This was the first time I read Charlotte Bett. It gave me an interest in the bubonic plague and the fire of London. I have only really had a cursory interest in that plague that destroyed London or perhaps even cleansed it. The book was set in 1665 and 1666. Like most books, I try to learn about the history around the time in which they are set. Makes it more palatable than a text book.
Reading the book...especially the plague...reminded me of the health problems Africa faces. It was amazing that there was no cure for the bubonic plague and the desperation during those times is similar to what we have in present day Africa. When people died in a house...they were picked by a cart for mass burial and the rest of the occupants were quarantined in the house....One had to pay bribes once in a while to escape or to even see their loved ones. Now the plagues are different. When people talk about the pandemic that is HIV you would think that the world never suffered any other plague before.
My best character is Mistress Fygge. She is described somewhere as 'a formidable woman; I would be nominate her for the best supporting role as in the Oscars. She is one of those people that appears 'harsh' but is compassionate, generous and helpful. Of course she speaks her mind and is not always politically correct...but I would rather she was my friend. Susannah is toooo perfect for my liking...to the point of naivete.
When people wax lyrical about gender equality, one would think that the world was always very gender conscious. So I was quite entertained by the phrase 'It is against God's will to have female apothecaries'. It was considered blasphemy to think otherwise.
Although the novel is apparently a tale of love, sometimes unrequited, for me it was really a tale about how civilisations came to be. About how, if it comes to the basics, we really are all the same OR have suffered the same indignities and prejudices. The girl child - Like Dick Wittington - has come far....irrespective of the civilisation. London was once an unplanned city, full of disease and murk, but it has come through the fire and plague....Almost sounds religious. As for the tale of love and races....it is quite an interesting one. In part of Africa, its about tribes, in other parts its about religion and still in other parts of the world it is about races and castes. Surely, as the Americans say....aren't all men (and women) created equal and have some inalienable rights including the right to love whosoever they will?
I guess in life there is always an inflection point and for London perhaps it was the great fire that allowed it to be rebuilt into the beautiful city that I love to visit.
The other interesting character is Christopher Leyton...Really, enough is said about the madness between a man and a woman. This madness can cause a man to give up his own children at the expense of pleasure which is sometimes fleeting This also happens over generations and across races....
The challenge about the book is that it had so many characters and I would have to read it again in order to engrave it into my memory as a formidable book. Nonetheless I read it into the wee hours of the morning.
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