children removed under these policies became known as the Stolen Generations. Children of First Nations and white parentage were particularly vulnerable to removal because authorities thought these children could be assimilated more easily into the white community due to their lighter skin colour.
The forcible removal of First Nations children from their families was part of the policy of Assimilation, which was based on the misguided assumption that the lives of First Nations people would be improved if they became part of white society. It proposed that First Nations people should be allowed to ‘die out� through a process of natural elimination, or, where possible, assimilated into the white community.
Limprecht provides astonishing well researched details about The Stolen Generation and the treatment of people of colour at this time in Australia’s history. When Jack leaves for war service, Limprecht provides a deep historical insight into the Light Horse Brigade, the load the horses had to carry and the Battle of Beersheba.
But the mainstay of this story is about the lives of those who have leprosy.
When a tree catches fire, it burns from the outside in. Flames lick the twiggy flappy parts that catch. Only when the wind has fanned the flames and the fire is crackling does it eat the heart. Only then does it burn the insides.
Leprosy is the same.
This is the book whose story will get under your skin (pardon the pun) and remind you that nobody is immune to disease. It reminds us that any illness or disability should be approached with caring, compassion and understanding. It illustrates how isolation can have a detrimental affect on our mental health. As well as highlighting something of Australian's shameful history. This is a novel that is emotional; heartbreaking; cruel but joyous, each in equal parts.
January 31, 2023
‘Sixteen years captive.�
Hilda was nine years old in 1910 when she is taken on a journey to Little Bay in Sydney by her grandmother. Hilda is told that she is going to visit her mother, whom she has not seen since she disappeared when Hilda was two years old. Once there, Hilda learns that her mother has leprosy (now known as Hansen’s disease), and that she also has the same disease. Her grandmother leaves.
The Coast Hospital lazaret at Little Bay becomes Hilda’s home. Told to choose a new name as part of the anonymity of being a leper, Hilda chooses Alice because her favourite book is ‘Alice in Wonderland�.
‘Perhaps we long most for the things we can no longer have. The places we can never return, because they only exist in our memories.�
Alice leads a secluded life in the female lazaret. Her only company is the other patients, in both the male and female lazarets, and the medical staff. The patients have access to a private beach, a library of books, a piano and a rowboat. As she grows older, Alice yearns for a larger world.
‘Isolation shrinks a life. If the world is small, little wonder that it is taken over with an obsession over small things.�
A new patient, Jack, who chooses the name Guy in memory of his best mate, is a Yuwaalaraay man who was wounded in World War I. He becomes Alice’s friend. They become close, and Alice dares to dream of escaping to the outside world. Very few patients leave the lazaret alive: occasionally people are misdiagnosed, sometimes a person might have a less devastating form of the disease. But very few people will achieve the thirteen negative monthly swabs required to be considered for release. In that sense, Guy is one of the lucky people. Alice is not.
From the beauty of the sea cliffs she describes, to the stigma suffered by lepers, Ms Limprecht brings Alice and her world to life. Guy may leave the lazaret, but Alice and Clea are facing disability, disfigurement and death as the disease progresses. The novel unfolds through four different perspectives: Alice; her mother, Doctor Will Stenger, and Guy.
A sad novel, heartbreaking at times, but also filled with courage and love. Highly recommended.
As a footnote, Hansen’s disease, which is a bacterial disease, is less common in Australia these days as drug therapy can often cure it.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Hilda was nine years old in 1910 when she is taken on a journey to Little Bay in Sydney by her grandmother. Hilda is told that she is going to visit her mother, whom she has not seen since she disappeared when Hilda was two years old. Once there, Hilda learns that her mother has leprosy (now known as Hansen’s disease), and that she also has the same disease. Her grandmother leaves.
The Coast Hospital lazaret at Little Bay becomes Hilda’s home. Told to choose a new name as part of the anonymity of being a leper, Hilda chooses Alice because her favourite book is ‘Alice in Wonderland�.
‘Perhaps we long most for the things we can no longer have. The places we can never return, because they only exist in our memories.�
Alice leads a secluded life in the female lazaret. Her only company is the other patients, in both the male and female lazarets, and the medical staff. The patients have access to a private beach, a library of books, a piano and a rowboat. As she grows older, Alice yearns for a larger world.
‘Isolation shrinks a life. If the world is small, little wonder that it is taken over with an obsession over small things.�
A new patient, Jack, who chooses the name Guy in memory of his best mate, is a Yuwaalaraay man who was wounded in World War I. He becomes Alice’s friend. They become close, and Alice dares to dream of escaping to the outside world. Very few patients leave the lazaret alive: occasionally people are misdiagnosed, sometimes a person might have a less devastating form of the disease. But very few people will achieve the thirteen negative monthly swabs required to be considered for release. In that sense, Guy is one of the lucky people. Alice is not.
From the beauty of the sea cliffs she describes, to the stigma suffered by lepers, Ms Limprecht brings Alice and her world to life. Guy may leave the lazaret, but Alice and Clea are facing disability, disfigurement and death as the disease progresses. The novel unfolds through four different perspectives: Alice; her mother, Doctor Will Stenger, and Guy.
A sad novel, heartbreaking at times, but also filled with courage and love. Highly recommended.
As a footnote, Hansen’s disease, which is a bacterial disease, is less common in Australia these days as drug therapy can often cure it.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
June 24, 2022
The Coast is the fourth novel by Australian author, Eleanor Limprecht. When, at nine years of age, Alice is diagnosed by the local doctor with leprosy, her Gran takes her from their Northern Rivers home to Sydney, to the Coast Hospital at Little Bay. She thinks she’s visiting her mother, Clea, but is then told she, too, is a leper. She caught it from her mother, although it didn’t manifest until after a bout of influenza. Both inherited their tendency to succumb to the disease from her grandfather.
When compared to other lazarets, the one at Little Bay is civilised, enlightened: the patients are mostly treated with care and respect, living in cottages with access to a private beach, a boat from which they can fish, good food and the most up-to-date treatments. It doesn’t alter the fact that they are, effectively, prisoners, and the isolation results in extreme boredom.
“For him there was never enough time. For me there was far too much. It slowed and pooled around me, viscous and sticky.�
Dr Will Stenger is a young, unmarried and dedicated to his patients. Even when he is busy with other patients at the Coast Hospital, he tries to make time to visit his patients in both the male and female lazarets. He keeps this from his parents, who would be horrified at his regular and continued contact with this biblical disease. And perhaps even more horrified by the other secret he keeps.
