At the sign of the Sugared Plum - Mary Hooper

Hannah is really excited about her trip to London for the first time. She believes that this will be the most wonderful adventure of her life. She’s going to stay there and help her elder sister, Sarah, who runs a sweetmeat shop.

But Hannah doesn’t get the welcome that she expected from her sister. Sarah tells her to come back, because before her arrival, a plague has started to spread out in London. But she doesn’t want that to ruin her adventure. She tries to convince Sarah that there are only few cases far away from their shop and decides to stay with her sister.

Together, the two sisters run the shop. Sarah teaches Hannah how to make good sweetmeats and their business become more and more successful. But the great time doesn’t last long. The plague spreads out faster and kills many people. At that time, Hannah discovers the cruelty and compassion inside her friends and even strangers. Luckily, Hannah and her sister escape. Hannah’s friend dies because of this illness and they have a mission to take her baby to her relatives, which is out of London.

Mary Hooper way of writing is interesting. She shows and transports vividly to us everything in London at 17^th century from the sound, the smell to buildings and events. This book is like a diary, Hannah shows her feelings and I can also see how people at the time suffering and deal with from day to day the terrible plague through her thoughts. I sometimes find this book quite boring because some chapters are only about describing the city without any feelings of the characters. But I really like this book overall.