"All has been looted, betrayed, sold; Black Death's wing flashed ahead." (Anna Akhmatova)

A plague, beyond all human proportions of the imagination, seeped into the lives of all in 1348. Death knows no social standings, no rankings. It snuffs out the life of one who wears the weight of the crown as well as those who palm the rake of the fields. A devilish betrayer of the pure or the wicked of heart.

Lady Anne of Develish in Dorsetshire has bid farewell to her husband Sir Richard. Sir Richard and his band of men carry a well-guarded trunk filled with the dowry of his daughter, Lady Eleanor. They are heading to broker the final elements of the pending marriage between Eleanor and Peter Bradmayne. News has reached them that Peter may be ill. After several nights of serious drinking and feasting, Peter no longer joins the group. It is then that Richard is informed by his captain of arms that illness has befallen the town and it has become a place of death. The troup of men and their horses make haste to return to the castle. The death toll includes Richard and his band of men. Only one survives.

Meanwhile, back at the castle.........

Lady Anne refuses to admit the returning men inside the castle. Lady Eleanor screeches like a barn owl at the injustice to her dying father. But Lady Anne realizes that they will all die if she opens the gates. Gyles Startout, the sole survivor, is banished to the shore along the moat for two weeks to prove that he will not infect them. It's now a waiting game.

Minette Walters introduces us to a myriad of characters that form the solid bulk of this storyline. We meet Thaddeus Thurkell, a twenty year old bondsman, who assists Lady Anne in her efforts to bring cleanliness into the lives of the serfs who have taken refuge inside the castle. The tension builds by leaps and bounds as their minds work in unison to form a barrier between themselves and the impending plague. We also see the true colors of Lady Eleanor who, indeed, is her father's daughter. Evil begets evil.

Meanwhile, outside of the castle........

Thaddeus Thurkell and a small group of young male serfs take to the road to secure more food and supplies in the outer areas. This is high adventure and provides an open door to the next book in the series. (The Turn of Midnight) Lady Eleanor must easily fit a length of veil to cover her horns and hooves. That girl alone is worth the price of admission, folks.

The Last Hours is a glimpse into the horrors of the Black Death through the eyes of all levels of society. It is a known fact that between 30% and 50% of the country's population died because of the plague. Minette Walters gives us a bird's eye view from all ranks of social order and her character choices are an excellent vehicle in which to deliver this sharp-ended storyline. Can't wait for the next edition to get here.

I received a copy of The Last Hours through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Allen & Unwin Publishers and to Minette Walters for the opportunity.

The Last Hours by Minette Walters takes near the port in Dorsetshire in June 1348 where it is believed the Black Death (plague) entered England. With her husband away, Lady Anne of Develish along with her serfs take drastic measures to ensure their safety. Isolation, discord and danger made for a clever tale.

Imagine if you would a dark mysterious plague coming to your door. It doesn’t discriminate and none survive. Throughout Dorsetshire whole communities are fall to the disease. Thanks to her husband’s need for grandeur a moat surrounds the Manor of Develish. While it’s true, Lady Anne thought the moat foolish, she uses it to keep out the infected and moves all of her servants, serfs, animals and food storage into the Manor. Quarters are cramped, but the practices Lasy Anne has instilled in Develish help her and her people.

Maybe I am twisted or perhaps nutters, but books surrounding the Black Death (bubonic plague) or any plague fascinate me. Since this story derives from a historical plague, I knew I had to read it. It pleased me that Walters did her research offering the reader a sense of realism.

The Last Hours was a fascinating, rich, character driven tale that held me captive from page one. The plague was terrifying. The local priests preached repentance and claimed it was a cleansing.

Walters presented an interesting tale that not only highlighted the bleak, often dark aspects of this plague that ravished over twenty million people. We as the reader bear witness to the things that happen under this isolated roof. Twists and developments kept me engaged.

Walters sheds light on the inequality of the period, not just for women, but for serfs, the ruling class and everyone in-between. Lady Anne was an extraordinarily strong woman was ahead of her time and well learned. How she came to be married to such a heinous creature is an atrocity but if you ask the serfs of Develish, they would say it was a blessing.

