Radical Reviews

The Sign of the Sugared Plum
By Mary Hooper
Date read 7/08
This book is set in London, in the summer of 1665 during the plague.

Summary:
Hannah is a girl who had lived in the country all her life but always had hoped to go to the city. Things drastically change when she gets a letter from her sister to come to help her at her shop selling sweet meats. This is where the story begins. When Hannah arrives at the Sugared Plum (her sister’s store) she learns that the plague was in London. She learns that she was not supposed to come. Hannah stays at the shop hoping that the plague will die down. Within one month of Hannah’s arrival in London, there are 1,000 deaths in one week! The plague takes more people every week. In another month, the deaths have reached 6,000 deaths a week! There are not many people left in London. Hannah and her sister need something new to sell. They decide to make plague preventatives. To make preventatives, the sisters took herbs like rosemary, angelica, and chervil and candied them.

Hannah’s friend Abby is a maid for a rich woman. When the cook falls ill with the plague, everyone else in the household, except the baby, soon follows. As Abby is dying, she gives Hannah and her sister a letter from her mistress. The letter is asking them to take her baby and get out of London. Just one day later, Abby dies. Hannah and her sister act as Abby and her Mistress and take the baby. They have special passes out of London, so they use them. Hannah and her sister bring the baby to her aunt and are safe from the plague. This is where our story ends.

I think this book is wonderful, but should not be read by people under the age of ten, for it has some offensive and inappropriate words. Other then that that it is a very exciting book.

If you want more information on the Plague, click here: Plague Info RMD