Despite his efforts to educate the other doctors and carers about the extremely low transmissibility of the disease, many are averse to any contact, so his care is highly valued by his patients. As his youngest patient with leprosy, and the only child there, he tries to be extra kind to Alice, bringing her books to read and answering her many questions, feeding her fascination with medicine and literature.
Taken from his mother when he was only five, half-caste Yuwaalaraay boy, Jack Flint grows up in a Catholic Boys Home where he relies on Guy, an older boy, for friendship amongst the cruelty and loneliness. Even after they leave the Home, they maintain their connection, and eventually end up serving together in the Light Horse Brigade in Egypt.
Jack returns to NSW alone, broken-hearted at the loss of his friend, and unaware for some years of the disease he has contracted. When he is diagnosed with leprosy, he is put on Peel Island near Brisbane, until he takes the initiative to get to somewhere better. By this time, he has taken another name, as leprosy patients do to save their families from the stigma, that of his dear friend, Guy. At the Coast Hospital, he gets better treatment, and meets Alice and Clea.
Limprecht’s descriptions of how Clea, her father and, in particular, Guy, an indigenous man who has lost a leg in the service of his country, are transported to their lazaret, powerfully demonstrates the stigma that surrounds this disease, despite it being less transmissible that other diseases also common at the time like tuberculosis.
“He was probably terrified to have been given this job of looking after the black leper. Guy reassured him early on that he was going to keep his distance. He wondered what frightened them more - his blackness or his leprosy.�
Limprecht includes a wealth of information about the disease and attitudes of the early twentieth century, weaving it all into story that keeps the reader enthralled. The continuing repercussions of stigmatising illness and the long-term effects of isolation are effectively conveyed. This is a tale of sadness and heartbreak, but also of hope and joy, deep love and great compassion. A fascinating piece of Australian history, beautifully told.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by Allen & Unwin.
When compared to other lazarets, the one at Little Bay is civilised, enlightened: the patients are mostly treated with care and respect, living in cottages with access to a private beach, a boat from which they can fish, good food and the most up-to-date treatments. It doesn’t alter the fact that they are, effectively, prisoners, and the isolation results in extreme boredom.
“For him there was never enough time. For me there was far too much. It slowed and pooled around me, viscous and sticky.�
Dr Will Stenger is a young, unmarried and dedicated to his patients. Even when he is busy with other patients at the Coast Hospital, he tries to make time to visit his patients in both the male and female lazarets. He keeps this from his parents, who would be horrified at his regular and continued contact with this biblical disease. And perhaps even more horrified by the other secret he keeps.
Despite his efforts to educate the other doctors and carers about the extremely low transmissibility of the disease, many are averse to any contact, so his care is highly valued by his patients. As his youngest patient with leprosy, and the only child there, he tries to be extra kind to Alice, bringing her books to read and answering her many questions, feeding her fascination with medicine and literature.
Taken from his mother when he was only five, half-caste Yuwaalaraay boy, Jack Flint grows up in a Catholic Boys Home where he relies on Guy, an older boy, for friendship amongst the cruelty and loneliness. Even after they leave the Home, they maintain their connection, and eventually end up serving together in the Light Horse Brigade in Egypt.
Jack returns to NSW alone, broken-hearted at the loss of his friend, and unaware for some years of the disease he has contracted. When he is diagnosed with leprosy, he is put on Peel Island near Brisbane, until he takes the initiative to get to somewhere better. By this time, he has taken another name, as leprosy patients do to save their families from the stigma, that of his dear friend, Guy. At the Coast Hospital, he gets better treatment, and meets Alice and Clea.
Limprecht’s descriptions of how Clea, her father and, in particular, Guy, an indigenous man who has lost a leg in the service of his country, are transported to their lazaret, powerfully demonstrates the stigma that surrounds this disease, despite it being less transmissible that other diseases also common at the time like tuberculosis.
“He was probably terrified to have been given this job of looking after the black leper. Guy reassured him early on that he was going to keep his distance. He wondered what frightened them more - his blackness or his leprosy.�
Limprecht includes a wealth of information about the disease and attitudes of the early twentieth century, weaving it all into story that keeps the reader enthralled. The continuing repercussions of stigmatising illness and the long-term effects of isolation are effectively conveyed. This is a tale of sadness and heartbreak, but also of hope and joy, deep love and great compassion. A fascinating piece of Australian history, beautifully told.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by Allen & Unwin.
October 5, 2022
Wonderful! This historical novel is set mostly early last century at the Coast Hospital (later Prince Henry) in Sydney and specifically the lazarets where lepers are kept separate from other patients and the public. It’s an idyllic location by the sea, a stark contrast with the suffering of the patients. A few specific characters are highlighted, and they are beautifully drawn. Alice and her mother Clea, Doctor Will Stenger and Jack, taken from his family as a child for being ‘half-caste� then later a soldier in the First World War. The ending is heartbreaking and the whole story well told.
June 16, 2022
So much packed into this book by Eleanor Limprecht that I could not put it down: such a bittersweet tale about the fictional Coast Hospital in Little Bay, Sydney, where those who were suffering from infectious diseases were quarantined, or imprisoned for their hopeful recovery. This tale is told to us so well, that if I did not know it was a fictional place, would have thought it a part of Sydney’s history. The detail about Little Bay and the disease, which is now known a Hansen’s Disease is rich and written without stigma.
Alice/Hilda visited her mother at The Coast Hospital with her Gran, and was left there with her mother, Clea, who, like her, had leprosy. The Leprosy Act of the 1900s banished many away, including Clea’s father, who was the first to be housed at the Hospital. Alice grew up in the lazaraet, never knowing the outside world, and only having a handful of visitors. There she met Guy (once known as Jack), an indigenous young man who lived in the male lazaret, also diagnosed with an infectious disease. Alice and Guy/Jack developed a connection at the Hospital that takes away a lot of the pain they bear. Guy/Jack’s previous life was in World War 1 stationed in Egypt, and before that with him mum and nan in western NSW until he was forcibly removed under the 1909 NSW Aborigines Protection Act.
There are so many elements in this book worth noting. Dr Will Stenger’s compassion and devotion to the patients in the lazarets was inspiring and tragic as he used this to distract himself of his lifelong torment of a relationship with Ian (at a time where homosexuality was denied). The ostracization of so many in this book: Guy/Jack as an Aboriginal man in the armed forces and being reduced to a number when he is removed from his family; the relationship between Alice who was white, and Guy/Jack, who was Aboriginal at a time when there was mass genocide and forced removal of Aboriginal children across Australia, and the experience of Guy/Jack as an Aboriginal man in the armed forces. And the profound experience of touch that is lost to many patients with advanced symptoms of leprosy juxtaposed with the tactile descriptions of the beach, the homes and surroundings.