I loved all the tidbits from hierarchy to how the plague spread. It was fascinating to witness the changes within the manor as food shortages began and key characters worked to undermine Lady Anne.

The characters were unique, developed and truly propelled this story. Gyles, Thaddeus and Isabelle were among my favorite characters. Walters did an excellent job of endearing key characters and allowing me to despise others. A few turns of events surprised me and look forward to returning to the manor.

One cannot deny the research that must have gone into the creating of this tale I believe it is the first in a three book trilogy. While some, may find these tidbits of information boring, I devour them and appreciated the attention to detail. The setting relied heavily on the characters to move the plot forward but it was executed brilliantly and without informational dumps.

This ends on a cliffhanger, it isn’t bad but enough I am eager to see what happens. The second book, The Turn of Midnight, is due out in March 2019. Fans of rich historical fiction and character driven novels will find The Last Hours an engaging, brilliantly written tale.

Summer 1348 heralds the arrival of the Black Death to Dorseteshire and seriously impacts the relatively small demesne of Develish. Shortly before the apocalypse of disease appears, Sir Richard leaves his land to journey to Bradmayne in an effort to marry off his 14-year-old daughter, Lady Eleanor. Instead of returning with news of a betrothal, Sir Richard brings the plague. When he's denied access across the moat to the manor and dies, his widow, Lady Anne takes over and creates an entirely new society inside the walls. Trained in a nunnery before she was wed, Lady Anne knows how to use practical hygiene and isolation methods to keep her serfs free from disease. She and two of her trusted serfs -- the bastard Thaddeus Thurkell and an older man named Gyles Startout -- encourage the people of the demesne to bond together to save themselves. Be forewarned, this ends on a cliffhanger as there is meant to be a book #2!

If you're in the mood for compelling and fascinating historical fiction focusing on how the Black Death affected a relatively small community and its impact on their way of life then this is the book for you. I found myself absorbed completely in the details and descriptions of the life and times of the characters in this extremely well-written novel. Because of the strength and leadership of Lady Anne, the loyalty of the people of the demesne, and the resilience of the human spirit, this incredible saga of the event that decimated much of the population of Europe is hard to put down. I have long been fascinated by stories surrounding how the plague destroyed centuries of social order, how it affected the religious beliefs held by the majority of the populace, and how it increased the awareness of how disease was spread including the emphasis on learning about sanitation and the importance of extermination. So few had any degree of understanding of epidemiology or even cleanliness and little was known of science as most people thought that it was sin that brought death and disease. It's hard for us now to imagine such degree of ignorance living as we do, but the author describes the setting and living conditions so well in this novel that you can see, hear, smell, feel and taste what it must have been like. I love books that send me into research mode, and I definitely made use of the Internet while reading.

I encourage you to read this if you like historical fiction and a great story with well-drawn characters that you learn to love and/or hate! I cannot wait for the sequel to this and am so grateful to NetGalley and MIRA/Harper Collins for this e-book ARC to read and review. Hurry up, Ms Walters, and finish this masterpiece!

Thankyou to NetGalley, Harlequin-Mira (US and Canada), Mira and Minette Walters for the opportunity to read an advanced readers copy of The Last Hours.
I have always enjoyed reading books by this author. I am also a huge fan of historical fiction. So to have Ms Walters pen a novel set during the Black Plague in medieval England, I was beyond excited.
And, I was NOT disappointed. The Last Hours is a beautifully written and engrossing story. It was atmospheric in detail with some central central characters that you will love, and others that will infuriate you.
I would highly recommend The Last Hours. It is truly an exceptional read.

This is the first book in a series about the Black Death. The setting of Medieval England was very detailed and was meticulously researched. However, the characters has no depth to them. The plot also moves at a slow pace. It also ends abruptly. Despite these flaws, the series still seem
promising, and I’m still interested in reading the sequel.

It's 1348 and the plague has reached Dorsetshire, England. No one is prepared for how quickly the sickness spreads and soon whole villages are wiped out. In the estate of Develish Lady Anne is warned just in time and makes the decision to bring in all the serfs from the village behind the walls and quarantine the manor. Though her wisdom saves everyone's life, the new living conditions brings a new social order with it. With the bastard slave Thaddeus Turkell acting as her steward, Lady Anne's daughter Eleanor starts rebelling against the new ways, wanting to keep her status upheld.

