The Last Hours

The Last Hours

by Minette Walters

Narrated by Helen Keeley

Unabridged — 15 hours, 29 minutes

The Last Hours

The Last Hours

by Minette Walters

Narrated by Helen Keeley

Unabridged — 15 hours, 29 minutes

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Overview

When the Black Death enters England through the port in Dorsetshire in June 1348, no one knows what manner of sickness it is-or how it spreads and kills so quickly. The Church cites God as the cause, and fear grips the people as they come to believe that the plague is a punishment for wickedness.

But Lady Anne of Develish has her own ideas. Educated by nuns, Anne is a rarity among women, being both literate and knowledgeable. With her brutal husband absent from the manor when news of this pestilence reaches her, she looks for more sensible ways to protect her people than daily confessions of sin. She decides to bring her serfs inside the safety of the moat that surrounds her manor house, then refuses entry to anyone else, even her husband.

Lady Anne makes an enemy of her daughter and her husband's steward by doing so, but her resolve is strengthened by the support of her leading serfs...until food stocks run low. The nerves of all are tested by continued confinement and ignorance of what is happening in the world outside. The people of Develish are alive. But for how long? And what will they discover when the time comes for them to cross the moat again?

Compelling and suspenseful, The Last Hours is a riveting tale of human ingenuity and endurance set against the worst pandemic in history. In Lady Anne of Develish-leader, savior, heretic-Walters has created her most memorable heroine to date.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"This compact, well-told and extraordinarily atmospheric story packs more punch than many much longer books." -The Guardian

"Sly pacing and a detached narrative voice give this horror story exceptional punch." -Kirkus, starred review

"Reads like a particularly grim Grimm's Fairy Tale, with an all-too-credible contemporary setting.... Gratifyingly menacing." -Daily Mail UK

"A compulsive (and gruesome) read." -Independent

Kirkus Reviews

★ 2018-05-15
With her first full-length novel in 10 years, an award-winning British crime writer launches a series about the Black Death.In the summer of 1348, Sir Richard of Develish journeys to Bradmayne on business. While he's away, news reaches Develish of a deadly pestilence. His wife, Lady Anne, brings her serfs within the moat of her manor house and then wisely refuses her husband's re-entry, fearing he will bring the disease with him. She's a woman ahead of her time, dismissing as superstition the idea of "a plague sent by God." Years before, she'd had sewage pits dug well downwind of Develish; other villages didn't dig any at all. Anne's compassion for her serfs contrasts sharply with the attitude of her 14-year-old daughter, Eleanor, who hates everyone but her father and likes having serfs whipped. The living conditions in Bradmayne are vile; one might think "Men urinated where they stood" would say it all about a village, but the author spares no detail in showing what grossness causes stench and attracts vermin. People seem not to connect these godawful conditions with the "killing sickness in the village" that carries "a deadly pestilence with putrid boils" and requires the digging of mass graves. Before he succumbs, Sir Richard observes that "In twelve days, the world had changed beyond all recognition." Yet no one knows how extensive that changed world is. Lady Anne has the serf Thaddeus Thurkell lead a small band of brave serfs to learn how other villages have fared. She is the central figure in this compelling saga in which people are either all virtuous and wise or all the opposite. While the serf Gyles Startout is a man of "courage and generosity," Lady Eleanor opines how sweet it would be if he dies. As the plague continues at book's end, Lady Anne still faces a dangerous enemy in her daughter.Deeply researched and engrossing, this masterful series opener leaves readers hanging—Rats!—so they'll eagerly await the sequel.

Product Details

BN ID: 2940170385577
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication date: 08/07/2018
Series: Last Hours Duology , #1
Edition description: Unabridged
Sales rank: 984,375
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