was written byin the
year 2000. The main character of the book, Matilda (or Mattie), finds herself caught up in an
yellow fever epidemic that all but destroys Philadelphia in the summer of 1793. Mattie lives
with her mother, her grandfather, and a hired cook named Eliza, and together they run a
coffeehouse in Philadelphia.
We know that Mattie is a teenager of fourteen
years of age, but there are few descriptions of her actual physical appearance. Instead, the
novel chooses to focus on how the epidemic changes Mattie as a person.
At the
beginning of the story, Mattie behaves as a typical teenager: more concerned with her own
affairs than those of her family. She enjoys sleeping in, is content to let others do her
chores, and isn't particularly physically strong. As she sets out to depart with her grandfather
in one scene, we get some sense of Mattie's physicality:
"She looks like a china doll," observed Grandfather as we departed.
"I will break just as easily," I muttered.
Once the yellow fever outbreak is in full swing, Mattie herself falls ill but recovers
fairly quickly. Mattie's mother then becomes seriously ill, so Mattie has no choice but to take
on much more responsibility. This includes the harrowing task of having to inter her
Grandfather's body once he dies from the fever. Mattie also decides to keep the coffeehouse open
and asks Eliza to become her equal partner. By the end of the novel, Mattie is making very adult
decisions. I would argue that her appearance is not nearly as important as the development and
growth of her character.
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