Love, courage, sacrifice and resilience. Thank you Allen and Unwin for the opportunity to read such a beautiful book.
Alice/Hilda visited her mother at The Coast Hospital with her Gran, and was left there with her mother, Clea, who, like her, had leprosy. The Leprosy Act of the 1900s banished many away, including Clea’s father, who was the first to be housed at the Hospital. Alice grew up in the lazaraet, never knowing the outside world, and only having a handful of visitors. There she met Guy (once known as Jack), an indigenous young man who lived in the male lazaret, also diagnosed with an infectious disease. Alice and Guy/Jack developed a connection at the Hospital that takes away a lot of the pain they bear. Guy/Jack’s previous life was in World War 1 stationed in Egypt, and before that with him mum and nan in western NSW until he was forcibly removed under the 1909 NSW Aborigines Protection Act.
There are so many elements in this book worth noting. Dr Will Stenger’s compassion and devotion to the patients in the lazarets was inspiring and tragic as he used this to distract himself of his lifelong torment of a relationship with Ian (at a time where homosexuality was denied). The ostracization of so many in this book: Guy/Jack as an Aboriginal man in the armed forces and being reduced to a number when he is removed from his family; the relationship between Alice who was white, and Guy/Jack, who was Aboriginal at a time when there was mass genocide and forced removal of Aboriginal children across Australia, and the experience of Guy/Jack as an Aboriginal man in the armed forces. And the profound experience of touch that is lost to many patients with advanced symptoms of leprosy juxtaposed with the tactile descriptions of the beach, the homes and surroundings.
Love, courage, sacrifice and resilience. Thank you Allen and Unwin for the opportunity to read such a beautiful book.
December 13, 2022
Thanks GR readers for the recommendation. This was one the best novels I have read this year and it has been a sad year for me with the problem of suffering. We cannot imagine the scale of suffering in this period of history and how when these terrible sufferings occur it is often caused by other human beings. Suffering though is part of human existence. Fortunately for the characters and us there was also a lot of love in this story.
July 22, 2022
Well this was just wonderful. Beautiful writing, where you want to savour every sentence. A captivating story and memorable characters.
December 10, 2023
Eleanor Limprecht writes Australian historical fiction with such meticulous attention to detail, also choosing areas of history that many may know very little about. The laws within Australia at the beginning of the 20th century regarding people who were suffering from leprosy were harsh, condemning them to isolation and stigma, going so far as to even forcing a person to change their name to ‘save their family from the shame�. Evidence emerging that leprosy was not as contagious as previously believed was kept under the radar, leading to the continued persecution of sufferers for far too long.
The Coast is not only a story about those labelled as ‘lepers�. It’s also about the ways in which Australia, from colonial times through Federation, persecuted anyone who was different � culturally, racially, sexually, medically; the list could go on. The story is told from multiple perspectives, each character bearing their ‘difference� and telling the story of who they are and how they came to be at the lazaret. It’s a sad story, a shameful part of history, but it’s told with such empathy and honesty, along with a sense of vivid purpose and atmospheric conjuring of the setting and the era.
I listened to this one and can highly recommend the audio version, it was beautifully narrated, with pitch perfect emotion. Another excellent historical fiction release by Eleanor Limprecht.
Thanks to the publisher for the review copy. (I listened to the audio version but received a print version for review.)
The Coast is not only a story about those labelled as ‘lepers�. It’s also about the ways in which Australia, from colonial times through Federation, persecuted anyone who was different � culturally, racially, sexually, medically; the list could go on. The story is told from multiple perspectives, each character bearing their ‘difference� and telling the story of who they are and how they came to be at the lazaret. It’s a sad story, a shameful part of history, but it’s told with such empathy and honesty, along with a sense of vivid purpose and atmospheric conjuring of the setting and the era.
I listened to this one and can highly recommend the audio version, it was beautifully narrated, with pitch perfect emotion. Another excellent historical fiction release by Eleanor Limprecht.
Thanks to the publisher for the review copy. (I listened to the audio version but received a print version for review.)
July 18, 2022
This is a fictionalised account of The Coast at Little Bay in Sydney, and those, suffering from Hansen's disease/leprosy, who were imprisoned there. Told from multiple perspectives - Alice, Clea, Guy, Dr Will - there is a lot packed into this novel, themes in addition to the leprosy which truly haunts every page. As such I did find myself wondering about the inclusion of so many themes - the Stolen Generation, the treatment of Indigenous soldiers during WWI, inequality, sexuality etc. What did they add? Were they all necessary and was there sufficient justice given to these important topics? Similarly, there were a handful of occasions where the author almost crossed the line, where there was too much information, the - I know this from my research therefore it will be included type scenario. But I am being picky and overall this was an interesting, well researched and well written novel that was full of emotion while eliciting a degree of rage and, perhaps a level of gratefulness that we have moved forward, at least in our medical understanding of this horrendous disease if not always in our humanity and treatment.
May 4, 2023
The Coast opened my eyes to a little known part of Australian medical history: that people who suffered with leprosy were admitted to this hospital on Sydney's North Shore, then segregated from the community, never to leave its confines until completely cured. I can't even fathom the stigma that these patients faced during this time. They were honestly treated brutally and unfairly, viewed as infectious, dirty, dangerous and no less than animals. In order to protect their families, names were changed too.
Alice came to The Coast in 1910 at just the age of nine. Her mother, Clea had already been a patient for several years. Together, they shared a cottage in the women's lazaret, treated by the dedicated team led by kindly Dr Stenger. Days were spent by visiting their friends, swimming and boating in their isolated beach, reading, gardening or attending various concerts and friends. Despite being cared for and maintaining a sense of community within confines, there was often little hope of leading a normal life. This includes shattering any hope of maintaining a meaningful relationship, as Alice and ex-serviceman Guy sadly learns. What's worse than stigma surrounding leprosy? An Indigenous half of a couple both suffering from this deliberating disease.
So much is packed into this beautifully written and vividly described novel. I haven't read anything quite like this for a long time. The encounters from Alice, Clea, Guy and Will are filled with such love, hope and heartbreak. Just a warning for our First Nations friends: particular scenes may be distressing.
