They return to the coffeehouse only to find thieves have ransacked it, and Mother and Eliza are missing. Matilda and Grandfather reenter a dismal, abandoned Philadelphia, with only the sick and dying remaining, as well as many corpses that must be buried in mass graves. Bowles, asks Matilda to stay and help care for the orphans, but Matilda declines. Flagg-he was sick but never had the fever.Īfter Matilda recovers, she and Grandfather return to Philadelphia with fever victims headed to the orphanage. Grandfather visits Matilda, and he’s recovered enough to flirt with Mrs. Flagg explains, the French physicians disagree with the bloodletting and purges advocated by American doctors. While at first Bush Hill was dangerous, Stephen Girard-a wealthy French merchant-takes over the makeshift hospital and staffs it with French doctors. Matilda awakens to discover she has yellow fever and is in Bush Hill, a former mansion repurposed as a hospital for fever victims. However, Matilda falls ill and collapses. She uses the military training Grandfather has given her throughout his life, framing the challenge as a battle and inspiring Grandfather to call her “‘Captain’” (87).

Matilda must care for her sick grandfather and find food. Grandfather and Matilda ride with a farmer and his family, but when Grandfather appears ill and the guards of a neighboring town won’t let him pass through, the farmer throws Matilda and Grandfather off the wagon without their belongings. When Matilda’s mother contracts the fever, Matilda begs to stay with her, but her family insists she leave town to stay with some acquaintances and Grandfather in the countryside. Anyone with the money to do so is leaving the city. Rumors of yellow fever spread through Philadelphia, and soon over a hundred people die. Matilda’s normal day suddenly turns tragic: Polly, Matilda’s friend and the Cooks’ servant, dies of a fever. Matilda also enjoys spending time with Nathaniel Benson, a painter’s apprentice, although Mother disapproves of his profession. Matilda receives support from jovial Grandfather, a former Army captain in the Revolutionary War, and friendly Eliza, a free black woman who is widowed. Matilda butts heads with her demanding mother and dreams of becoming an independent young woman who travels and owns her own businesses. Fever 1793 begins in August 1793, with 14-year-old Matilda Cook awakening to a typical day: she helps her mother, grandfather, and the cook Eliza run the Cook family coffeehouse, a business Matilda’s mother manages alone since her husband’s death.

Fever by laurie halse anderson summary