PDF Summary:Fever 1793, by Laurie Halse Anderson

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The First Sign of Danger

The sounds of city life—horses, carriages, dogs chasing pigs, and gossip from Mrs. Henning next door—filtered up while Matilda got ready. She skipped washing off in the basin. The water was filmy and putrid. Everything seemed to be filthy these days, the result of a six-week drought that left enough dust in the air to obscure the surrounding landscape.

Downstairs, Matilda found Eliza in the large kitchen preparing gingerbread for the day. Matilda loved Eliza for more than her cooking abilities. Eliza was kind and often slipped a sugar cube in the bottom of her bowl of oatmeal. Eliza was born into slavery in Virginia. When she married, her husband used his savings to buy her freedom. Eliza had been saving up to buy his, but he was killed by a wild horse. Eliza stopped speaking and went into a deep mourning, something Lucille knew well. The two women became connected through their sorrow. After a few years, Eliza’s light finally turned back on inside, but Lucille’s never did.

The kitchen was the smaller of the two downstairs rooms. The largest was the serving room for their customers. That morning, Grandpa was also nowhere to be found....

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Nathaniel and Matilda had known each other since they were babies. He worked as an apprentice for the famous painter Charles Peale. He also thought going to Paris sounded like a great idea. He often walked by the coffeehouse, and Matilda often walked by the Peale’s house. But they rarely spoke to each other. Lucille didn’t approve of Nathaniel. She thought he was a deadbeat or worse.

Nathaniel was going fishing and asked Matilda to join him. Despite her mother’s warnings, she was tempted. She hadn’t done anything recreational since Polly’s death. Plus, unlike with her mother, she could be herself with Nathaniel. She could even roll her shirt sleeves above her elbows. But when he smiled at her, Matilda figured she better leave her sleeves down. You had to be careful with boys and elbows. She decided she would fish like a proper lady.

Their conversation was cut short by the sound of church bells ringing. It was an odd sound because it wasn’t the top of the hour. A man nearby said the bells rang every time another person died now—one gong for each year of life. Matilda and Nathaniel listened. The bells rang twenty-one times. Matilda grew emotional, thinking about her dead...

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The Fever Takes Hold

Despite Rowley’s claims, Lucille was very ill. She needed round the clock care to get better. Eliza and Matilda bathed her every four hours and changed the bedding each time. Matilda was mortified at having to bathe her mother, but Eliza couldn’t do it alone. They also gave her different teas that Rowley had prescribed, but nothing seemed to work.

Lucille deteriorated quickly. The fever grew and warped her mind, causing her to weep and call out for her husband. The chills were so bad, her teeth chattered. Her blue eyes showed streaks of red and yellow. Grandpa stayed with Mr. Carris to avoid catching something, and Eliza had to tend to her brother’s family in the evening. Matilda was on her own.

At night, Matilda sat vigil by her mother’s side. She looked into Lucille’s contorted face and wondered if her mother had ever been happy. Maybe death was a way she could be released from all the struggles she’d faced. Matilda grew emotional thinking of all the things her mother had tried to teach her that she always ignored. She prayed, read Psalms, and drifted to sleep.

Matilda woke suddenly to the sound of her mother getting sick. Lucille was...

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She came across a farmer working in his field. When he saw Matilda, he ran to the farmhouse and locked the door. He turned her away, saying he couldn’t help anyone with the fever. She wanted to keep going, but something told her to get back to Grandpa.

On the road back, she stepped on a piece of rotten fruit. She looked up and saw the source—a pear tree full of dangling fruit. She collected as many as she could in her skirt and headed back to the chestnut tree.

After a while, the tree came into view, but the pears grew incredibly heavy. The tree looked like it was getting farther away, rather than closer. The sun turned from a fireball into an iceball. Her teeth chattered and she grew disoriented. Where was she? Where was her mother? Eliza? Why was she carrying rocks? The last thought she had was sleep, and then everything went dark.

Salvation in Philadelphia

Two days later, Matilda regained consciousness and found that everything had changed. She was no longer on the side of the road but in a bed. She heard a man’s voice ask if she was dead. She could make out carpentry sounds in the distance and moans closer by.

She drifted to sleep, and nightmares...

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Grandpa Dies

Matilda was deep in dreams of food when she woke up to the sound of two men outside the window. In the glow of the moonlight, she could make out the silhouette of a tall, thin man. The tall man looked around the room but couldn’t see Matilda hidden in the dark corner.

The tall men climbed through the window, followed by a shorter man. The short man seemed nervous and swore he’d seen smoke coming from the chimney earlier. But the tall one assured him no one was there. He instructed the short man to look for silver and pewter or anything else of value. He was going to look for the money.

Matilda held her breath as they dug through cupboards and drawers. The short man moved toward a chest next to where she slept. When he stopped to complain about the lack of light, she slid out of bed and stood against the wall in the shadows.

She didn’t know what to do. She didn’t want to wake Grandpa, knowing the men could overtake them both. She thought about slipping out a window and running for help. But who would she run to, and who would care about a small burglary when the dead were everywhere? She thought she might try to scare them off from outside, but...

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The next morning, Eliza left to perform her care duties, and an old woman named Mother Smith came to watch the children and care for Joseph. She reminded Matilda of her mother. Mother Smith followed her around all day tapping her cane and complaining about Matilda’s poor cleaning habits.

When dinner was over and the twins had been tucked into bed, Mother Smith saw Matilda coddling Nell. She warned Matilda not to fall in love with Nell. Nell didn’t belong to her, and it wasn’t right for her to keep her. Mothering the child and then giving her away to the orphanage would be cruel. Matilda didn’t want to believe her, but when she mentioned it to Eliza and received a similar response, she knew she had to do the right thing.

The next morning, Eliza and Matilda took Nell to the orphanage. A desperate woman surrounded by screaming children answered the door. She said they were full to the brim with children and hardly had any room left. If the women could find another home for Nell, it would be best. At that, Eliza and Matilda agreed to take Nell home. Matilda was overjoyed. Turns out she needed Nell’s love as much as Nell needed hers.

On their way back to Eliza’s, they...

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Matilda finished her shopping quickly, but she couldn’t bring herself to leave the market. She honestly didn’t know what to do. Maybe she should go to the farm to find her mother? Maybe she should wait a few more days? And what if her worst fear came true? She’d have to sell the coffeehouse and move to the orphanage. She’d have to work as a servant for the rest of her life.

Just then, Matilda caught sight of her reflection in a window. With her face so thin and pale, she resembled her mother more than ever before. She realized she didn’t have to do what anyone told her. She was from a line of resourceful and strong people. She would make it on her own if she had to.

Matilda was about to leave when a hand landed on her arm. She turned to find Nathaniel Benson smiling ear to ear. Just like before, her stomach flipped. But as the two walked back to the coffeehouse together, she realized she wasn’t that silly girl anymore and relaxed. They discussed war stories and how strange it was for life to simply pick back up.

As they rounded the corner to her home, Matilda saw her neighbor pop out of a carriage like she’d just returned from a holiday. Nathaniel saw her face drop and...