The Black Angels

New York City, 1929.
A sanatorium, a deadly disease, and a dire nurse shortage. So begins the remarkable true story of the Black nurses who helped cure tuberculosis, told alongside the often strange chronicle of the cure's discovery.
Spanning the Great Depression and moving through World War II and beyond, this story follows the intrepid young women, the 'Black Angels', who, for twenty years, risked their lives working under dreadful conditions while caring for the city's poorest. Yet despite their major role in desegregating the NYC hospital system - and vital work in the race for the cure for tuberculosis and subsequently helping to find it at Sea View - these nurses were completely erased from history. The Black Angels recovers the voices of these extraordinary women and puts them at the centre of this riveting story celebrating their legacy and spirit of survival.
'Gripping' New York Times
'Their triumphant story has until now been almost completely neglected' Caroline Sanderson, The Bookseller

A New York City native, Maria Smilios has a Masters of Arts from Boston University in Religion & Literature. Smilios was a science-book editor when she discovered the Black Angels and was invited to tell this little-known story by one of the surviving nurses. Maria currently lives in Asheville, North Carolina. This is her first book.