Carmen Radtke

Walking in the Shadow Carmen Radtke

Quail Island, 1909. Jimmy Kokupe is the miracle man.

On a small, wind-blasted island off the east coast of New Zealand a small colony of lepers is

isolated but not abandoned, left to live out their days in relative peace thanks to the charity of

the townspeople and the compassion of the local doctor and matron of the hospital.

Jimmy Kokupe is a miracle: he's been cured. But he still carries the stigma, which makes life

back on the mainland dangerous and lonely. To find a refuge, he's returned to the camp to

care for his friend, fellow patient old Will, and disturbed young Charley.

Healed of his physical ailments and dreaming of the girl he once planned to follow to a new

life in Australia, Jimmy meets 'the lady', the island caretaker's beautiful but troubled wife

who brings their food. Can she help Jimmy forget his difficult past and overcome his own

prejudices towards his mixed parentage, and find the courage to risk living in freedom?

For fans of Victoria Hislop