This historical fiction is based on true events of 1666 when the plague came to the town of Eyam, Derbyshire. The townspeople made a voluntary commitment to remain within the village borders, in an effort to prevent the spread of the disease.
Narrated by 18 year old widow Anna, her young sons are among the first victims. Anna is employed as the rector's maid, and along with his wife, Anna works tirelessly through the year to tend to the sick and diseased within the town.
Anna's voice is far more educated than her position belies--her words are eloquent and haunting. I was quickly drawn into her story.
For the most part, I enjoyed the book. Unfortunately, a subplot reveals a dark side of the pastor, which was creepy and took away from the story. I found this book at the library as I was searching for fictional plague stories for Holly. Recommended as entertaining reading if you have an interest in the subject.
2 comments:
You find the most interesting books to read!
In our trip to Derbyshire last summer, we went to the Museum in the village of Eyam. It's famous here as the village which tried to stop the Plague from spreading. It was an excellent little museum.
It was also interesting walking through the village afterwards as all the houses have little plaques on the garden gates, explaining which of the families lived there and who died/survived etc. Sounds gruesome, but I guess because Eyam is so famous, people are interested.
Oh and many of the same families still lived in the cottages, which I think is a little freaky as my family has done so much globe-trotting. {g}
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