As the people of Develish try to adapt to their new life, conflicts arise, as the boredom grows and the food stock slowly depletes. But how are they to know when it is safe to leave the safety of the walls without running danger of also catching the black death?

As I DNFed The Last Hours, the summary is based on what I read so far, which is about 60% of the book.

So, I really liked the first third of the book. I have a love/hate relationship with stories that describe the end of the world. I find them terrifying, but can't really look away either. The way the plague was introduced was slow. A character witnesses from afar as a village has less and less people walking around and suddenly many more graves. It's the kind of introduction to something terrible where you sit there yelling at the characters to run as fast they can. They never do.

In Develish Lady Anne is introduced. She is a very modern character, who believes more in hygiene and medicine than she does in god and befriends the serfs and slaves. Her train of thought is rational and she is a clever, independent woman. For this reason I was very sure that this was going to be a good read and had a good time for the first two hundred pages or so. But then it became more and more apparent just how one dimensional her character and everyone else’s was. Lady Anne is always wise, calm and just in general good human being without flaws, her daughter Eleanor is always the exact opposite. There is not a single scene when Eleanor is not a horrible person. Thaddeus is dark and brooding, the Father always drunk and definitely not a man of god. It is as if every character got assigned a tag-line "Lady Eleanor: spiteful, egoistical and hates everyone." and every scene is orchestrated so that the character can stick to this line.

The characters grow predictable quickly and with that also dull. At the same time nothing really happens. I read around a hundred pages in the middle, waiting for the story to continue, wishing for it, because I was bored. It started off strong and the premise sounded good, but nothing was happening. I pushed through it for a while, but I reached the point where I had to put it aside. It just wasn't worth it to try and read one hundred-ish pages to hope for something exciting to take place.

I want to thank MIRA books for presenting me with a free copy of The Last Hours in exchange for an honest review.

I read this book from Netgalley and I am so glad I chose it to download. The Last Hours is well-written and indicates a tremendous amount of research regarding the The Black Death and it's era. There are several primary characters and most of them were very easy for me to like and to root for. There were also a couple of characters that are almost totally despicable, only rarely deserving sympathy or pity. I enjoyed this historical fiction very much. I was actually sad when I finished reading because I wanted more. Hopefully, there will be another book to let us know what happens next. Even though it is my first book by Minette Walters it won't be my last. I highly recommend it and hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Set in Medieval England during the time of The Plague, this work of historical fiction by Minete Walters is a joy to read. Walters describes feudal society well. Her detailed descriptions are engrossing. Life was drudgery for male & female serfs as well as for the female nobility. Her characters are compelling. The reader will cheer for Lady Anne and her high ideals just as her “subjects” do. Though I am not a historian, I do doubt that one such as Anne with her progressive ideas could have truly existed during this time period otherwise known as the Dark Ages. I look forward to reading Walters’ sequel so i may continue following the world she created.

*Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with an early copy in exchange for an honest review.*

4.5 stars rounded up

This is my first time reading the author's works and I can say I will definitely be continuing the series.

The Story~We follow the lives of Lady Anne and her serfs as they ride out the Black Death behind their walls. It doesn't sound that interesting, but I was so invested in what was going on. I never got bored and at times had to force myself to stop reading so I could cook food and such. I don't know how it could be so compelling to follow these people's daily lives, but it was.
There were even unexpected twists to discover.
The Characters~I've seen a couple reviews that say the characters are flat and boring. I didn't see that at all.
Lady Anne takes the lead when all the serfs are brought inside for protection, and while they respect her, she has plenty of self-doubt which is more visible at the end of the book. Her treatment of the church is curious, since I doubt she has easy access to a Bible. I applaud her patience with Eleanor.
Thaddeus is the best man I've seen in forever. He doesn't suffer fools and knows his mind. He has confidence in his capabilities but doesn't have the best bedside manner. My only complaint is perhaps he's too good at stuff with not enough obvious flaws. I hope his last thought of Anne is resolved pronto.
Eleanor is the exact opposite of Thaddeus. I couldn't hate her more if I tried. I'd half hoped for a redemption arc, but after what she did and how she constantly thinks, I don't know if that's possible.
Hugh is an interesting guy. He wants to align himself with the most powerful but lacks the personal conviction to see the right side. I wonder where he'll end up.
The serfs' sons I got kinda mixed up but they developed some under Thaddeus's tutoring.
I thought all the people in Develish were solid characters and I can't help but care for them.
The Description and Dialogue~I felt completely immersed in the demesne and the surrounding lands. A couple times the more detailed descriptions lost me, but for the most part I had no trouble seeing things clearly.
No one sounded modern to me but some of the serfs used vocabulary that seemed a bit above their heads. And sometimes there weren't enough dialogue tags for me to keep track of who was currently speaking. I loved it every time Anne put Hugh in his place or Thaddeus admonished the boys.

