Pamela Oldfield

The Coulsdens, prosperous and hardworking, had a boatyard and fishing business in Rye and Hastings. Against this background the story of Julia Coulsden, born in 1910, unfolds - the fears of childhood, the dreams of adolescence, unwanted pregnancy, controversial marriages and sudden inheritance.

Seen through the eyes of a 13-year-old girl, this is the story of the bubonic plague in London and how it affected ordinary people. Told in diary format, it covers the year before the Great Fire of London, which ended the threat of the plague.

It is late Victorian England and Bella is overjoyed at her marriage to Lloyd Massie but the police know that he has already killed once, although they can’t prove it. Can the dedicated young detective protect Bella and her sister?