In the Sanctuary of Outcasts

"Astonishing and deeply moving." --- John Berendt, author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

Publisher’s Weekly describes it as “Brisk, ironic, perceptive . . . White’s introspective memoir puts a magnifying glass to a flawed life, revealing that all of life is to be savored and respected.”

Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Olen Butler added, “At once surreal and grittily naturalistic, funny and poignant, White’s tale is fascinating and full of universal resonance.”

In the Sanctuary of Outcasts was an Indie NEXT Great Reads Selection.

Since June 2009 it has spent every week on the Southern Independent Bookseller Alliance (SIBA) Bestseller List.

Barnes & Noble selected the memoir for its Fall, 2009 “Discover Great New Writers” program.

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 18 months in a federal prison.

But this was no ordinary prison.  The beautiful, isolated colony in Carville, Louisiana, was also home to the last people on the continental United States disfigured by leprosy.  This small circle of outcast forged a tenacious, clandestine community, a fortress to repel the cruelty of the outside world.  There amid an unlikely mix of leprosy patients, nuns and criminals, that White's strange and compelling journey begins. 

Funny and  poignant, In the Sanctuary of Outcasts is an uplifting memoir that reminds us all what matters most.