Covid 2020, Fever 1793

2020 has been a year like no other. One of the dreadful things—among many in 2020—was the outbreak of Covid-19. Originally dismissed as a hoax by the president, the Corona virus sickened 18.7 million and killed 329,000 Americans by Christmas. And Dr. Fauci, an infectious disease expert, tells us that the worst is yet to come.

In the past, America has endured other epidemics and pandemics—the 1918 flu pandemic was one. Another was the yellow fever epidemic that swept through Philadelphia 227 years ago. An article, "Philadelphia Under Siege: The Yellow Fever of 1793," gives plenty of background about that epidemic.

Wanting to know about how people coped with epidemics in early America, I recently read Fever 1793, by Laurie Halse Anderson. 

I'd read books by Anderson before and enjoyed them. I mentioned her YA novel Speak in this blogpost from 2011. I thought I might also enjoy Fever 1793. I did.

Classified as "historical fiction for readers 10 to 14," Fever 1793 is a good—and informative—read  for adults, too. Given the events of the last ten months, we can relate to the fourteen-year-old main character's feelings and struggles. The back cover blurb provides a concise summary:

Like the main character Mattie, many of us today "must also learn quickly how to survive" in a society "turned upside down" and ravaged by the Covid-19 pandemic. Like Mattie, we've had to change our way of life and our expectations.

Fever 1793 begins on August 16th when Mattie wakes up:

—From p. 1 of the 2002 paperback edition

Notice how much information Anderson packs into this short passage: it's early in the morning, a mosquito bothers Mattie, her room is small, her mother wants her to get to work in the coffee house, and it's sweltering hot. The mosquito is a good clue for the reader. 

[In 1793, no one knew that mosquitos carried the virus that spread yellow fever. While folks knew from past experiences that the fever vanished after a frost or two, the disease was blamed on miasma—polluted air—during the hot weather. Some people tried to escape the fever by avoiding those who weren't family members; others escaped to the country. Philadelphia was the nation's capital then, but the government shut down and President Washington, Secretary of State Jefferson, and other legislators went home until conditions improved.]

Polly never makes it to work, and many other people in the neighborhood succumb to the fever. When Mattie's mother becomes ill, Dr. Benjamin Rush treats her by bleeding and other standard remedies of the day. Mrs. Cook, lingering on the brink of death, insists that Mattie and her elderly grandfather leave the city to visit friends on their farm. She says that Eliza, their African employee, can look after her while keeping the coffeehouse going. Mattie and her grandfather arrange for a farmer to drive them in his wagon, but they do not reach their destination. Problems ensue (but I won't give away any plot twists). But they finally make it back to Philadelphia where the city is now a ghost town, Mattie's mother is nowhere to be found, the coffeehouse has been vandalized, and there's no food to be had. More problems ensue, but a devastated Mattie is resilient and takes on an adult's responsibilites. Eventually, she finds Eliza, who has been working with the Free African Society, a group which assists newly freed Africans.

Mattie and Eliza work together to look after some who are affected by fever. In October, frost comes and in the next month people start returning to their homes, farmers return to market, Mattie and Eliza reopen the coffeehouse, and President Washington returns. Life is not as it was, but the worst is over and there is hope.

Fever 1793 is a powerful book and one that I highly recommend. Anderson has done impeccable research to make the story believable and compelling. 

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