Eleanore of Avignon Fights to Save Her City from the Black Death
Before Covid 19 created a world wide pandemic, plagues seemed like something out of the history books. The Spanish flu, which claimed the lives of an estimated 17 to 100 million lives worldwide, still tops the list for the most virulent virus, according to Wikipedia. The Bubonic plague, occupies two and three on the list, having struck twice, once in 541 to 549, killing an estimated 15 to 100 million people, and again in 1346 to 1353, killing an estimated 25 to 50 million. Then we get closer to current times with the HIV/AIDS pandemic responsible for 43 million deaths from 1981 to the present. Covid 19 clocks in at number five, with an estimated seven to 35 million people losing their lives around the world.
Elizabeth DeLozier (Photo Credit: Rich Soublet)
In 2018, Elizabeth DeLozier took a trip to the South of France and enjoyed exploring Avignon’s medieval streets. She returned a year later on her honeymoon when the plot for this novel, Eleanore of Avignon, began to take form. When Covid 19 hit, she was working as a physical therapist. Even though she was not a frontline worker, she continued to see patients. Then her husband tested positive. Fortunately, his symptoms remained mild and she was able to care for him at home. “I was struck by the parallels in my novel and in my life: the fragility of modernity, the limitations of medicine, and the power of fear,” she writes in the historical note at the conclusion of her book.
Eleanore and Margot Blanchet are twins who may look alike, but are very different. Margot is engaged to marry Erec, who comes from a wealthy family. Eleanore wants to follow in the footsteps of her mother who was a midwife and herbalist. Before her mother died a horrible death, Eleanore stayed by her side, learning everything she could to help save lives. Eleanore’s most precious possession is her mother’s book that details all her medicines made from the plants that she found in the wild or grew herself. Eleanore follows her mother’s instructions while continuing to hone her own mixtures.
While men who practice medicine are revered, women are suspect, often called witches. But Eleanore is determined to continue her practice and learn everything she can. One day she rescues a large black dog whose paw is caught in a trap. She returns again and again to care for him and the two form a tight bond. She names him Baldoin, for brave friend, and several times he proves that he is just that.
Gathering Hawthorn berries she encounters a man who also is looking to score the fruit. He’s curious about her and what she plans to do with the berries. She tells him her mother’s father, who was a staff physician for Pope Benedict, taught her mother and, in turn, her mother taught her. Turns out the man, Guigo, is now Pope’ Clement’s physician ands having trouble treating the pontiff. He asks if Eleanore will show him how to make a tincture to give Clement. She does and her mixture helps, although when Clement suffers a setback, Guigo asks if she will come and examine the pope.
There’s no quick cure, but Eleanore’s treatments eventually help the pope recover. And, as Guigo promised her, she becomes his apprentice. With Guigo as her protector, she is able to help him help others, while adding to her medical knowledge. She will need every piece of knowledge she possesses to help Guigo when the Black Death reaches Avignon and begins to claim so many lives.
It truly is astounding that this novel is DeLozier’s first. The writing is strong, the research adds depth to the narrative. Her descriptions of what the plague visits upon people is detailed and, in some cases, upsetting. And without being heavy handed about it, what she writes about makes it easy to draw parallels between what the people in Avignon experienced and what Americans went through during Covid 19 – the fear, the bodies piling up, the agony of being separated from relatives and friends. It’s all there.
Also upsetting is how, even before the internet, those intent on spreading fear and targeting others found a way to dispense misinformation. Seems we will always have plagues and always have to deal with prejudice and hate. Vaccines may help with the former, only love and understanding with the latter.
Eleanore of Avignon
Elizabeth DeLozier
Top photo: Bigstock
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