Good historical fiction is rarely so dramatic, but Brooks just about manages to pull this one off. We all imagine the Black Plague of 1666 was brutal but this story of widowed Anna Frith losing her two sons and her village plunging into barely restrained chaos brings it all home. Brooks is not quite as good as CJ Sansom of the Shardlake series when it comes to recreating a time so well you can smell it, but she does quite well. The plot is a little histrionic but it’s well worth a read.