Overall I enjoyed this book way too much, given its setting. I look forward to seeing where things go in the future book(s).

4.5 ever engrossing stars

The Black Death was a devastating global epidemic of bubonic plague that struck Europe and Asia in the mid-1300s. Estimates vary, but the Black Death may have killed one-half of Europe's population, and about 100 million people worldwide.

The Last Hours (Black Death, #1) If you love the blend of history with characters of long ago, this book will certainly be one you will be wanting to delve into. The black death, a killer disease, spread through and carried by fleas on rats was the background of this tale. We are introduced to the people who through the foresight and effort of Lady Anne, a brilliant well loved character, strives to save her small village of Develish. Residing in this town, are a cast of wonderful and devilish characters who bring to the reader the full extent of knowledge about the perils of life during this tragic time in Europe' history.

Lady Anne's husband is a scoundrel and his ugly deeds catch up to him eventually. Lady Anne had a daughter, Eleanor, with her husband, and she is as devious and cunning as her father, hating her mother and the two hundred or so serfs who live in Develish. In particular, her wrath is directed towards Thaddeus Turkell, a serf whom her mother has placed her faith in and his adventures with other young serfs provides another aspect to the story.

It was a frightening time, quarantined from the outside world, unsure of what was happening, the villagers rely on Lady Anne and each other for their support. The village priest is a cur and he is useless to the people, but they eventually learn to rely on their resiliency and will to survive.

I so enjoyed this journey into a time that has always fascinated me. The black death decimated the population of Europe. This book provided a wonderful insight into the time that was beyond awful as people succumbed to this disease in a manner that was both painful and horrible. No one was immune. Twenty five million lost their lives, over one hundred million worldwide. I do recommend this book to all those who love historical fiction at its most telling. A caution though, this is the first book and the next will not be out to October of 2018. I can't wait!

Thank you to Minette Walters, Mira Books, and Netgalley for a copy of this engrossing tale.
My reviews can be found here: https://yayareadslotsofbooks.wordpres...

I received this from netgalley.com in exchange for a review.

Lady Anne of Develish has ways to protect her people than the daily confessions of sin recommended by the Bishop. Anne gathers her serfs within the gates of Develish and refuses entry to outsiders, even to her husband.

The book should be labeled under romance, not just historical fiction. The writing was readable, but the story lost credibility when I read "she dreamt of humbling him". 😝

2.5 rounded up to 3☆

I tried really hard to finish this book. I love the time period and I love books about the plague. This did not keep me interested at all. I found all of the characters to be flat and boring. I made it 33% and I had to give up. Thanks NetGalley for the book in exchange for an honest opinion.

To begin with, I woud like to thank HARLEQUIN - MIRA (US and Canada) and Netgalley for allowing me to read this novel in exchange for an honest review.
I wanted to read this book since I have read several non-fiction books on the Black Death. I was curious how this topic could be dealt with in a novel. The Author did an exeptionally thorough research into the pestilence which arrived in England in 1348. In fact, what prompted her was the very fact that she lives in Dorset, not far from the place where the plague arrived. All historic details are fantastic: the symptoms, the ways people tried instinctively to avoid the Black Death or even some simple ways to bring relief to those who were affected by the plague. Ms Walters chose a small village of Develish as the place of her plot, although some of her characters travel around the shire and witness the tragedy-struck countryside. There is a plethora of characters which allows the Author to introduce the thinking that prevailed in those days and describe everyday life in the Middle Ages in the English countryside. And there are secrets, which are necessary ingredienst for a good mystery. The books reads well, although I could not stop thinking that the language is too modern and at times Lady Anna, Eleonora and Thaddeus express opinions which could hardly be expressed six hundred years ago. It may be a trick on the side of the Author or perhaps indeed rebellion and unorthodox ideas were not that rare then.
All in all, an interesting historical novel that I can wholeheartedly recommend to the fans of the genre.

