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A passionate tale of plague, fire, and forbidden love from the acclaimed author of Solomon’s Crown
A BOOKPAGE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
It is 1666, one year after plague has devastated England. Young widow Cecilia Thorowgood is a prisoner, trapped and isolated within her older sister’s cavernous London townhouse. At the mercy of a legion of doctors trying to cure her grief with their impatient scalpels, Cecilia shows no sign of improvement. Soon, her sister makes a decision born of desperation: She hires a new physician, someone known for more unusual methods. But he is a foreigner. A Jew. And despite his attempts to save Cecilia, he knows he cannot quell the storm of sorrow that rages inside her. There is no easy cure for melancholy.
David Mendes fled Portugal to seek a new life in London, where he could practice his faith openly and leave the past behind. Still reeling from the loss of his beloved friend and struggling with his religion and his past, David is free and safe in this foreign land but incapable of happiness. The security he has found in London threatens to disappear when he meets Cecilia, and he finds himself torn between his duty to medicine and the beating of his own heart. He is the only one who can see her pain; the glimmers of light she emits, even in her gloom, are enough to make him believe once more in love.
Facing seemingly insurmountable challenges, David and Cecilia must endure prejudice, heartbreak, and calamity before they can be together. The Great Fire is coming—and with the city in flames around them, love has never felt so impossible.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
March 12, 2024 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9780593668788
- File size: 296295 KB
- Duration: 10:17:16
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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February 12, 2024
A desolate widow finds new hope and forbidden romance in this poignant and commendably diverse historical from Siegel (Solomon’s Crown). After Cecilia Thorowgood loses her beloved husband to the plague in 1666 London, she falls into a depression. When no Anglo doctor proves able to help Anna, her sister, Margaret, summons a foreign-born Jewish physician to treat her. David Mendes and his father left Portugal to practice their religion freely in London, but David knows even in England Jews are barely tolerated. He prescribes tinctures that help Cecilia recover but it is his budding friendship that really begins to heal her heart. As they get to know each other better, attraction sparks, though David is still getting over his unrequited first love for his male best friend. Meanwhile, Margaret, who is well connected at the court of Charles II, is determined that Cecilia will marry a family acquaintance and attempts to keep the couple apart. As the Great Fire of London ravages the city, Cecilia and David’s burgeoning love is tested. Siegel sets this sweeping, emotional story apart by focusing on the experiences of people often overlooked in historical romance. The results are genuinely moving. Agent: Catherine Cho, Paper Literary. -
Starred review from May 10, 2024
Siegel's (Solomon's Crown) sophomore novel brilliantly depicts 17th-century London in a surprisingly sweet and romantic story about forbidden love. Widow Cecilia Thorowgood, expertly voiced by Odyssey Award honoree Fiona Hardingham, is a broken and grieving woman forced to live with her sister in London. She has no will to live or thrive in the dirty city until she meets David Mendes, a Jewish physician who fled Portugal because of religious persecution. While David first meets Cecilia in his role as a physician, the two soon realize they have a deeper connection. Siegel adeptly navigates the complexities of a romantic relationship between an upper-middle-class English woman and a Jewish man in 1666. Narrator Matt Haynes pleasantly voices the chapters from David's point-of-view with a slight accent, and readers will empathize with his melancholy about his father's illness and his struggles with his bisexuality and grief. When the Great Fire of London sweeps through their neighborhoods, listeners will root for Cecilia and David and their precarious relationship. VERDICT Brilliantly narrated by Hardingham and Haynes, this lush historical novel smoothly incorporates complicated topics into a quiet, hopeful tale.--Sarah Hill
Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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Fiona Hardingham and Matt Haynes deliver a fantastic performance as two historical characters who come together despite their very different hardships. In 1666, the plague has left Cecilia a widow shortly after her marriage. David, a foreign Jewish doctor, is hoping to treat Cecilia's mental health. Initially, the protagonists have such different backgrounds that they might as well be from separate novels, but when they meet, the narrators create a stunning duet. While David is seeking creditability as a Jewish doctor in London and Cecilia is in constant mourning, they both share the same stubbornness and cynicism through observations that are delivered with quirkiness and humor. The budding romance is also depicted at a believable pace. An unconventional performance is infused with suspense and banter. G.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine
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