New York, NY: Harper (2010)

New in paperback.

An emotional, incredible true story of crime and redemption, vanity and spirituality, as a man discovers happiness, fulfillment, and the importance of fatherhood in an extraordinary, little-known place—the last leper colony in the United States

“A wonderfully bizarre and entertaining memoir of jailhouse redemption—by turns hilarious, astonishing, and, when all is said and done, deeply moving.” — John Berendt, author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

Neil White, a journalist and magazine publisher, wanted the best for those he loved—nice cars, beautiful homes, luxurious clothes. He loaned money to family and friends, gave generously to his church, and invested in his community—but his bank account couldn’t keep up. Soon White began moving money from one account to another to avoid bouncing checks. His world fell apart when the FBI discovered his scheme and a judge sentenced him to serve eighteen months in a federal prison.

But it was no ordinary prison. The beautiful, isolated colony in Carville, Louisiana, was also home to the last people in the continental United States disfigured by leprosy. Hidden away for decades, this small circle of outcasts had forged a tenacious, clandestine community, a fortress to repel the cruelty of the outside world. It is here, in a place rich with history, where the Mississippi River briefly runs north, amid an unlikely mix of leprosy patients, nuns, and criminals, that White’s strange and compelling journey begins, a journey on which he rediscovers the value of simplicity, friendship, and gratitude. Funny and poignant, In the Sanctuary of Outcasts is a memoir that reminds us what matters most.