Andrew Golding: A Tale of the Great Plague

In the choking heat of a London summer plagued by death, two sisters hidden in a deserted house cling to each other while the city around them succumbs to the Great Plague. Lucia, the younger, turns to writing as a way to tame the relentless dread that presses on the windows, while her sister Althea grapples with restless hopes and secret plans to escape. Their cramped refuge offers a stark view of silent carts that ferry the dead, a grim reminder that every street can become a final passage.

Through Lucia’s tentative chronicle, listeners hear the whispered hardships of a family without a father, the uneasy hospitality of strangers, and the uneasy alliances formed on a journey north to Yorkshire. The narrative weaves personal fear with the wider turmoil of 1665, portraying how ordinary lives become fragile histories when a relentless pestilence sweeps through the streets.