Such an incredible book that has to be not only read, but experienced as well.
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5
Alice came to The Coast in 1910 at just the age of nine. Her mother, Clea had already been a patient for several years. Together, they shared a cottage in the women's lazaret, treated by the dedicated team led by kindly Dr Stenger. Days were spent by visiting their friends, swimming and boating in their isolated beach, reading, gardening or attending various concerts and friends. Despite being cared for and maintaining a sense of community within confines, there was often little hope of leading a normal life. This includes shattering any hope of maintaining a meaningful relationship, as Alice and ex-serviceman Guy sadly learns. What's worse than stigma surrounding leprosy? An Indigenous half of a couple both suffering from this deliberating disease.
So much is packed into this beautifully written and vividly described novel. I haven't read anything quite like this for a long time. The encounters from Alice, Clea, Guy and Will are filled with such love, hope and heartbreak. Just a warning for our First Nations friends: particular scenes may be distressing.
Such an incredible book that has to be not only read, but experienced as well.
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5
June 25, 2022
My parents both worked as nurses at The Coast and would have remembered the lazarets. As a child I traipsed around the bushy environs of The Coast and swam at its beach and even worked there as a gardener and kitchen hand in school holidays. Later my wife and I followed in my parents� footsteps in the 1970s. And it was here at the renamed Prince Henry Hospital that we met as nurses and were later married in the hospital chapel. But the lazarets had long since been torched and bulldozed. However, during my nursing training, I remember the remaining lepers being housed in the Tropical Medicine centre near the Nurses Education Centre.
Eleanor Limprecht is without a doubt one of my favourite writers and this book was once again largely a joy for me. As always her character development was extraordinary and the description of the historic and unique hospital and the beach was superb. It is, I am sure, entirely my fault that I became a little confused and tangled up with with some of the characters when each chapter changed and things were not chronological. I needed to pay closer attention. Indeed, the author has done well to move backwards and forwards between characters and dates. I appreciated Alice and Guy in particular but having worked with many generous and devoted nurses and doctors I had real empathy with Dr Will. By and large I thought Will was a devoted, attentive and sympathetic physician and he very much reminds me of a surgeon I work with today who offers his time and skills to the impoverished and ostracised for free.
As it turned out there was a little too much personal detail about a particular character and without giving too much away it is a common thing these days for authors wanting to insert these sorts of private characteristics out of political correctness. That is my view anyway. But it was, for me, a minor blemish and an awkward irritant.
The cover of The Coast is a wonderful piece of art and a real attraction for the book. The book itself, as far as a historical novel is concerned, is truly a tour de force. Although now closed The Coast still has a hold over me that will never let me go.
And in closing I very much appreciated the emphasis and reminder on how indigenous men and women have been treated down through the ages. We ought to hang our heads in shame with how we alienated, ostracised and mistreated our fellow human beings. It is good to relive the past and have it do something about the present.
And it is too late now to right the wrongs on the way the lepers were unfairly locked away all those years ago but it’s not too late to ensure better treatment for anyone in the world who is unable to care for themselves. We owe them that much.
The Coast is a read not to be missed.
Eleanor Limprecht is without a doubt one of my favourite writers and this book was once again largely a joy for me. As always her character development was extraordinary and the description of the historic and unique hospital and the beach was superb. It is, I am sure, entirely my fault that I became a little confused and tangled up with with some of the characters when each chapter changed and things were not chronological. I needed to pay closer attention. Indeed, the author has done well to move backwards and forwards between characters and dates. I appreciated Alice and Guy in particular but having worked with many generous and devoted nurses and doctors I had real empathy with Dr Will. By and large I thought Will was a devoted, attentive and sympathetic physician and he very much reminds me of a surgeon I work with today who offers his time and skills to the impoverished and ostracised for free.
As it turned out there was a little too much personal detail about a particular character and without giving too much away it is a common thing these days for authors wanting to insert these sorts of private characteristics out of political correctness. That is my view anyway. But it was, for me, a minor blemish and an awkward irritant.
The cover of The Coast is a wonderful piece of art and a real attraction for the book. The book itself, as far as a historical novel is concerned, is truly a tour de force. Although now closed The Coast still has a hold over me that will never let me go.
And in closing I very much appreciated the emphasis and reminder on how indigenous men and women have been treated down through the ages. We ought to hang our heads in shame with how we alienated, ostracised and mistreated our fellow human beings. It is good to relive the past and have it do something about the present.
And it is too late now to right the wrongs on the way the lepers were unfairly locked away all those years ago but it’s not too late to ensure better treatment for anyone in the world who is unable to care for themselves. We owe them that much.
The Coast is a read not to be missed.
June 12, 2022
The Coast is a novel that knocks you for six � it’s that good. It’s emotional, heartbreaking and cruel at times, but joyous at others. This meticulously researched novel shines a spotlight on the individuals who were forced to live their lives in eternal quarantine because of leprosy � an infectious disease that can now be treated successfully with antibiotics.
Alice was a very young child when her mother, Clea, left the family in sudden, odd circumstances. But when she develops tell-tale marks on her skin, her grandmother takes her down to Sydney to see her mother in hospital � and leaves her there. It’s here that Alice learns she too has leprosy (now known as Hansen’s disease) like her mother and grandmother. She is now to live in the small, separated section of The Coast hospital until she is cured � or dies. While the residents of the lazaret have some freedoms � a beach to swim at and a small boat to fish with � they can never leave. As the disease progresses, they become disfigured and gangrene sets in to their fingers and toes. It’s not a nice way to live. Clea tries her best with Alice in difficult circumstances but it’s not easy being a mother for the first time. Alice is curious as she grows, and it’s the arrival of Guy that brings hope and happiness into her life. A Yuwaalaraay man and returned soldier from WWI, Guy offers Alice experiences and memories she’s never had. It’s bittersweet as Alice’s disease worsens and the public perception of those affected is so negative.
The Coast is intense. Intense with emotion, as Eleanor Limprecht tells the backstories of Alice, Clea and Guy (these are all their new names after coming to The Coast, as using their real names added stigma to their remaining families). We see their lives before they were affected by leprosy, and the shame and ill treatment they experienced due to their disease, and in Guy’s case, the colour of his skin. As the novel continues, there are lighter moments to be found in Guy and Alice’s relationship but all in all, you will need more than a few tissues. (The ending is particularly bittersweet).
