What happens when a person's reputation has been forever damaged? With archival photographs and text among other primary sources, this biography of Mary Mallon looks beyond the tabloid scandal of Mary's controversial life. How she was treated by medical and legal officials reveals a lesser-known story of human and constitutional rights, entangled with the science of pathology and enduring questions about who Mary Mallon really was. How did her name become synonymous with deadly disease? And who is really responsible for the lasting legacy of Typhoid Mary?.

In which Mrs. Warren has a servant problem -- In which the Warrens get more than their just dessert -- In which the usual suspects are questioned -- In which an epidemic fighter hunts for a clue -- In which the cook rules the kitchen -- In which Mary walks more like a man than a woman -- In which extraordinary and arbitrary powers are at work -- In which Mary fights like a caged lion -- In which Mary's bad behavior leads to her doom -- In which there's some name calling -- In which Mary is banished like a leper -- In which Mary has her day in court -- In which Mary learns to keep her germs to herself -- In which it takes a squad of sanitary police -- In which a weaker spirit might have been broken -- Afterword, in which we consider the research and writing of Mary's life.