It's the summer of 1348 and the plague has reached England. The modest estate of Develish must deal with not only the sudden loss of their ignorant, tyrannical lord, but also a devastating disease that many view as divine punishment, right at their door. Fortunately, behind the moat, its inhabitants continue to benefit from the wise and benevolent rule of Lady Anne, a convent-educated natural leader whose invaluable knowledge of herbal medicine and advanced notions of hygiene has already vastly improved their lives.

Despite this relative safety, all is not well in Develish; being besieged by a deadly illness when no one knows where it came from, how it is transmitted, and how — or even if — it can be cured is talking a physical, mental and emotional toll. Tempers fray, jealousy rears up its ugly head, loyalties are tested. Then a boy is found stabbed to death early one morning, away from the post where he should have been mounting guard. Among those known to be present nearby during the night is Lady Eleanor, Sir Richard's illiterate, spoilt, petulant daughter, who has inherited her father's cruel streak and contempt for serfs.

The responsibility to inquire into this death falls to the boy's half-brother, Thaddeus Thurkell. Recently promoted to the position of Lady Anne's steward, this clever, strong, taciturn bondsman has long borne the stigma of his illegitimacy and the scorn of both his stepfather and Lady Eleanor. Given the delicate circumstances surrounding the murder and the rapidly dwindling stores, Thaddeus secretly decides to takes the five implicated boys with him on a dangerous expedition to acquire food and gather any information they can about the progress of the epidemic.

From this moment, we're privy to the mounting fear and distrust from two different but complementary points of view as we follow Thaddeus and the boys through corpse-filled villages and see how the Develish estate fares against rivals bent on its destruction. Both narratives explore, in a very raw, moving way, how people's true nature begins to emerge, as invariably happens in dire circumstances. It's fascinating to see characters and events from our modern vantage, knowing that this plague (and the ones that will occur in the following centuries) will kill so many, bringing about massive social and economic changes to societies and moulding what they are today.

I found "The Last Hours" absolutely gripping. It features a gallery of wonderfully drawn and masterfully developed characters. The scenes centering on Lady Eleanor's behaviour are especially chilling. The dialogues are tight and sharp, and there's REAL depth there.

As well as tensions, this novel is rife with opposites that are brilliantly played against each other: wealth and poverty, wisdom and foolishness, humility and vanity, courage and cowardice, generosity and self-preservation, science and faith, agency and obedience, women and men, Saxons and French, etc. I believe this greatly contributes to making this complex world more tangible to us modern readers than the one-dimensional medieval setting we're too often served.

As for the ending... Well, you can tell the author is a crime novelist: THIS is how you do a cliffhanger! I loved this novel and look forward to what comes next. What will the future hold — and where — for the people of Develish?

I really, really, really wanted to like this book. It's straight up my alley - historic fiction about the black death. However, it was a hard book to get through and in the end I had to skim the last half of the book to finish it. I just couldn't do it anymore.

The bones of the story are good - I just think there's a lot of telling and not showing and a wee bit too much fluffing.

I think the ending is what sent me over though - it's basically a "to be continued" ending which I wasn't prepared for. Once the sequel is out I think this may be a better read so you're not left in the middle of things wondering why all this time was spent getting to this point without any resolution. I may reread it again once the sequel comes out and maybe I'll enjoy it a bit more.