Seeing the perspective through one of the only doctors not scared to visit the lazaret and treat the patients adds a good contrast. Will is frustrated by his inability to do more than reactive medicine and his role in keeping them separated from society. His own secret means he feels some empathy towards the patients and the stigma they feel. Clea’s stubbornness is something he is initially surprised at, but then grows to admire as she looks after Alice. Will is also disgusted by his colleagues, and their unwillingness to take care of the patients in the lazaret. This demonstrates how strong the fear was about ‘catching� leprosy not only in the general community, but amongst medically trained staff.
It is interesting to compare Alice, Clea and Guy’s isolation and quarantine to that in the current COVID-19 pandemic. While theirs was much longer, it did make me ponder about the care and support needed to help these individuals. Overall, The Coast is a stellar read about a forgotten part of Australia’s history.
Thank you to Allen & Unwin for the copy of this book. My review is honest.
Alice was a very young child when her mother, Clea, left the family in sudden, odd circumstances. But when she develops tell-tale marks on her skin, her grandmother takes her down to Sydney to see her mother in hospital � and leaves her there. It’s here that Alice learns she too has leprosy (now known as Hansen’s disease) like her mother and grandmother. She is now to live in the small, separated section of The Coast hospital until she is cured � or dies. While the residents of the lazaret have some freedoms � a beach to swim at and a small boat to fish with � they can never leave. As the disease progresses, they become disfigured and gangrene sets in to their fingers and toes. It’s not a nice way to live. Clea tries her best with Alice in difficult circumstances but it’s not easy being a mother for the first time. Alice is curious as she grows, and it’s the arrival of Guy that brings hope and happiness into her life. A Yuwaalaraay man and returned soldier from WWI, Guy offers Alice experiences and memories she’s never had. It’s bittersweet as Alice’s disease worsens and the public perception of those affected is so negative.
The Coast is intense. Intense with emotion, as Eleanor Limprecht tells the backstories of Alice, Clea and Guy (these are all their new names after coming to The Coast, as using their real names added stigma to their remaining families). We see their lives before they were affected by leprosy, and the shame and ill treatment they experienced due to their disease, and in Guy’s case, the colour of his skin. As the novel continues, there are lighter moments to be found in Guy and Alice’s relationship but all in all, you will need more than a few tissues. (The ending is particularly bittersweet).
Seeing the perspective through one of the only doctors not scared to visit the lazaret and treat the patients adds a good contrast. Will is frustrated by his inability to do more than reactive medicine and his role in keeping them separated from society. His own secret means he feels some empathy towards the patients and the stigma they feel. Clea’s stubbornness is something he is initially surprised at, but then grows to admire as she looks after Alice. Will is also disgusted by his colleagues, and their unwillingness to take care of the patients in the lazaret. This demonstrates how strong the fear was about ‘catching� leprosy not only in the general community, but amongst medically trained staff.
It is interesting to compare Alice, Clea and Guy’s isolation and quarantine to that in the current COVID-19 pandemic. While theirs was much longer, it did make me ponder about the care and support needed to help these individuals. Overall, The Coast is a stellar read about a forgotten part of Australia’s history.
Thank you to Allen & Unwin for the copy of this book. My review is honest.
July 28, 2022
A truly magnificent & memorable novel. I love historical fiction and Eleanor Limprecht has written an amazing story around characters that you will definitely grow to love. I had absolutely no idea of how leprosy was treated in the early 1900’s. I guess I understood that patients were kept in isolation as I had an aunt with tuberculosis who was forced to leave her five children and live in a sanitarium until she was cured four years later. But these patients were brutally wrenched away from their families and had to endure appalling indignities as they were transported to the Coast hospital. Jack or Guy as he is later known is a young boy living a happy life in Angledool on Yuwaalaraay country. Chapters 1& 4 which describe Jack’s abduction and life in the Home were heartbreaking. If you belong to a book club, just ensure that your group reads this beautiful novel written in the most exquisite prose. The story will haunt your dreams.
Read
June 1, 2022A fascinating and touching insight into an underlooked area of Australia's history. Until reading The Coast, I wasn't aware there were leprosy colonies in Australia, nor the segregation and stigma, or the impact on families 'touched' by this disease. Told from multiple viewpoints, this sensitive and engrossing story is already one of my favourite historical reads of 2022. Thanks to Allen & Unwin for an advance copy
July 5, 2022
How much this book saddened me 😔
April 6, 2022
Quite an interesting fictionalised read about the Coast Hospital, at Little Bay in Sydney. Treated like prisoners, the patients were exiled because of their leprosy diagnosis. Told from the point of view of various patients and one very caring Doctor, this book sheds light on a part of our history which I knew nothing about. Interweaved into the story is the treatment of indigenous people, particularly men returned from serving overseas.
November 18, 2022
The Coast is well researched moving story set around the lazaret in Sydney and the people who were incarcerated there due their diagnosis of leprosy. All the characters are in some way rejected by society. Alice and the other patients due to their leprosy, Guy his Aboriginality and Will his homosexuality. A tragic story.
August 9, 2022
Author Eleanor Limprecht has made a name for herself writing detailed historical fiction novels and her latest, The Coast (Allen and Unwin 2022) is no exception. The Coast is a complex and historically layered account of the treatment of lepers in Australia at the turn of the century. Limprecht’s research has covered every detail of the disease, its symptoms and deterioration, the treatments of the illness and the treatment and attitudes towards the people who suffered leprosy (now known as Hansen’s Disease). She focuses particularly on the infamous Peel Island, and the feared Coast Hospital lazaret at Little Bay in Sydney, where patients were admitted involuntarily and most were prevented from ever departing. Amongst the harsh but beautiful landscape of the bush in that part of the country, Limprecht effectively summons the ugliness of life in that place � the brutal and deforming nature of the disease, the various cruel and painful medical attempts to treat the symptoms and prevent the spread, and of course the isolated conditions patients lived in, amongst prejudice, misunderstanding, persecution and vilification. The narrative does not hold back on any of these points and it is abundantly clear how difficult and abhorrent life would have been for both those afflicted and their family members, by association.
Limprecht wraps all of this history and research around the story of nine-year-old Alice, sent in 1910 to ‘visit her sick mother� who disappeared when Alice was two. Once she arrives, she realises that her mother suffers from leprosy and that although it has been dormant in Alice, she now has the disease herself and has been banished from her community and the rest of her family to live in the quarantined facilities of the leper colony. She spends the remainder of her childhood in isolation from most of society except for the nurses and doctors who treat her, and the other people (including her mother) with the disease.
