The Plague Charmer by Karen Maitland is set in the village of Portlock Weir near Exmoor in 1361 during the second wave of the plague. The villagers are poor and earn their living from the sea. The story begins with a ferocious storm and the body of a woman, Janiveer, being rescued from the sea. At first the villagers believe her to be dead but she is then revived. When she wakes Janiveer gives the villagers a choice, she will Will protect them from the oncoming pestilence but only if they sacrifice one of their own.
At first the villagers refuse but in the storm’s aftermath a bundle is pulled out of the sea – a pair of children bound together. It is clear that one of them was dead when thrown overboard but the other was still alive when tossed into the stormy waters. As one village woman, Sara, takes the children into her home to inspects the bodies it becomes clear why the children were thrown overboard – the bodies bear the buboes of the plague. The rest of the villagers panic and seal Sara and her family up inside their home to prevent further spreading of the disease. But the plague soon starts picking the villagers off one by one. The village is then cut off from the ruling manor and they become desperate to find Janiveer and take her up on her offer.
In true Maitland style there is a large cast of colourful and eccentric characters and several storylines running through the novel. We also see Porlock Manor where Sir Nigel Morning’s newly-wed niece, Christina, has produced a son but no-one believes that it is her new husband’s. We also see Sara’s two sons escape and get caught up in an underground cult run by the Prophet.
One of the most interesting characters in the story, and my favourite, is Will. Will is an artificial dwarf who has been thrown out of the manor and has been living near the village stealing and scavenging food from the villagers. His story is so sad and interesting. I didn’t know anything about the practice of creating dwarfs where people where bound and kept confined in cages to deliberately stunt their growth. It sounds barbaric and truly awful.
As with every Karen Maitland novel, there is no shying away from describing the horror the chracters suffer when the plague descends upon their village. There are hard-hitting scenes throughout with Sara’s family being shut up in darkness and the underground scenes with the Prophet.
Another dark, atmospheric novel from Maitland who is a natural storyteller. Her ability to weave lots of different, complicated threads and bring them all together at just the right moment is amazing. As with all her books, I thoroughly recommend this novel.
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