Eyam: Plague Village

by David Paul

In September 1665, plague was inadvertentlytransported from London to Eyam in Derbyshire on a consignment of cloth. This small country village subsequently became famous for its decision to instate a A ecordon sanitaireA f, isolaoiing itself to prevent the disease from spreading. Much of EyamA fs population perished during that torrid period. Plague Village follows the local rector, the Revd William Mompesson, as he tries to support his parishioners and contain the disease. Basing his account closely on the known facts, David Paul describes the events during this time in the villageA fs history from the perspectives of the rector, his wife Catherine, and the fictional character of Beth Hounsfeild, CatherineA fs cousin.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

221 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 2012

Reviews

[Jo]

Not sure whether to categorise this as historical fiction or fact. The author tells the story of what happened in Eyam in the late 17th century but uses the format of made up letters and diary entries. The facts are there but they're padded out. Still, it's a good introduction to those awful events.

[Kat Orton]

I really really wanted to like this!!!! As soon as I heard about it, I was like… ooooh that could be amazing… buuut.. it wasn’t. I really appreciate the research that went into it, and next time I’m in the Peak, I’ll definitely pop into the town and probably bore my fiancé to death with a history lesson… I just don’t think it reached its full potential, it read very much like a list of dead people, and I feel there could have been SO much more content. I didn’t feel I really got to know any characters, there was no buzz about how the town felt, the perspectives of the two main characters just felt the same, there was no personality in there, I also felt it was a perfect stage to show readers what life would have been like, in 1665, what shops would have sold, what the doctors would have made of the plague, what people wore, how they behaved, but there was a little of it, but not ad much as I would have liked

[Bill38silver]

Is this about plague or is it plagiarism? I have read two books about Eyam in recent weeks: this one by David Paul, the other "Eyam, The Plague and an 1858 Ramble" reprinted in nearby Bakewell in 1991 and based mainly on the the writings of Clarence Daniel (whom Paul notes as a primary source of his research). In my view Paul's work published in 2012 is of some interest but does not improve upon the story of Eyam. As he admits he has fictionalised many of the historical events but "sought to retain the essence of known facts".

David Paul attempts to capture the essence of known facts with an interesting concept: events are seen through the perspective of a made up journal written by the rector, William Mompesson, the fictional diary of his wife, Catharine and the writings of an entirely fictional cousin, Beth Hounsfield. In narrating the story in chronological order, through three prisms, the account is slow and there is rather too much overlap about day to day events (usually yet another and another death of named-real -people).

Mysteriously, David Paul tacks on 20 odd pages at the end of his version of the Eyam tragedy, two chapters on three places of interest near to Eyam and two supposed "favourite walks" of Catharine Mompesson. This bolt-on of tourist information is so similar to the last 30 pages of my other recently read book on Eyam (there there are two concluding chapters on the Eyam Discovery Trail and an extract from an 1858 ramble in the Derbyshire Dales).

There must be a better book to read about the Eyam tragedy but this is not it.

[TERRY BARLOW]

Fact Filled Book. About the Plague. Eyam Suffered Much Hardship. So Many Deaths. But Two Religious Ministers of Different Faiths. Combined to Nurse the Sick. Close the Village Off. To Stop the Spread of the Plague. Many Interesting Characters & Customs of the Time Explained. Even Walks around Eyam. Places nearby also Explored. Did know the Importance of Hope. Very Enjoyable Read & Historical Account.

[Judith]

If I’d realised that this was fictionalised account I wouldn’t have bought it - that said it’s not the worst historical fiction I’ve read. I struggled to understand why the Hounsfield’s stayed, but they were fictional characters. I wasn’t sure, either, why the 2 chapters at the end were included. However, the fact that David Paul included so many original documents was a major plus.

[Robert Luke]

Having just been to the village, this was a great book! It filled in so many gaps in familiar properties that we had just seen. Completed a great weekend of discovery!