Alice’s life begins to expand when she meets Guy, a young Indigenous man wounded in World War One, he having experienced his own racism and prejudice of the time. The two become friends and then something more, although each of their personal histories seems to make any union fraught with impossibilities.
The Coast explores themes of loneliness, isolation, loss, grief, friendship, ambition, hope, prejudice and self-determination. Chapters are written from the points of view of several different characters, which adds a layer of complexity to their motivations and actions.
Patients at the Coast are given new names when they arrive, to distinguish them from their old lives and families, and I found this at first a little confusing, particularly given that Aboriginal people were assigned numbers also. But I think this was Limprecht’s rather clever way of discombobulating the reader, to replicate the characters� feelings of being renamed, numbered, ‘othered�, shamed, separated and made to cut all ties with their past. Once leprosy was suspected or confirmed, the government was quick to banish the individual, no matter their age or circumstances. As with early contact with First Nations People, the white men in charge made their own rules for those groups they despised, stole ‘half-caste� children from their families in order to ‘educate and civilise� them, and metered out harsh punishments for those who did not obey or conform.
Of course life was very different then, and regular folk had to put up with regulations and rules that we consider barbaric today. But Limprecht does an impressive job of recreating the absolute grinding misery of contagious disease at that time, of the feeble attempts at treatment, the abhorrent living conditions of those afflicted, and the minutiae of tending to wounds. However, she also evokes the stunning coast upon which the colony is based, and the ways in which people found to create beauty, colour and life amidst the horror.
At its heart, The Coast is a story of forbidden and dangerous love, of passion and desire tempered by the constraints of ill health and racism, and the capacity of the human heart to find love, yearning and resilience in the most impossible circumstances.
Limprecht wraps all of this history and research around the story of nine-year-old Alice, sent in 1910 to ‘visit her sick mother� who disappeared when Alice was two. Once she arrives, she realises that her mother suffers from leprosy and that although it has been dormant in Alice, she now has the disease herself and has been banished from her community and the rest of her family to live in the quarantined facilities of the leper colony. She spends the remainder of her childhood in isolation from most of society except for the nurses and doctors who treat her, and the other people (including her mother) with the disease.
Alice’s life begins to expand when she meets Guy, a young Indigenous man wounded in World War One, he having experienced his own racism and prejudice of the time. The two become friends and then something more, although each of their personal histories seems to make any union fraught with impossibilities.
The Coast explores themes of loneliness, isolation, loss, grief, friendship, ambition, hope, prejudice and self-determination. Chapters are written from the points of view of several different characters, which adds a layer of complexity to their motivations and actions.
Patients at the Coast are given new names when they arrive, to distinguish them from their old lives and families, and I found this at first a little confusing, particularly given that Aboriginal people were assigned numbers also. But I think this was Limprecht’s rather clever way of discombobulating the reader, to replicate the characters� feelings of being renamed, numbered, ‘othered�, shamed, separated and made to cut all ties with their past. Once leprosy was suspected or confirmed, the government was quick to banish the individual, no matter their age or circumstances. As with early contact with First Nations People, the white men in charge made their own rules for those groups they despised, stole ‘half-caste� children from their families in order to ‘educate and civilise� them, and metered out harsh punishments for those who did not obey or conform.
Of course life was very different then, and regular folk had to put up with regulations and rules that we consider barbaric today. But Limprecht does an impressive job of recreating the absolute grinding misery of contagious disease at that time, of the feeble attempts at treatment, the abhorrent living conditions of those afflicted, and the minutiae of tending to wounds. However, she also evokes the stunning coast upon which the colony is based, and the ways in which people found to create beauty, colour and life amidst the horror.
At its heart, The Coast is a story of forbidden and dangerous love, of passion and desire tempered by the constraints of ill health and racism, and the capacity of the human heart to find love, yearning and resilience in the most impossible circumstances.
May 23, 2022
Eleanor Limprecht has delivered a powerful lyrical novel on a topic that shakes and bruises the heart. This deeply moving story focuses on the Coast Hospital lazaret at Little Bay, Sydney in the early 1900s. The wild and beautiful coastal setting is a sharp contrast to the harsh reality of a terrible era when leprosy victims were shunned and cut off from society. The fear of spreading the disease was so ramped up, the infirmed were promptly taken away from all they knew and loved.
The story is told from four viewpoints (one doctor and three patients) providing a clear cross-section of individuals who gave and faced the devastating diagnosis and how they each had to deal with it. Alice, Clea and Jack as patients, reveal how deeply painful and heartbreaking their dire situations were at a time brimming with mass ignorance and deficient medical assistance. Eleanor creates such a vivid picture of their world with her words, it is easy to crawl into the skin of the victims and experience their anguish.
The secluded lazaret location became like a prison for many. It not only housed those who manifest and suffered with the disease physically but it also nurtured negative emotions of fear, worthlessness, despair in those who carried it. For to be diagnosed as a positive casualty, meant you would quickly be carted away by the police and isolated. The presence of this disease and treatment also fostered distress in those outside the walls of the facility and created a ‘them� and ‘us� mindset. It separated families, tore apart lives and often led to a horrible lonely death for the victims. And upon their passing, they were placed once again out of sight in unmarked burial plots. (The key reason given was preventing contamination of others.) The few comforts provided in the quarantine facility of a piano, a library of books, a rowboat and access to a sandstone-edged beach for swimming, were scarcely a fair replacement for loss of freedom.
At the heart of this novel is a compassionate Dr. Will Stenger who harbours his own secrets but his care for these individuals is sincere and his motives pure. Always ready to help alleviate their suffering, he is the one ray of light in their dark existence. He, as others, witness the long term effects of isolation and the damaging effects of a stigmatised disease. He tries every way he can, to make a difference.
Besides leprosy, this novel explores other injustices of minorities and this carried some moving revelations. Everything Eleanor has touched on in her novel has been done with great respect and care. The message that radiates for me is that even through the terrible ills inflicted on many, the drive of the human spirit to endure and to rise above the challenges is inextinguishable. I see the tattered wings of a bird lifting from its shackles on a perch; holding on with courage to the desire of feeling the wind beneath its broken frame again, no matter how injured. This novel transcends the weariness caused by ills thrown at the heart. It is a testament of fortitude and how we need to encourage those who have been wronged to keep pressing forward. History, yes, has a way of repeating itself in many forms. But we can learn from the past. The Coast gives us that chance to remember and to seek change.
