lost unread book

i started reading a book about people with uncurable diseases.they were sent to an island and lived off of coconuts which made there skin &hair very oily .they were given a small hut to live in and were not aloud to mingly with other forlorn people there.this is all i can remember about the first chapter . i despertly want to finish the book .i though the name of the book was "the island of forlorn,the land of forlorn"? can someone help. thanks.