Minette Walters: The Last Hours (USA 2018)

From the Publisher:
When the Black Death enters England through the port in Dorsetshire in June 1348, no one knows what manner of sickness it is -- or how it spreads and kills so quickly. The Church cites God as the cause, and fear grips the people as they come to believe that the plague is a punishment for wickedness.

But Lady Anne of Develish has her own ideas. Educated by nuns, Anne is a rarity among women, being both literate and knowledgeable. With her brutal husband absent from the manor when news of this pestilence reaches her, she looks for more sensible ways to protect her people than daily confessions of sin. She decides to bring her serfs inside the safety of the moat that surrounds her manor house, then refuses entry to anyone else, even her husband.

Lady Anne makes an enemy of her daughter and her husband's steward by doing so, but her resolve is strengthened by the support of her leading serfs... until food stocks run low. The nerves of all are tested by continued confinement and ignorance of what is happening in the world outside. The people of Develish are alive. But for how long? And what will they discover when the time comes for them to cross the moat again?

Compelling and suspenseful, The Last Hours is a riveting tale of human ingenuity and endurance set against the worst pandemic in history. In Lady Anne of Develish -- leader, savior, heretic -- Walters has created her most memorable heroine to date.

Minette Walters: The Last Hours. For most, the Black Death is the end. For a brave few, it heralds a new beginning. A Novel. Mira Books, ISBN: 9780778369318 (August, 2018), 544 p., $26.99, eBook $11.99.

Minette Walters: The Last Hours (UK 2018)

From the Publisher:
England, 1348: as the Black Death spreads through the country, people start to die by the thousands. In Dorset, young Lady Anne takes control of her lands, with her trusted steward, Thaddeus, at her side. Compassionate and resourceful, she decides to quarantine the estate against the terrifying pestilence, bringing some two hundred serfs inside the moated walls. But in such a confined space, conflicts soon arise. Ignorant of the world outside, Lady Anne's people wrestle with the terrible uncertainty of their futures. Fearing starvation but fearing the disease even more, who amongst them has the courage to leave the security of the walls? And how safe is anyone when a dreadful event threatens the uneasy status quo...?

Minette Walters: The Last Hours. The Black Death has come to England - and with it, terror, jealousy and vengeance. Allen & Unwin, ISBN: 9781760632144 (June, 2018), 576 p., £8.99.

Minette Walters: The Last Hours (UK 2017)

From the Publisher:
June, 1348: the Black Death enters England through the port of Melcombe in the county of Dorsetshire. Unprepared for the virulence of the disease, and the speed with which it spreads, the people of the county start to die in their thousands.

In the estate of Develish, Lady Anne takes control of her people's future -- including the lives of two hundred bonded serfs. Strong, compassionate and resourceful, Lady Anne chooses a bastard slave, Thaddeus Thurkell, to act as her steward. Together, they decide to quarantine Develish by bringing the serfs inside the walls. With this sudden overturning of the accepted social order, where serfs exist only to serve their lords, conflicts soon arise. Ignorant of what is happening in the world outside, they wrestle with themselves, with God and with the terrible uncertainty of their futures.

Lady Anne's people fear starvation but they fear the pestilence more. Who amongst them has the courage to leave the security of the walls?

And how safe is anyone in Develish when a dreadful event threatens the uneasy status quo..?

Minette Walters: The Last Hours. The Black Death has come to England - and with it, terror, jealousy and vengeance. Allen & Unwin, ISBN: 9781760632137 (November, 2017), 547 p., £20.00, eBook £9.99 (?).