The subtitle of 'A novel of the plague' really says it all. This book details how Anna Frith and her fellow townspeople survive a plague year in their small village. After deciding that they will quarantine themselves to stop the spread to surrounding areas, we watch how this fateful decision affects them physically and mentally as the year (and the plague) goes on.

Not many books can make you laugh out loud AND cry, but this is one of those books. The descriptions of the Lake children at play are wonderful and the antics of Aunt Bernice are part of the fun, but the child abuse suffered by young Blade will make you weep. The ending will have you holding your breath. Our book club enjoyed this selection very much and would definitely recommend it to others.

Many members of our book club could relate to the author's stories of living abroad for a year. I have never experienced this and so did not enjoy the title quite as much. In general, however, it was a very good discussion.

This was an amazing title! I was reluctant to select a science fiction title for our book club, but everyone enjoyed it very much!

Despite this title's good reviews, we found it slow and confusing with too many points of view. Still it made for an interesting conversation (as those sorts of books often do). We would not recommend.

While the consensus was that we enjoyed the book, the reception was a bit 'lukewarm'. We were interested in reading further in the series to see how the author developed the characters. Some members felt that Ruso was too modern a character for the setting, but further researched proved that the book was historically accurate. Those Romans were ahead of their time!!