July 3rd 1665
Aunt Nell came home from the market looking very pale. She overheard two men discussing the weekly Bills of Mortality. It seems that in the past week 700 people have died from the plague. So the plague is well and truly come to London after all. After much discussion I am to be sent to Woolwich with Aunt Nell. I refused to go without Poppet and Papa has relented. I was sent to enquire of a carrier but was soon stopped in my tracks. One of the hoses in the next street had a red cross painted on the door. Above the cross someone had chalked “Lord Have Mercy Upon Us”.
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: @@@@
Pages: 181
Format: Paperback
Comments: This is a great book for kids to learn about what life was like in London during the Great Plague of 1665.
Written in Diary form from the point of view of thirteen year old Alice Paynton, this story gives great descriptions of everyday life for a teenager in this period as well as the fear that gripped the city during those dark days.
At the end of the book, the author provides a chapter giving the facts of life in that era, followed by a timeline as well as copies of historical documents. Worth reading and showing to your kids.