I had high hopes for this novel that sadly were not met. It starts out really well with solid characters and an intriguing premise, but my initial engagement waned during the middle section of the book. I very nearly gave up - some extremely unexciting and largely unremarkable events are described in such a long-winded manner that I was simply bored! It then picks up again towards the end, but by that point it felt like it had been a hard slog and I wasn't altogether sure it had been worth it. And as it is the first book of a duology, the story isn't even finished! So while this is mildly entertaining, I have read more ... dynamic historical fiction.

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Thank you to NetGalley for giving me this e-arc.

I really enjoyed this read. It was one I could read through quickly which made it more enjoyable!
The circumstances of this book turned out to be not unlike the world we are currently in, and so when lockdown in the UK was first happening, this was when I read this book. It gave me comfort. It helped me to remember that humanity has had plagues and pandemics all through out history.

But with plagues comes a lot of challenges, and this book did not disappoint. Lady Anne is shown to be very strong, and has good sense. Her daughter presents many trials to her, and at times I question why Anne did not act more harshly? Because the daughter made me so angry! Her wit in handling the situations were what cracked me up and i wish I could have the same snark!

This book was a good insight in to how people of old handled such situations as we are in now. Though I went into reading this blind and not knowing what it was about, it was the perfect read for the perfect time!

A community isolates itself in an attempt to avoid the Black Death. I enjoyed the sections which were set within the community, how does a community pull together the common good? I enjoyed less so when the exploration party headed off (and I admit to skipping some of these sections). I've read other books along a similar theme, and I enjoyed them more. Will look out for the second book, but not in a hurry to read it.

1348, The black death enters England and kills almost everyone in its path. The manor lords flee to the north leaving the lowly serfs to die or fend for themselves. Everywhere people try to survive crippled by fear of their masters who will punish them for using the available food and cattle to save their lives.

Not so in Develish where lade Anne is in control. She isolates her community to protect them against the epidemic, cutting off even her husband returning sick from a neighbouring estate.

As a historical novel it failed big time for me. There were too many modern ideas about medicine, hygiene, social values, and religion, all concentrated in one tiny community. It is more medieval fantasy. Also the black and white contrast between the angelic lady Anne and her heroic champion Thadeus, and the despicable Sir Richard, his spoiled daughter Eleanor, and slimy Hugh de Courtesmaine, was just too much.

What I did like was the aspect of group psychology and personal cunning and manipulation. The setting is post-apocalyptic and raises many tricky questions about survival and risk. What personal sacrifices are worth the benefit of the group?

I really enjoyed this book, totally unlike any others of Minette Walters that I've read to date. It's a fictional account of life in England during the Plague. One of two, so I'm hurrying to read the second one now! Characters are well portrayed and realistic. As far as I can tell, it's a fairly true representation of life in those days.
It's obviously a long book so be prepared, but it's not difficult to get into.
Would highly recommend.

Set in medieval times as the Black Death sweeps the land killing both serf and noble. It is 1348 when young childless Lady Anne is running her estate of Develish with its hundred plus serfs working the land. Meanwhile her brutal husband goes to arrange the marriage of his daughter from his first marriage, Lady Eleanor to Peter of Broadmaynr despite his wife’s warnings of the disease. Moneyreagh Winters is usually embroiled in crime writing but this novel brings to life the fourteenth century so that the reader feels the depth of fear everyone feels at the Black Death in Develish estate. How Anne shows her resourcefulness with the skills she learnt whilst living with the nuns and her knowledge of herbs and the ways the nuns nursed folk with illness.
Supporting Anne is Thaddeus Thinkell born a serf but educated by Anne to become a resourceful supporter of all Anne plans.
A brilliant novel that one cannot put down and I look forward to reading how the story progresses.

I was initially interested in reading this book, however my tastes have shifted and I do not think I will be able to get to it now. Many thanks to the publisher for sending me a digital copy!

Due to the loss of my kindle I, sadly, was not able to read this book.
I sincerely apologize for this inconvenience.

4 stars

How to survive the Black Death.

The date is 1348 and the Black Death is sweeping through Dorset leaving hundreds dead. Lady Anne of Devilish is living with her cruel husband and daughter, Lady Eleanor, when the first news of this virulent disease reaches them. Her husband departs to a nearby village to arrange his daughter’s marriage to Peter of Broadmayne but discovers that the disease has already struck and on returning to Devilish becomes ill himself and subsequently dies together with most of his retinue.

Lady Anne has been brought up by nuns and has learned from their wisdom. She has allowed her husband his excesses but has also gained the respect of her serfs by introducing ways of helping them in their hard lives. It is therefore not unexpected that she takes control of her demesne and decides to bring all her people inside the walls hoping that by doing this the pestilence will not take hold. She has always insisted on cleanliness and it seems that her ideas are correct as everyone remains healthy. She appoints Thaddeus Thurkell, a bastard slave, to act as her steward and endeavours to keep her people disease-free.