In 1348 when plague strikes England, it is a new disease and no one knows how it is spread. When one reads of the squalor and the lack of hygiene which was widespread it is miraculous that the country escaped the plague before this

Attributed to God the plague is widespread and when it enters Dorsetshire, the Lady of the Manor decides on a drastic course of action which will save over two hundred souls who belong to the village. She brings them all into the castle, closes up the entrances and prevents anyone, including her husband who was a villain of the first order to enter the castle. Her husband brings with him back the plague and dies along with his soldiers save one.

The story of how Anne saves her household against all odds, against marauding fellow Lords who want to gain access to her house to plunder whatever gold she has, and above all a treacherous daughter who will not hold anything sacred to destroy her mother and all she stands for.

It was not an easy book to read because the raw emotion and animosity that the daughter had for her mother was unbelievable. It is quite clear at the end though but it did not make it any less easy to accept.

Atmospheric and full of twists and surprises, The Last Hours follows the lives of Lady Anne of Develish and her serfs in 1348, during the time of the Black Death, arriving on the shores of Melcombe, Dorsetshire and slowly making its deathly progress through all the towns and villages in the nearby vicinity. Whilst everyone else is busy trying to save themselves, particularly those with money and status, Anne puts the precious lives of those who live and work in her demesne at the forefront of her thoughts and actions, much to the chagrin of her errant and volatile daughter, Lady Eleanor, who hates peasants and poverty and will do all she can to thwart her mother's good intentions. Working alongside Anne is Thaddeus Thurkell, a man more of a slave than a serf due to his ignominious bastard status - something which causes consternation between everyone on the land, but Anne has a trust in him that belies his status and encourages others to start to see him in a different light for the first time in his life.
The story follows the plight suffered by these people and everything they have to undergo as they fight to stay alive, as well as exploring everything that is going on beyond their boundaries, as people die in their thousands and whole civilisations are wiped out by this rapid and violent invasion with no cure and no understanding of how it is spreading.
Walters writes using an engaging style, with wealth of descriptive detail and time period and characterisation that grips the reader from the first, and which will hold their attention until the final page. Unexpected turns occur throughout the novel and the atmosphere throughout is simply mesmerising. Definitely worth reading this summer and the next in the series is sure to be as promising.

tl;dr Review:

A well-written tale of the horror and hope that surrounded the spread of The Black Plague in England in the 1300s.

Full Review:

Ok, so I realize that my tl;dr description makes the book sound pretty morbid. I can assure you that it's not. However, the publisher's description of The Last Hours by Minette Walters doesn't do it justice either. Here's what it says:

When the Black Death enters England through the port in Dorsetshire in June 1348, no one knows what manner of sickness it is—or how it spreads and kills so quickly. The Church cites God as the cause, and fear grips the people as they come to believe that the plague is a punishment for wickedness.

But Lady Anne of Develish has her own ideas. Educated by nuns, Anne is a rarity among women, being both literate and knowledgeable. With her brutal husband absent from the manor when news of this pestilence reaches her, she looks for more sensible ways to protect her people than daily confessions of sin. She decides to bring her serfs inside the safety of the moat that surrounds her manor house, then refuses entry to anyone else, even her husband.

Lady Anne makes an enemy of her daughter and her husband’s steward by doing so, but her resolve is strengthened by the support of her leading serfs...until food stocks run low. The nerves of all are tested by continued confinement and ignorance of what is happening in the world outside. The people of Devilish are alive. But for how long? And what will they discover when the time comes for them to cross the moat again?

Compelling and suspenseful, The Last Hours is a riveting tale of human ingenuity and endurance set against the worst pandemic in history. In Lady Anne of Develish—leader, savior, heretic—Walters has created her most memorable heroine to date.

I will say, that last line is right - the heroine is absolutely memorable and a fantastic protagonist.

Prior to this, I'd been reading a lot of non-fiction and thriller/mystery style books, so it was refreshing to have a book that engaged me but wasn't as intense as some of the others I'd read recently.

This was also an era of history that I am not as familiar with, so it was fascinating to read more on how things were back during the 14th century. Give me a Tudor or Regency era heroine, and I can tell you all about the time period that surrounded her and who the major players were. But this book left that knowledge in the dust and kept me interested from the first page to the last.

If you're looking for some excellent historical fiction that offers a compelling female protagonist and will leave you wanting more, then I highly recommend you get yourself a copy.

