Plague Based Novel

Why did you base your novel on the fourteenth century plague?

In high school I had a superb history teacher who stimulated my interest in the past. I belonged to a book club, from time to time ordered non-fiction books on history and bought an excellent book called "Life in a Medieval Castle" by Joseph and Frances Gies. After a visit to Victoria, B.C. and a replica of Anne Hathaway's cottage on the grounds of the Olde England Inn, I was hooked on the period. The bubonic plague was the most catastrophic event of the time. Contemporary drawings were gruesome but riveting and gave a real sense of its horrors.