The Plague

[Margaret]

Just finished reading Company of Liars by Karen Maitland, which is set in 1348, the year the Black Plague arrived in England. That was an exceptionally rainy year, and the novel is quite vivid in portraying the difficulties the flooding brought for travelers and everyone else. This was an ARC copy; the novel is due in U.S. bookstores September 30, but I think it's already out in the U.K. I've posted a review at http://www.HistoricalNovels.info/Company-of-Liars.html.

Another good novel about the plague is The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis. It's a time-travel novel, but the historical part is exceptionally well researched. It belongs somewhere on my "best historical novels" list, perhaps not the top 10, but probably in the top 20 - and I don't usually care for Sci-Fi/Fantasy.

[diamondlil]

One of the most harrowing scenes of the plague that I recall reading about was in Forever Amber.

[Amanda]

I love plague! Sounds a bit weird put that way, but I do have a bit of a thing for reading books about the plague(s).

Restoration by Rose Tremain also has a little plague, and The Illuminator mentions it as happening earlier (30 years or so IRC), and society was changing because of it.

[Divia]

Yeah I wanted to read more about the Plague too, but didnt like Year of Wonders. I might give this one a go though.

[MLE]

I love plague! Sounds a bit weird put that way, but I do have a bit of a thing for reading books about the plague(s).

Restoration by Rose Tremain also has a little plague, and The Illuminator mentions it as happening earlier (30 years or so IRC), and society was changing because of it.
If you are curious as to the origins and spread of the plague, you should check out 'the Great Mortality: an Intimate History of the Black Death (http://www.amazon.com/Great-Mortality-Intimate-History-Devastating/dp/0060006935/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1221090448&sr=1-1) by John Kelly. He does a very thorough job of it.

[Amanda]

If you are curious as to the origins and spread of the plague, you should check out 'the Great Mortality: an Intimate History of the Black Death (http://www.amazon.com/Great-Mortality-Intimate-History-Devastating/dp/0060006935/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1221090448&sr=1-1) by John Kelly. He does a very thorough job of it.

Oh good! I have that one on the TBR pile.

[Margaret]

Whatever one might think of Ken Follett's World Without End (and it does have its flaws - chief among them, IMHO, being the overly modern personalities of most of the major characters), it does an excellent job of showing the societal changes brought about by the plague and the way it depopulated the country.

[Debra]

Just finished reading Company of Liars by Karen Maitland, which is set in 1348, the year the Black Plague arrived in England. That was an exceptionally rainy year, and the novel is quite vivid in portraying the difficulties the flooding brought for travelers and everyone else. This was an ARC copy; the novel is due in U.S. bookstores September 30, but I think it's already out in the U.K. I've posted a review at http://www.HistoricalNovels.info/Company-of-Liars.html.

Another good novel about the plague is The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis. It's a time-travel novel, but the historical part is exceptionally well researched. It belongs somewhere on my "best historical novels" list, perhaps not the top 10, but probably in the top 20 - and I don't usually care for Sci-Fi/Fantasy.




I loved the Willis book too. I've not been too fond of all of her books but this one is a favorite. Also, Ann Benson's series is quite good,

[Laura]

Margaret, please take a look at the Goodreads group:
http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/2415.Plague_Books

[Margaret]

Thanks for the tip, Laura. I notice the yellow fever epidemic in the U.S. is mentioned. That was a terrible problem along the Gulf Coast in Texas and Louisiana in the 1800s after the population increased and before people discovered it was spread by mosquitoes.

[Ludmilla]

It's non-fiction, but William McNeill's Plagues and Peoples is a very good book about various plague outbreaks of historical significance.

I just mentioned Undset's Kristin Lavransdatter in another thread, but it could easily be tagged as plague literature, as it covers the plague when it arrives in Norway, mid 14th C. (in fact, I think I read an interview with Connie Willis who mentions KL as a favorite novel of hers, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was an influence on her Doomsday book).

Re the Yellow Fever epidemic in the US, Laurie Halse Anderson's YA book, Fever 1793, is an interesting account of the epidemic that swept through Philadelphia during that year. I sometimes see this book in the children's section of the book store, but think it belongs in the YA section and is a book that should have crossover appeal for adults.

[Chatterbox]

McNeill is excellent; Philip Ziegler (or Zeigler?) also has a book about the Black Death. Barbara Tuchman's book about the era is magnificent -- the Distant Mirror -- and a shorter, more accessible book (akin to the Great Mortality) is Norman Cantor's "In the Wake of the Plague".

Then there's Boccaccio and his Decameron -- not about the Plague, but the tales his characters tell are to distract themselves while they are cooped up in Florence during the plague.

[EC2]

Thanks for the review Margaret. This has been on my mental TBR for a while. I much prefer the USA cover.
Must admit I didn't get on with Doomsday book (the writing itself rather than the premise) and didn't make it past page 60.