The review below will appear on my blog - It's Good To Read - on 13th August 2018.
You can access the link here:
https://ebookwormssite.wordpress.com/2018/08/13/the-last-hours-minette-walters

Summary:

Set in the mid-fourteenth century, just as the Black Death is about to change the face of Europe forever. The Last Hours is set in the fictional town of Develish, Dorsetshire, southern England, in the year 1348. It deals with the struggles and actions of a small community, trying to survive the enemies and pestilence without, and the divisive animosities and tensions within. They are surviving what they see as an apocalypse. This is the first in a trilogy.

Main Characters:

Lady Anne: Cool, controlled, organised, and strong-willed, she worked behind the scenes to take the reins of control of the demesne into her hands, making it profitable. Through her good works, the villagers are healthy, and thriving. But she holds a dark secret.

Thaddeus Thurkell: Illegitimate, he has nothing but scorn for his abusive adoptive father and manipulative adoptive mother. Well educated by Lady Anne, his quiet demeanour, quick intelligence and physical presence propels him to becoming steward, and with Lady Anne he holds the small community together. He takes great personal risks, for which the villagers do not appreciate.

Lady Eleanor: Spoilt, vicious, temperamental, she makes bad judgements and relies too much on her position to exert authority, and does not see the world has changed forever, and the old social order consigned to the same flames that burns the rats from the huts. She too holds tight to a dark secret, possibly the reason why she becomes unhinged as the story progresses.

Gyles Startout: Lady Anne’s trusted ally amongst the serfs, he supports Thaddeus in becoming steward. Kind, fiercely loyal, and hard on himself, he willingly risks everything to save his Lady, his family and his village..

Minor Characters:

Father Anselm: Either drunk most of the time, or pretending to be, he is a complete parasite. He survives through propagating fear of the afterlife, which Lady Anne coolly ignores. He is the holder, and forgiver, of dark secrets that should never have been forgiven, and essentially has sold his soul.

Sir Richard: Loud and brash, an ignorant brute of a man, he is the stereotypical upstart lord who wields absolute power. His passing is mourned by only Lady Eleanor.

Plot:

In the early fourteenth century, England still ruled by the feudal laws, and lords still enjoyed the “droit de seigneur”. Serfs and slaves were at the bottom of the ladder, and slowly the ladder rose up to the nobility, to the Earls and the King himself. There was virtually no prospect of a serf advancing himself (women were considered chattel, so don’t even ask!), as they remained uneducated, and when not scourged by their ruling master, were terrified by hellfire and brimstone as preached by the priesthood.

Against this backdrop, we enter the estate of Develish, ruled with an iron fist by Sir Richard. It is not a happy household, Sir Richard and his wife Lady Anne inhabiting separate bedrooms, and their only daughter Eleanor being a vicious, petulant, spoiled sadistic child of fourteen.

Richard is a brute, lascivious and bibulous, and practically illiterate. His daughter has inherited his venomous nature, and herself is illiterate also. Lady Anne had been raised in a nunnery, and has taken her qualities of kindness, duty, discipline and organisation into this small demesne. It was, needless to say, an arranged marriage.

As the book opens, we learn Sir Richard is away, looking to find a husband for his daughter in the neighbouring demesne of Bradmayne. He wants to make a favourable alliance, and has travelled with eleven men, including his chief at arms Gyles Startout. His daughter is strongly against this marriage, and has made everyone’s lives miserable in the process.

We also learn that Lady Anne is extremely progressive for her era, having (secretly) begin to teach the serf children how to read and write), as well as making many improvements in sanitary and living conditions, for example having a communal pit dug for the toilet, away and downwind from the house, isolating sick people from the healthy in a purpose-built house, and insisting on personal hygiene and cleanliness for all villagers.

Lady Anne hears of a fast-travelling and lethal pestilence, that has emanated from the port town of Melcombe and has decimated every town and village as it arcs outwards, and across England. Rich and poor, man woman and child, the victims are from every class and creed, and once caught the sufferers are usually dead within three days.

