Typhoid Mary

By the internationally bestselling author of Kitchen Confidential (sales of over 255,000 in the UK so far) and A Cook's Tour The story of one of the most notorious cooks in history Bourdain's profile will be high following his first cookbook, Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook, published by Bloomsbury in Oct 04 promoted with an author tour

The story of a notorious cook and a riveting slice of 1900s New York from the bestselling author of Kitchen ConfidentialIn 1906, at a prosperous Long Island summer home, a family falls ill and typhoid is diagnosed. When Dr George Soper is called in to find the source of the contagion, he notices that the household cook has gone missing. She is Mary Mallon, the woman who would become known as Typhoid Mary. Soper, sanitary engineer turned sleuth, sees Mary as his Moriarty. He finds there has been an outbreak of typhoid fever in every household she has worked in over the past decade. Mary is a 'carrier', a seemingly healthy individual who passes on her dangerous germs, sometimes with fatal consequences. Now Soper must hunt the cook down before she can infect more unsuspecting victims. A poor Irish immigrant, Mary refuses to believe that she can harbour typhoid in her strong and healthy body, and she doesn't intend to go quietly. In this fascinating true story Bourdain, in an homage from one cook to another, follows Mary through the kitchens of New York, putting a human face to a desperate and unintentional murderer, and examines a time, and a life, with his inimitable style.