At first I wondered if this was my type of book but once I started reading I was hooked. The author writes in detail about the way the plague began and spread. The characters are really well described so you feel you know them and empathise with their emotions. I was pleased to see lady Anne did not have to put up with her revolting husband for too long. She was very clever and managed to manipulate her world at a time when women should not have power. She was determined to save the people she was responsible for and determined not to let another man take over. Unusually she chose one of her serfs, Thaddeus, to help her. A book I could not put down and cannot wait to read the follow up to find out if they all finally survive.