Queen of Hearts

Queen of Hearts
By Martha Brooks
Farrar Straus Giroux, 2011. 214 pgs. Young Adult

In 1940s Canada, tuberculosis rages across the country and teenage Marie-Claire’s uncle has it, unbeknownst to her family whom he is living with. Months later Marie-Claire and her two younger siblings discover they have TB as well and are sent to the local sanatorium to “chase the cure.” Marie-Claire feels angry against the many restrictions placed on her, her roommate who wants to be good friends, and the rules against visiting her siblings. She also realizes that she doesn’t even have a life anymore and is wasting her special teenage years stuck in a terrifying situation and place. Brooks does a great job evoking the many different emotions of those experiencing this horrible disease and life. Marie-Claire’s struggles are real and palpable, as is her ultimate acceptance of her new life and conditions.

MN