The Last Hours

By: Minette Walters

Narrated by: Helen Keeley

When the Black Death enters England through the port in Dorsetshire in June 1348, no one knows what manner of sickness it is—or how it spreads and kills so quickly. The Church cites God as the cause, and fear grips the people as they come to believe that the plague is a punishment for wickedness.

But Lady Anne of Develish has her own ideas. Educated by nuns, Anne is a rarity among women, being both literate and knowledgeable. With her brutal husband absent from the manor when news of this pestilence reaches her, she looks for more sensible ways to protect her people than daily confessions of sin. She decides to bring her serfs inside the safety of the moat that surrounds her manor house, then refuses entry to anyone else, even her husband.

Lady Anne makes an enemy of her daughter and her husband’s steward by doing so, but her resolve is strengthened by the support of her leading serfs...until food stocks run low. The nerves of all are tested by continued confinement and ignorance of what is happening in the world outside. The people of Develish are alive. But for how long? And what will they discover when the time comes for them to cross the moat again?

Compelling and suspenseful, The Last Hours is a riveting tale of human ingenuity and endurance set against the worst pandemic in history. In Lady Anne of Develish—leader, savior, heretic—Walters has created her most memorable heroine to date.

The last hours

Overall, the story was excellent, enjoyed it very much. I am now hoping to find the next story in this series

A fun read

A few anachronisms, including some unbelievably woke medieval pesants, but this is a fun escapist book & worth reading. I'll definitely download the sequel & check out her other books.

Love the setting but some characters were too anachronistic

Overall a decent read and compelling story that was never really boring but the main characters were just too morally modern (and irreligious) in a way that kept taking me out of the 1340s.

If you want to read a good book set in this time period with modern sensibilities, I highly recommend Doomsday book where the main premise is a time traveling historian so it makes the modern morality make more sense.

If you want a book set in this time where the main characters are much more bought into the morality of the day, even if they struggle with it, I highly recommend Between Two Fires (though this book is much darker and has supernatural elements so it may not be your thing).

Can't wait for the next book!

Excellent story and the narration is good. I will be purchasing the next book when it comes to Audible.

Great book

One of my favorites. Loved it . Hated to finish it but there is a book 2. Which I also listened to and is just as good.