History Literature / AJournalOfThePlagueYear

* GhostTown: Thanks to the plague, London is all but abandoned by novels end.

* DepopulationBomb: The plague outbreak killed around 100,000 people, which still pales in comparison to the overall death toll from the Black Death.

* CrapsackWorld: London already had shades of this before early on. [[FromBadToWorse ''And then the plague hits.'']]

%% * ApocalypticLog

%% * TheBlackDeath: Obviously

%% * CrapsackWorld

%% * GhostTown: Thanks to the plague.

%% * WretchedHive: London in the grip of the plague.

* ApocalypticLog

* TheBlackDeath: Obviously

* CrapsackWorld

* GhostTown: Thanks to the plague.

* WretchedHive: London in the grip of the plague.

An [[HistoricalFiction historical novel]] by Daniel Defoe, published in 1722. The book describes the experiences of a man living in London during the [[TheBlackDeath the Great Plague of London]] in 1665. It's not Defoe's journal (he was a small child at the time), although it might be based on [[BasedOnATrueStory his uncle's stories]]. There are also similarities between certain passages of the Journal and Samuel Pepys' diary - suggested to be because Defoe was friends with someone who had worked for Pepys while he was writing the diary. It was published as [[FramingDevice "written by a Citizen"]] rather than Defoe, and framed as an anonymous autobiography rather than a work of fiction. To what extent people believed this narrative frame is debatable.

* FairForItsDay: Obviously the plague wasn't the fault of foreigners or Catholics, but for Defoe's narrator that seemed like the logical assumption.

* NightmareFuel: Nearly everything that happens. People are nearly buried alive - at least, those who wake up in time to protest are - houses are filled with bodies and London at the end is left a ghost town.

* OlderThanTheyThink: Modern critics have noticed a distinct similarity between the treatment of plague victims and the 1990s public fear of AIDS.

* ScienceMarchesOn: Pretty much everything related to medicine and disease in the book has been subsequently disproved.

-> '''A casement violently opened just above my head, and a Woman gave three frightful screeches, then cried "Oh! Death, death, death!'''

An [[HistoricalFiction historical novel]] by Daniel Defoe, published in 1722. The book describes the experiences of a man living in London during the [[TheBlackDeath the Great Plague of London]] in 1665. It's not Defoe's journal (he was a small child at the time), although it might be based on [[BasedOnATrueStory his uncle's stories]]. There are also similarities between certain passages of the Journal and [[Literature/TheDiaryOf SamuelPepys Samuel Pepys' diary]] - suggested to be because Defoe was friends with someone who had worked for Pepys while he was writing the diary. It was published as [[FramingDevice "written by a Citizen"]] rather than Defoe, and framed as an anonymous autobiography rather than a work of fiction. To what extent people believed this narrative frame is debatable.

--> '''The Inns of Court were all shut up ... every body was at peace.'''

* NightmareFuel: Nearly everything that happens. People are nearly buried alive - at least, those who wake up in time to protest - houses are filled with bodies and London at the end is left a ghost town.

* PhonyPsychic: Apparently a lot of these sprang up to prey on the fears of the population, much to the author's contempt
* ScienceMarchesOn: Pretty much everything related to medicine and disease in the book has been subsequently disproven
* SnakeOilSalesman: Similar to the PhonyPsychic above, many selling supposedly guaranteed cures and preventatives for the plague. Although, arguably the only difference between them and the ''actual'' medical professionals of the time is that these guys ''knew'' that their products didn't work

An [[HistoricalFiction historical novel]] by Daniel Defoe, published in 1722. The book describes the experiences of a man staying in London during the [[TheBlackDeath the Great Plague of London]] in 1665. It's not Defoe's journal (he was a small child at the time), although it might be based on his uncle's.

The narrator describes in vivid detail the sufferings of the people of London during the epidemic, ranging from simply recounting the bills of deaths with ominously rising numbers of fatalities from week to week, to several in depth vignettes about how certain groups or individuals weathered the plague - [[TheDeadHaveNames or otherwise]]. He also includes a more general analysis of the effects of the plague on various institutions such as the Church, trade and the government of the city. There are also a few musings about human nature, piety and some *ahem* [[HarsherInHindsight slightly uncomfortable]] speculation about [[ScienceMarchesOn the nature of the plague itself]]

* BasedOnATrueStory: It's debateble to what extent, which parts (if any) are entirely fictional and which parts (if any) are entirely accurate

* DepopulationBomb: The plague outbreak killed around 100,000 people, which still pales in comparison to the overall death toll from the Black Death
* TheEndIsNigh: Quite a lot of Doomsayers crop up once the plague is in full swing, although subverted somewhat, Defoe dismisses them on the grounds that they all prophesy a relapse of plague more virulent than ever before and failed to foretell the Fire Of London that wrecked the city only a year after the plague.
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: The author vacillates a bit as to whether he thinks that that plague is natural or divine
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Fearing that they might carry the plague, the city authorities order the destruction of all ''cats and dogs'', the two best animals for tackling the rats whose fleas were really responsible

* TheEndIsNigh: Quite a lot of Doomsayers crop up once the plague is in full swing, although subverted somewhat, Defoe dismisses them on the grounds that they all prophecise a relapse of plague more virulent than ever before and failed to fortell the Fire Of London that wrecked the city only a year after the plague.

* SnakeOilSalesman: Many selling supposedly guaranteed cures and preventatives for the plague, naturally the authro has a dim view of such folk. Although, arguably the only difference between them and the ''actual'' medical professionals of the time is that these guys ''knew'' that their products didn't work

* HarsherInHindsight: The modern audience [[ScienceMarchesOn knows]] that essentially everything that the characters in the book pin their hopes on to protect them from the disease is entirely in vain, often with fatal consequences