The Coast accomplishes its mission. This novel has been powerfully delivered and should be read for it shines a bright light on a period of Australian history that many may not know about. It draws the whispers out of the shadows; giving us characters so real we know how they feel and are able to share in their suffering and triumphs. Without hesitation, I highly recommend The Coast. 5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ seem inadequate in measuring this finely executed story. And the cover? Is stunning.
Many thanks to Eleanor, her publicist and Allen & Unwin for a review copy.
The story is told from four viewpoints (one doctor and three patients) providing a clear cross-section of individuals who gave and faced the devastating diagnosis and how they each had to deal with it. Alice, Clea and Jack as patients, reveal how deeply painful and heartbreaking their dire situations were at a time brimming with mass ignorance and deficient medical assistance. Eleanor creates such a vivid picture of their world with her words, it is easy to crawl into the skin of the victims and experience their anguish.
The secluded lazaret location became like a prison for many. It not only housed those who manifest and suffered with the disease physically but it also nurtured negative emotions of fear, worthlessness, despair in those who carried it. For to be diagnosed as a positive casualty, meant you would quickly be carted away by the police and isolated. The presence of this disease and treatment also fostered distress in those outside the walls of the facility and created a ‘them� and ‘us� mindset. It separated families, tore apart lives and often led to a horrible lonely death for the victims. And upon their passing, they were placed once again out of sight in unmarked burial plots. (The key reason given was preventing contamination of others.) The few comforts provided in the quarantine facility of a piano, a library of books, a rowboat and access to a sandstone-edged beach for swimming, were scarcely a fair replacement for loss of freedom.
At the heart of this novel is a compassionate Dr. Will Stenger who harbours his own secrets but his care for these individuals is sincere and his motives pure. Always ready to help alleviate their suffering, he is the one ray of light in their dark existence. He, as others, witness the long term effects of isolation and the damaging effects of a stigmatised disease. He tries every way he can, to make a difference.
Besides leprosy, this novel explores other injustices of minorities and this carried some moving revelations. Everything Eleanor has touched on in her novel has been done with great respect and care. The message that radiates for me is that even through the terrible ills inflicted on many, the drive of the human spirit to endure and to rise above the challenges is inextinguishable. I see the tattered wings of a bird lifting from its shackles on a perch; holding on with courage to the desire of feeling the wind beneath its broken frame again, no matter how injured. This novel transcends the weariness caused by ills thrown at the heart. It is a testament of fortitude and how we need to encourage those who have been wronged to keep pressing forward. History, yes, has a way of repeating itself in many forms. But we can learn from the past. The Coast gives us that chance to remember and to seek change.
The Coast accomplishes its mission. This novel has been powerfully delivered and should be read for it shines a bright light on a period of Australian history that many may not know about. It draws the whispers out of the shadows; giving us characters so real we know how they feel and are able to share in their suffering and triumphs. Without hesitation, I highly recommend The Coast. 5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ seem inadequate in measuring this finely executed story. And the cover? Is stunning.
Many thanks to Eleanor, her publicist and Allen & Unwin for a review copy.
October 28, 2022
"Leper. The history of prejudice and fear was difficult to overcome."
Hello. Would you like to have your heartbroken? This Australian historical fiction will tear at all your heart strings so make sure to have a box of tissues handy.
Alice is only nine when she is sent to the Coast Hospital to live in the leper colony with her mother. Isolated and reviled, the community cling to the humanity of the small cohort who care for them. The coastal front provides some solace but Alice's world feels incredibly small for a child who once knew the "outside" world. Then Guy, a Yuwaalaraay man wounded in World War I, comes to the Coast and profoundly changes Alice's life forever.
This feels meticulously researched - we get a glimpse of the stolen generation, the impact of WW1, the ignorant knowledge about leprosy and the treatment of those who suffered from it. We get to see the atrocities allowed under the guise of health and education policy. Alice is endearing, her suffering alongside those of her at the long term living in the lazaret, and the moments of hope shine through the many torments of the suffering they face. The love story is painfully beautiful - not only the love between Guy and Alice, but the love between mother and child. This story has a redemptive quality unmatched by anything else I have read of recent.
Historical fiction fans - this is absolutely worth picking up.
"The world around me shrank and shrank, until it was the size of a bed."
Thank you to the publishers for trusting me with an honest review.
Hello. Would you like to have your heartbroken? This Australian historical fiction will tear at all your heart strings so make sure to have a box of tissues handy.
Alice is only nine when she is sent to the Coast Hospital to live in the leper colony with her mother. Isolated and reviled, the community cling to the humanity of the small cohort who care for them. The coastal front provides some solace but Alice's world feels incredibly small for a child who once knew the "outside" world. Then Guy, a Yuwaalaraay man wounded in World War I, comes to the Coast and profoundly changes Alice's life forever.
This feels meticulously researched - we get a glimpse of the stolen generation, the impact of WW1, the ignorant knowledge about leprosy and the treatment of those who suffered from it. We get to see the atrocities allowed under the guise of health and education policy. Alice is endearing, her suffering alongside those of her at the long term living in the lazaret, and the moments of hope shine through the many torments of the suffering they face. The love story is painfully beautiful - not only the love between Guy and Alice, but the love between mother and child. This story has a redemptive quality unmatched by anything else I have read of recent.
Historical fiction fans - this is absolutely worth picking up.
"The world around me shrank and shrank, until it was the size of a bed."
Thank you to the publishers for trusting me with an honest review.
July 7, 2022
For once, this clichéd cover design is actually appropriate to the novel within its pages. This is a story of wistful gazing out to sea...
Alice has been an inmate since she was nine years old. She lost her grandfather to leprosy and suffered the stigma from people who feared its contagion, and then her mother disappeared when she was two. At nine she began to show symptoms of the disease (now known as Hanson's Disease) and the kindest thing her grandmother could do for her was to deliver her personally to the Coast Hospital at Little Bay in Sydney. Her mother's backstory reveals her caged journey to incarceration, a nightmare journey Alice was spared only by the intervention of the women who loved her.
But they could not spare her from the provisions of the Leprosy Act of 1890 nor fromthe progression of this cruel disease.
Alice is not actually her real name. She was baptised Hilda, but on admission, patients were renamed (and numbered) and buried on site, so that the stigma was untraceable. Hilda chooses the name Alice because her favourite book isAlice in Wonderland. Her mother Nellie chooses the name Clea, an allusion to Cleopatra, a powerful woman who did things her way and took love where she found it.
