I Will Lie Down Lean by William Kinnard

Series: The White Plague Trilogy

Doctor’s Debut Novel Unravels the Tragic yet Hopeful Truth Behind a Sanatorium’s Past

Years of research culminate in a compelling medical mystery about tuberculosis and its lasting aftereffects

TRAVERSE CITY, MICHIGAN—Mission Point Press is proud to announce the publication of As I Lay Down Lean: A Novel, by Dr. William Kinnard. The author brings to life a forgotten chapter of American history in this atmospheric novel, blending emotional storytelling, authentic medical history, and a compelling mystery with an unexpected resolution. It will appeal to readers of historical fiction, public health, character-driven novels, and those interested in stories of trauma survival and resilience.

In 1923, nineteen-year-old Robert Hawkins enters a tuberculosis sanatorium expecting to be quickly cured … or die. Instead, he discovers an extraordinary world hidden in the remote mountain town of Saranac Lake, New York—a community of young people who struggle to maintain hope while confronting humanity's oldest and deadliest killer. After two years surrounded by death, Robert boards the train home, believing he has closed that chapter forever.

More than twenty years later, in 1950, the discovery of streptomycin has transformed tuberculosis from a death sentence into a curable disease. But when news reaches Robert, now a police detective, of a series of suspicious deaths at the sanatorium where he endured his “cure,” he is compelled to break his vow not to revisit his past. Once back in Saranac Lake, he will confront more than a murder mystery.

Drawing on a career in pulmonary medicine, Dr. Kinnard recreates the world of the American tuberculosis sanatorium with remarkable historical accuracy and emotional depth. His experience is apparent in his vivid descriptions of the ravages of “The White Plague.” I Will Lie Down Lean explores the intersection of medicine, history, and the resilience of the human spirit. Its title is drawn from a poem by Edna St Vincent Millay, the Pulitzer Prize winner who gave voice to the loneliness and longing of young people in the 1920s.

Kinnard remarks, “As a writer and a physician, I have long been fascinated by two aspects of TB and the sanatorium era. First, it killed slowly and spared perhaps half of its victims. Second, when the cure came, the stricken rejoiced, of course—but their joy must have been muted and colored by grief and guilt.” As I Lay Down Lean investigates these themes with a physician’s precision and compassionate touch.

Advance Praise

“Readers will find Kinnard's descriptions of daily life in a tuberculosis sanatorium in the early 1920s compelling. His portrayal of patients at the sanitarium shows the diverse effects this disease had on those who fell victim to, as well as those who survived, this terrible disease. Fast forward to the 1950s, when the inexplicable deaths of three such patients bring a former patient, now a police investigator, back to the sanitarium to puzzle out the mystery in whodunit fashion, that will keep readers guessing.”

—Rick VanDeWeghe, professor emeritus, University of Colorado Denver, author of Jimmy Quinn and Lucy Greene 

“In I Will Lie Down Lean, Dr. William Kinnard has gifted us a profound story about ‘seekers’ of hope and dignity in the face of what was once an incurable disease. The memorable characters’ lives are interwoven and intricately connected, reflecting the incurable complications of humanity itself. With a poet’s heart and a physician’s compassion, Kinnard understands with rare insight the essential qualities needed in the face of desperate circumstances. His tale illuminates a vital message for our times: ‘… the possibility that the human spirit was not broken beyond repair.’” 

—Daniel Glick, author of Monkey Dancing: A Father, Two Kids, and a Journey to the Ends of the Earth and Never Lost 

The Author

William Kinnard, MD, graduated from Dartmouth College with a degree in Creative Writing in 1982. After teaching English and physics at a small preparatory school for a year, he went on to medical school. Over the course of a long career caring for people with severe lung disease and critical illness, he found the story that united his passions for medicine and writing.

The Book

I Will Lie Down Lean: A Novel

Series: The White Plague Trilogy

William Kinnard

368 pages, 6” x 9”, B/W

Mystery & Detective / Historical / Medical / 20th Century / Literary

ISBN: 978-1-968761-83-7, $28.95 (Hardcover)

ISBN: 978-1-968761-84-4, $18.95 (Softcover)

Publication Date: 10/21/2026

Mission Point Press

Copies are available for preorder at Bookshop.org, Amazon, and other online retailers. On its October 21, 2026, publication date it will be available for purchase wherever books are sold. For information or to arrange for signings and events, contact the author at billkinnardMD@gmail.com.