A Parcel of Patterns

The gripping story of a historical lockdown, through the eyes of a brave 16-year-old girl.

‘Here I have set down all that I know of the Plague’

It’s 1665 and Mall Percival is a shepherd girl living in a Derbyshire village. She tends her flock, passes days with her best friend and teaches her young suitor to read. Until a parcel of patterns meant for a new dress for the pastor’s wife wings its way from London.

The parcel carries an infection that spreads with horrifying speed. Herb teas and open windows are the only defence against the sickness. Yet the villagers make a brave and selfless decision- to isolate themselves from the rest of the country. It is a lockdown that saves the neighbouring towns, but at heart-breaking cost to Mall’s world.

Based on the true events of the village of Eyam, this is the story of a courageous sacrifice that saved Derbyshire and beyond from a deadly virus.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WHITBREAD PRIZE 1983