A Parcel of Patterns

Perhaps the parcel from London brought plague to Eyam. Within a year, 267 villagers have died, including the parents and husband of young Mall who tells the story as a ridding charm to leave behind the voices of the dead. Early on, she apologises - 'I lack wit and skill and set things down awry' -- but language and narrative are compelling. It's a story of love and suffering, fear, courage and loyalty, based on real events - with the plague as centre but also bringing close this Derbyshire lead-mining community, just post-Restoration. The apparently naive voice and the strong plot interest carry a fine historical novel so that concerns remote to us, but the context of Mall's life, are made immediate and available. I'd like to share this with Third years up.