The place where Alice grows to be a young woman is no wonderland. There is a kindly doctor escaping the demons of his prohibited sexuality, and the authorities have done their best by providing individual cottages, a private beach, a rowboat, a library of books, and even a wireless when such things become available (though the men get one first). But it's a very small world, from which very few leave. Only occasionally is there is a misdiagnosis. Rarely, some patients turn out to have a less devastating form of the disease. For these, only after 13 negative results in a row do monthly swabs offer any prospect of release.
Yes, that's just over a year. A long time to be isolated from the world and everyone you love if the diagnosis was wrong. And for all patients, any time is a long time when science is taking so long to recognise that the disease is not as contagious as was commonly thought.
To read the rest of my review please visit
Alice has been an inmate since she was nine years old. She lost her grandfather to leprosy and suffered the stigma from people who feared its contagion, and then her mother disappeared when she was two. At nine she began to show symptoms of the disease (now known as Hanson's Disease) and the kindest thing her grandmother could do for her was to deliver her personally to the Coast Hospital at Little Bay in Sydney. Her mother's backstory reveals her caged journey to incarceration, a nightmare journey Alice was spared only by the intervention of the women who loved her.
But they could not spare her from the provisions of the Leprosy Act of 1890 nor fromthe progression of this cruel disease.
Alice is not actually her real name. She was baptised Hilda, but on admission, patients were renamed (and numbered) and buried on site, so that the stigma was untraceable. Hilda chooses the name Alice because her favourite book isAlice in Wonderland. Her mother Nellie chooses the name Clea, an allusion to Cleopatra, a powerful woman who did things her way and took love where she found it.
The place where Alice grows to be a young woman is no wonderland. There is a kindly doctor escaping the demons of his prohibited sexuality, and the authorities have done their best by providing individual cottages, a private beach, a rowboat, a library of books, and even a wireless when such things become available (though the men get one first). But it's a very small world, from which very few leave. Only occasionally is there is a misdiagnosis. Rarely, some patients turn out to have a less devastating form of the disease. For these, only after 13 negative results in a row do monthly swabs offer any prospect of release.
Yes, that's just over a year. A long time to be isolated from the world and everyone you love if the diagnosis was wrong. And for all patients, any time is a long time when science is taking so long to recognise that the disease is not as contagious as was commonly thought.
To read the rest of my review please visit
October 31, 2022
The Coast by Eleanor Limprecht is a historical fiction set in the early 20th century largely in Sydney. It has a pretty unique focus with the key characters people diagnosed with leprosy and sent to leper colonies. One of them is nine year old Alice who in 1910 is sent to the Coast Hospital in Sydney where she is reunited with her mother who left when she was two years old. Sadly she discovers that she has leprosy the same as her mother and grandfather before her. Over the years Alice and her mother make as much of life as they can while completely isolated at the Coast. But as a young woman Alice meets new arrival Guy, an Indigenous man injured in WW1. Alice and Guy’s friendship gives them both hope for the future.
I found this a pretty good piece of historical fiction, with a topic that was unusual which made for some interesting and unexpected plotlines. Limprecht drew inspiration from a real leper colony in Sydney and the final chapters where the changing understanding of leprosy by the medical field was brought in I found very interesting. Looking at what was once considered to be a highly contagious disease which required patients to be completely isolated drew some interesting connections with how we treated the Spanish flu in 1918 and with how the current pandemic has played out.
Overall a good book but it has highlighted to me that I am losing a bit of interest in the historical fiction genre and I may have to be a bit more selective in what I pick up. But I’m glad I finally picked up The Coast which was kindly gifted to me by the team @allenandunwin several months ago.
I found this a pretty good piece of historical fiction, with a topic that was unusual which made for some interesting and unexpected plotlines. Limprecht drew inspiration from a real leper colony in Sydney and the final chapters where the changing understanding of leprosy by the medical field was brought in I found very interesting. Looking at what was once considered to be a highly contagious disease which required patients to be completely isolated drew some interesting connections with how we treated the Spanish flu in 1918 and with how the current pandemic has played out.
Overall a good book but it has highlighted to me that I am losing a bit of interest in the historical fiction genre and I may have to be a bit more selective in what I pick up. But I’m glad I finally picked up The Coast which was kindly gifted to me by the team @allenandunwin several months ago.
June 21, 2022
A beautifully written book depicting a time and heartbreakimg story.
It is lyrical and slow, but so beautifully put together that we don’t want to put it down. The story flows well from beginning to end. We learnt about the lives of Alice, her Ma, her family, we learn about Jack and Guy, and of course Will. There are so many nuances crammed in this ine little book. Nuances that are huge on their own, but in those times they put extraordinary hardships on those who lived through them, lived with them. That era, those times in history were trying to say the least but the people living through them weren’t so different from us. Only, through those times, they just put one foot in front of the other, and got on with their lives. Their inner strengths shown through. They didn’t know any different way to be.
Looking into the life of the Coast, the lazarets, was breathtakingly haunting. Nonetheless, the smallness of their world didn’t diminish their wish for a meaningful life.
Each of the characters in the book is well written, their lives drawn expertly, so much so that the sounds, smells, scenary leap off the page and we find ourself living amongst them, watching their story unfold before our eyes.
A mesmerising book that stay with you long after you’ve turned the last page.
Thank you.
It is lyrical and slow, but so beautifully put together that we don’t want to put it down. The story flows well from beginning to end. We learnt about the lives of Alice, her Ma, her family, we learn about Jack and Guy, and of course Will. There are so many nuances crammed in this ine little book. Nuances that are huge on their own, but in those times they put extraordinary hardships on those who lived through them, lived with them. That era, those times in history were trying to say the least but the people living through them weren’t so different from us. Only, through those times, they just put one foot in front of the other, and got on with their lives. Their inner strengths shown through. They didn’t know any different way to be.
Looking into the life of the Coast, the lazarets, was breathtakingly haunting. Nonetheless, the smallness of their world didn’t diminish their wish for a meaningful life.
Each of the characters in the book is well written, their lives drawn expertly, so much so that the sounds, smells, scenary leap off the page and we find ourself living amongst them, watching their story unfold before our eyes.
A mesmerising book that stay with you long after you’ve turned the last page.
Thank you.
September 8, 2022
This story just captures you with its mixture of true Australian history and heart wrenching plot. Most people’s knowledge of leprosy comes from the Old Testament, even today. The bigotry, ignorance and fear is still rampant in this story so much so that, in contrast, the kindness and service of some of the doctors and nurses is especially heart- warming. Beautifully written and historically enlightening.
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