Author’s Note
I have always been fascinated by plague. I think it stems from not having cable television as a kid. CBS was one of the few channels we did have, which meant that whenever Ben-Hur was on, I watched it. All three and a half hours of it. Seeing Judah Ben-Hur and Esther in the Valley of the Lepers was something I never forgot.
Because plague does not play favorites. Whether it’s leprosy, cholera, yellow fever, Spanish flu, or the coronavirus, it does not care if someone is rich or poor, kind or wicked, religious or an atheist. Plague can happen to anyone.
I began writing Year of the Reaper in 2018, long before the coronavirus arrived in the United States. But even then I found myself curious about the aftermath of plague, specifically the Black Death of the fourteenth century, which wiped out a third of Europe’s population. As I read history book after history book, trying to figure out what sort of story to tell, I realized that the past held all the inspiration I needed. A feral child found alone in a village. Crowded hospitals. Abandoned homes. Mass flight from the cities.
Most curious of all was a reference to Princess Joan, teenage daughter of England’s Edward III. In 1348, Joan set sail from England to Spain to marry Pedro, heir to the kingdom of Castile. But Joan never reached Spain. She died en route, in France, of plague. There are differing accounts as to where in France she was buried, and there is no record of her body being returned to London for burial. She left behind an unworn wedding dress made of fine silk rakematiz.
I grew up on the U.S. territory (and former Spanish colony) of Guam, an island three hours away from Japan and seven hours away from Hawaii. When I was seventeen, I flew across the Pacific to attend the University of Oregon. It’s not difficult to imagine the nervousness and excitement Princess Joan must have felt leaving home and heading off into the unknown. I have been there myself.
As I’m writing this, it is early in 2021. I’m at home with my family and a vaccine appointment is still months away. I worried that it might not be the right time to tell this story. But I also thought it important to show young readers a glimpse of the past when, even in the most trying of times, people carried on. At its heart, Year of the Reaper is a hopeful tale, a story of friendship and family and the resilience of the human spirit. Cassia’s spirit in particular. I love this character, bruised and battered though he is, and I very much hope you enjoyed his story.