PLAGUE IN THE MIRROR

A thrilling, time-travel romance set against the bubonic plague of 14th-Century Italy.

May is less than thrilled to be spending her entire summer doing research in Florence with her history-obsessed Aunt Gwen, and Gwen’s son, not-at-all related “cousin” Liam, but it was a better alternative than staying at home in Vermont—a home that stopped existing the day her parents announced they were getting a divorce.She feels completely numb to everything now, even the amazing sites and tastes of Italy, until she wakes up one night early in their trip to find a ghostly intruder standing over her bed. Milky white and nearly transparent, Cristofana, as she introduces herself, has May’s face, her hair, her complexion. May is terrified, especially when Cristofana pulls out a knife. But the phantom twin disappears as suddenly as she came, and May tries to convince herself that the whole experience was a stress-induced nightmare. But another encounter with Cristofana pierces through her emotional fog and upends her world. This time Cristofana wants May to take a trip with her—back to her Florence, back to 1348. Together, the two cross through Cristofana’s portal—an enchanted cloth—and into a winding, ancient alley, where May realizes she is now the ghost, hollow and light as air. As May explores Old Florence and meets a handsome young artist, Marco, she realizes that disappearing into the past may not be so bad, especially now that everything in her own life has fallen apart. Being identical means the girls can actually switch places, taking physical form in each other’s worlds, and allows May to even more completely immerse herself in old Florence and her passionate feelings for Marco. But all is far from perfect in 1348 Florence. A gruesome plague outbreak is sweeping through the city. What began as an exciting experiment will become a matter of life and death, as Cristofana vows to save herself from the plague by escaping into the present… permanently. Putting into sharp relief all she has to lose, including Liam, May must fight to keep her life. Only problem is, Cristofana is just as determined to steal it.

Deborah Noyes is the author of several adult novels and books for young readers. About her first novel for young adults, she says, “I'm fascinated by twinship and the idea of another person out there wearing your face in the world and behaving badly. But in this story the setting is as much a character as the two protagonists. It was exciting to visit Florence not long after Dante lived there, at a moment of grave social crisis. I'm drawn as a writer (and reader) to historical fiction for the same reasons I'm drawn to ghost stories. With all those layers of human endeavor, suffering, triumph, vanity—the past is like rich dark soil or an old-growth forest. It's a dense, haunted place, and I guess I'm inclined to feel haunted.”