Yesterday's Dead

March 15, 2012
As the Spanish Influenza outbreak of 1918 in Toronto reaches epidemic proportion, the local newspapers run lengthy lists of "yesterday's dead," a chilling backdrop to 13-year-old maidservant Meredith's personal struggle as the disease ravages the household where she works. Impoverished, Meredith had to lie about her age in order to be hired by the Watertons. While the friendly cook and kind chauffeur immediately reach out to her, the butler, Parker, who rules the household, is rude and critical. Tasked not only with helping in the kitchen but also with watching the motherless youngest child in the family, lively 6-year-old Harry, Meredith mostly manages, struggling only with the middle daughter, severely spoiled Maggie. As the disease begins to overwhelm the city, Dr. Waterton is called away, leaving Parker and the eldest son, Jack (to whom Meredith feels a certain attraction) in charge. Then family and staff begin to fall ill, and responsibility finally shifts almost solely to Meredith. While largely predictable, and peopled with stock characters (albeit engaging ones), the strong sense of place and time and the vivid peril of the deadly disease keep the plot rushing believably forward. Meredith's very human fluctuations between despair and determination in the face of tragedy add considerably to the authenticity of her character. A gripping depiction of a tragic epidemic and the sometimes heroic responses of those affected. (Historical fiction. 10-15)

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April 1, 2012

Gr 5-8-Meredith is reluctantly sent into domestic service by her mother, who is having financial trouble since both her husband and her father died. Thirteen but pretending to be 15, she is taken to Toronto by a placement agent and set to work in the kitchen of a well-to-do widowed doctor's home under the supervision of the kindly cook, Mrs. Butters. Meredith hates the work and the long hours but is glad she can send money to her mother. World War I is winding down and the flu epidemic is spreading across the U.S. and Canada. The household initially feels safe as there have been only a few cases in the area. However, that rapidly changes as people begin contracting the contagious and deadly illness. One by one members of the household become ill, including Mrs. Butters and Dr. Waterton's two sons, leaving only Meredith and his incredibly spoiled 13-year-old daughter, Maggie, to care for everyone. The main characters are finely drawn, especially Meredith, who chafes at being treated as a servant, and Maggie, who is the epitome of a pampered, self-centered young teen. Both girls show considerable growth during the crisis as they discover they must work together and that they both have talents, although different ones. The story vividly depicts the family's fear and the victims' suffering.-Nancy P. Reeder, Heathwood Hall Episcopal School, Columbia, SC

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