Plague thieves

In 1655, living on the streets of London means a swift, bleak descent into poverty, hunger, crime, and, most dreaded of all, the Great Plague. Lem, 16, avoids helping in his father's spice shop, but 12-year-old Rose enjoys working alongside their father. When both parents contract the plague and die, Rose follows her father's instructions to make a potion that may prevent them from catching the disease. Orphaned and impoverished, Rose and Lem live hand-to-mouth, but after Lem disappears, Rose must rely on her wits, her courage, and a few friends. She survives, to her shame, by theft. When a rumor circulates that she has a cure for the plague, she's in grave danger, but finds an unexpected new ally. A sympathetic character, Rose is thrust into a situation that challenges her basic values, forcing her to make one hard choice after another. Transporting readers into the seventeenth century without romanticizing the characters or the setting, this tightly written, third-person narrative will surely leave readers wondering whether they could have survived. An absorbing historical novel.