This is the first book I've ever reviewed where I've been asked if I am over 13. I would like to say no 13 year old could have enjoyed this more than I did. This is proof that an author can write a really wonderful book that doesn't include obscene language and all manner of pornographic, shock-value activities on page after page. If I had a young adult in my household I would give them this book in a New York minute. That being said, I believe a reader of any age will find Anderson's story engaging, intelligent, charming and enjoyable, all the while delivering a rivetting historical account of the 1793 yellow fever epidemic that swept Philadelphia which was then the country's capital. It is well-written and fast-paced - yes, a page turner.

There is enough wonderful detail to make you feel you are there with Mattie and her family, yet it is not bogged down with excessive narrative. Anderson does a great job of "showing" not "telling". The many characters are perfectly drawn out and the story moves at just the right pace.

As a bonus the author has fantastic background material at the end of the book, if you care to read it, about the 1793 epidemic and how it affected the citizens of Philadelphia as well as President Washington, Jefferson and other political figures. Philadelphia pretty much became a ghost town nearly overnight and remained so for many months. Those who were too sick to leave and died were buried in unmarked mass graves; a great many still lie at the area that is today known as Washington Square. There is so much fascinating history woven into the book, it is really a treasure. Two other things I didn't know is that coffee houses were all the rage in Philadelphia in the 1790's; additionally, the whites didn't believe blacks could contract yellow fever. They asked for the help of freed slaves, members of the Free African Society, to help care for the ill. The blacks volunteered quite willingly, but alas, they were not immune and did become sick themselves. There is so much more. Just please read the book.