TUESDAY 20 MAY 2025
7PM to 8PM
Open to all. Hosted online using Zoom Meetings.
TICKETS: Free, booking required.
ACCESSIBILITY: Live subtitles are available using Zoom's Live Transcript function.
A Plague on Both Your Houses by Susanna Gregory
The Black Death is ravaging Europe, but in medieval Cambridge, unorthodox but effective physician Matthew Bartholomew is distracted by the sudden death of his College Master. Despite the many obstacles in his way, Matt is determined to get to the truth. But who can he really trust?
We will be discussing this book with Thomas Banbury, a PhD candidate at the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at Cambridge working on the role of the atmosphere in medieval medicine.
To aide the conversation, we have prepared three 'thinking points' to consider when reading the book:
1. The action takes place in the medieval city and university of Cambridge. What stands out for you about the relationships, both between the city and the scholars, and between the different parts of the university?
2. Once it arrives, the Plague decimates the town. How effective do you think the characters' attempts to stave off the pestilence and treat the disease are throughout the novel?
3. What role does Gregory have in shaping our suspicions throughout the book?
This book is available in paperback, hardback, audio and ebook formats, borrowable from public libraries or to purchase. To see what printed and digital copies are available from Cambridge University Libraries (borrowable by University staff and students), search iDiscover.
About The Really Popular Book Club
The Really Popular Book Club is Cambridge University Libraries' book group. Everyone is welcome to come and discuss a really popular book with the group, library staff, and an expert on the novel. Hosted on Zoom, the book club is completely free and open to everyone, people attend from all over the world. The Really Popular Book Club celebrates the huge range of books at Cambridge University Library. We have more than 8 million books and as a legal deposit library we keep a copy of every book published in the UK, and have done since 1710.
If you haven't attended one of our book club events before, you can find more information at www.lib.cam.ac.uk/bookclub.