She makes the momentous decision to close the gates of the demesne, leaving her husband outside in the villagers huts. He was already afflicted, and she knew he was selfish enough not to care about anyone but himself, and would infect everyone. Ultimately, all in his party die except Gyles, who bravely waits outside for two weeks (and buries the dead) until he is sure not to be infected.

Fighting her increasingly difficult and trouble-making child, as well as dealing with the duplicitous Hugh de Courtesmain (steward to Sir Richard, now out of a job!) and the dissolute Father Anselm, Lady Anne draws the people to her, uniting them under her leadership with a sort of council of elders. Thaddeus Thurkell, an illegitimate child, now a fully grown man larger than most in the village, comes into his own as her new Steward, and rock of support. He had been fully educated as a child by her, and now her charity has borne fruit.

We watch as the months go by, how the inhabitants deal with the increasing claustrophobia, and the closeness of everyone. We watch as they stocks run low, and they face into a perilous autumn. Guarding the walls, they watch the bandits walk and ride the roads, making it unsafe to venture out. Also, remember back then most people would never leave their village, so would have no idea where to go! However, the lack of knowledge of events outside their walls leads to greater tensions within, with speculation and second-guessing becoming the new sports.

Ultimately, Thaddeus and five young boys leave the demesne, travelling deep into the surrounding countryside, attempting to being back news and food. The danger is, they may not return.

What I Liked:

- The story flowed well, and was extremely easy to read.
- The scene-setting was excellent – you really felt you were inside the walls of the claustrophobic demesne.
- There was no unrealistic romance scenes, which would have damaged the authenticity.
- Extremely well-researched, especially with the beginnings of awareness amongst the serfs that the balance of power had shifted toward them, as a result of all the deaths in the labour force.

What I Didn’t Like:

- Some of the characters were not as rounded as they could be e.g. almost too perfect for the character they were. Sir Richard is the classic boor. Lady Anne is perfect in just about every way.
- Sometimes the pace lagged.
- The mindset of the people was very much twenty-first century (e.g. how quickly the religion was ignored), which while making it easier to read and understand, does undermine the quality of research noted above.

Overall:

I thought this was a very good read, with a believable premise. I liked the dynamic of a community under threat, and how the characters reacted, and then reacted to the reactions. The novel was very well structured.

This is a great book for light and easy holiday reading, and a good high-level entry to this era. Recommended.

Acknowledgements:

I received a free copy of the book from NetGalley and the author, in return for an honest and objective review.

The Church believes that God has sent The Black Death amongst the people of England as punishment. It’s 1348 and no one understands how this plague kills so quickly. Fear is rampant. But Lady Anne of Develesh has some knowledge of sanitation and the spread of disease and she decides to quickly bring in all of the serfs inside her manor house which is protected by a moat. When her husband, the brutish Sir Richard, returns home from visiting a prospective husband for his daughter, Lady Anne refuses to let him and his men back in, fearing that they have been infected. As time goes by, a new fear arises – the fear of starvation as food supplies dwindle. A serf, Thaddeus Thurkell, leads a band of ill-equipped young men into the unknown to see if any other villagers are still alive and also in a quest for food.

Do be aware that this is the first of a series and leaves much of the plot hanging. I have been a long time reader of Minette Walters’ crime novels and she has always been a favorite author of mine. I was thrilled to learn of this new book since she hasn’t published a full length novel in the last ten years. This is quite a departure from Ms. Walters’ prior books, though it does contain a murder and has quite a suspenseful plot. I enjoyed this story and would love to see it being done on Masterpiece Theater. Lady Anne is an admirable character though I’m unsure if such a knowledgeable person would have existed in 1348. This is quite an in depth study of the reactions of people faced with a terrible plague such as this, with some growing into stronger people and others only caring about themselves. It also has a contemporary component involving class inequality.

On the negative side, I did begin to lose interest about half way through. There are parts of the book that dragged on too long. It’s quite a long book, being 544 pages, and I found myself just wanting to get to the end. I had been completely unaware that this was the first of a series and when I saw the words “to be continued”, I felt cheated but I also felt that I didn’t really want to read another book in this series. So for that reason, I can’t give this wonderful author more than 3 stars for her newest endeavor.

While it wasn’t entirely for me, I would recommend it for those who enjoy historical fiction.