In the Sanctuary of Outcasts is a most unusual story. Neil White was a magazine editor who’d been focussed on success and its trappings his whole life. Rather than let his investors know the true financial state of his magazine, he began ‘kiting’ – illegally depositing and drawing cheques between two accounts at separate banks. When he was discovered, he was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment at Carville, Louisiana. Carville turns out to be the USA’s national leprosarium.

White is horrified to find the facility still contains 130 sufferers of the disease, in addition to 500 prison inmates. At first he is reluctant to even draw breath in proximity to the victims of the disease, afraid he will catch it. But over time, his work duties in the cafeteria bring him into contact with these enigmatic people who have overcome adversity and enjoy Carville as their home. White is then able to look beyond their disfigurement, which in turns forces him to question the values and beliefs that have led to this point in his life and separated him from his beloved family.