Lady Eleanor however is disgusted by the appointment of a serf as steward and is disappointed that her prospective marriage has not happened. She starts to encourage discord amongst the younger serfs by encouraging them to join her in the church and offering them her favours. This ultimately causes discord and the situation is brought to a head when she kills Jacob, the half-brother of Thaddeus.

Although the people of Devilish remains disease-free there is only a certain amount of time before their rations run out and they have no idea what is happening around them. In order to protect the truth coming out regarding Lady Eleanor, Thaddeus decides to go on a mission to try and discover what is happening in the surrounding area and takes the young serfs with him.

The description of their journey and the desolate landscape that Dorsetshire has become is vividly depicted and gives the reader an excellent idea of what it must have been like, however I felt that this part of the book was too detailed and too long in what is itself a very long book. This is one of the reasons why I dropped a star in my review but the other one was that as I got to the end of this on my Kindle it finished quite abruptly with ‘To be continued’. I was quite disappointed as I wanted to know how the story finished, I will probably read the sequel but would have much preferred the story to have been completed.

Dexter

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review

I enjoyed the historical element of this book but found it difficult to read. In particular the use of what I can only imagine is intended to be historic phrasing of speech to fit the time and setting of the novel. Whilst the story itself is fascinating, I personally found it rather drawn out and the characters somewhat unrealistic. I must emphasise that this is personal taste and I can see that this is a well researched and written novel which will suit many.

This is the first Minette Walters' book I have read although I have seen many titles on the shelf over the years. They just didn't appeal to me at the time. I have to say that this is one of the best written books I have read in a long time. It was an absolute page turner. I was fortunate enough to be able to access the second book in the series at the same time and that was devoured with just as much enthusiasm although the e-book settings made it more difficult to read. I really felt as though I was part of the small community that barricaded itself against the plague in 1348. The characters were realistic and the plots, twists and turns kept me hooked. I will definitely be looking for more Minette books in the future.

Read in the midst of a historical novel phase, this novel outstripped the others in how well researched and intricately detailed the setting and characters were. Set in Britain during the Black Death era of history, this book was fascinating and Lady Anne was such a joy to read. This is the first in the series and I’m looking forward to continuing with these books.

This is the first book that I've read by this author and I loved it although it did take a while for me to get into the book.

This book begins in 1348 and the Black Death arrives in England.

Sir Richard, his wife, Lady Anne and their spoilt daughter, Eleanor are preparing for Sir Richard to set out to pay a visit to Bradmayne to finalise the details which will see the marriage of his fourteen year old daughter with Peter of Bradmayne.
Before he can return to the safety of his estate, Sir Richard and his group come in to contact with the plague ,the villagers follow Lady Anne's orders not to allow Sir Richard to return into the estate. She believes that to isolate them will keep the village safe.

We are given an insight into all of the different lives within the estate. Lady Anne is a forward thinking woman who is well educated and she encourages the education of her staff. Because she treats them as people and not just as servants, they have a huge sense of loyalty towards her.

This is a very well researched book and it kept me turning the pages well past my usual bedtime.

An 'insiders' view of what people had to endure during the Black Plague. There are some strong and unique characters, who enrich the book and keep the reader hooked from start to finish. Looking forward to enjoying the next in this series.

I was really looking forward to reading this. So much so when I realised I had deleted the advance ARC, and realised the download period had expired, I purchased this book from Netgalley.

I found this book very difficult to read though. I love historical novels but I found the characters cliched and one dimensional. I found the setting, on an island cut of from the rest of the county, suffocating. In fact, after a while I thought I was reading an episode of the Walking Dead, or similar zombie apocalypse.

This is unfortunate as the time period, and the Black Death, are very well researched. The pace is slow and after a while the claustrophobia sets in. I abandoned it at 52% and do not anticipate that I will return to it.

Minette Walters books set in the 14th Century are a joy to read. It’s an eye opener to read about the lives people led in those days. The squalor and death from plagues all for want of cleanliness. The hard, back breaking work for the poor while the rich lived in comfort. One of the story’s main characters - Lady Ann does bring a sense of today’s sanitation into the story and we see how things began to change for the better. I thoroughly enjoyed this second novel and would highly recommend all three in this series.

Absolutely brilliant but sadly I read them in the wrong order. How I managed it is beyond me but wow what a read

This is the first of two in Minette Walker's Black Death series. I was lucky enough for Netgalley to send me both and I got stuck in. It's a really fascinating tale. I found this particular period of history fascinated but the author really does make the tale so realistic. 5 /5 stars

When I saw that Minette Walters had written a historical novel I wondered whether or not this book would live up to the standard of her other novels. Not only has she done this but in my opinion she has written her best book so far. There is still an element of mystery in her book but there is also the story of medieval times, written so that we learn about the serfs, their lives, the conditions they lived in and their place in a society which had almost total disregard for them as human beings. Thaddeus is a compelling character, someone who through his birth has no real place in his village, but who, despite this, manages to elevate himself to being someone who is looked up to and admired. Lady Anne is perhaps the real heroine and her husband and his daughter are the evil characters. The ending is a bit of a cliffhanger and now I can't wait to read the next book in the series..... please don't let us have to wait too long!