Introduction to Novel

Introduction to Main Characters:

Matilda (Mattie) Cook- a 16-year-old girl who is tired of being yelled at constantly by her mother and would rather just walk around with Nathaniel Benson

 

Mother-used to be kind and gentle until the passing of her husband, she has become constantly cross and scolds Mattie often.

Eliza- the kind and hard-working cook/servant of the Cook household who cares deeply for the family and is a great friend to Mattie.

Grandfather-a veteran of the war who has helped the Cook family through all of their troubles, a strong man very fond of his granddaughter, Mattie. 

Nathaniel Benson- a young boy who is Mattie's age, a painter's assistant who is forced to work just as hard as Mattie.

It is the summer of 1793 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Mattie Cook, a 16-year-old girl, lives with her grandfather, her mother, and their cook, Eliza, in a small room above their coffehouse which her father had started before he passed away. Matilda is forced to work hard in the coffeehouse like an adult, yet has time to be a teenager when it comes to walking around the streets with Nathaniel Benson, a painter's assistant.  However, when the Yellow Fever strikes the city of Philadelphia, a state a chaos occurs. Mattie's childhood friend, Polly, falls ill and soon is taken by the Fever. The church bells are ringing by the hour with the age of the people that have died from the Fever. Now Mattie must find a way to continue running the coffehouse, pleasing her mother, and staying away from the dreaded Yellow Fever. 

I was very surprised at just how much I am enjoying the book so far. The plot is very interesting and has kept my attention so far. I really like the fact that the book is not simply about how horrible the fever was in Philadelphia. I like that the novel revolves around one girl's life and it shows her personal struggles not just with the Yellow Fever, but also with other daily life issues. I was also afraid that the book was going to overexaggerate or go into deep detail about all of the fever symptons, however it has yet to say anything that I would find slightly disgusting which I was very pleased with. So far I am finding the book to be very intriguing and fascinating. I hope that it continues to be this way as I read deeper into the plot. 

Based on what I have read so far I have made a few predictions. I believe that Mattie is going to be forced to go live somewhere else by her mother and Eliza and her grandfather. They all seem very worried about her health from the start so I believe that they are going to be concerned about her catching the Yellow Fever. I think that the novel may possibly progress with her living in another area and writing to her family and getting news on the Yellow Fever through those means. I thought that was a possiblilty for the plot and I also thought that another possibility is that Mattie will resist living somwhere else. It mentioned how stubborn she is in the beginning of the book so I believe that she may resist moving somewhere else and continue trying to push through the Yellow Fever in Philadelphia. I think that one of these possibilities will occur.