Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
The "Doomsday Book" is a science fiction novel by Connie Willis that intertwines two parallel narratives set in different time periods. The story follows Kivrin Engle, an ambitious historian who travels back to the Middle Ages with the intent of studying the era. However, due to a series of unfortunate events, she finds herself in 1348, the onset of the Black Death in England, rather than the intended year of 1320. As Kivrin struggles with her infection from a deadly flu and her realization of the catastrophic events unfolding around her, she forms deep connections with the villagers, particularly Lady Eliwys and her daughters.
Meanwhile, in the twenty-first century, Kivrin's mentor, Mr. Dunworthy, grapples with his own challenges as England faces a modern epidemic. The narrative shifts between these two timelines, creating a rich tapestry of human experience as both Kivrin and Dunworthy confront their respective crises. Kivrin's efforts to combat the plague and care for the villagers highlight themes of resilience and compassion, while Dunworthy's pursuit to rescue her illustrates the urgency of human connection. The novel ultimately explores the shared humanity in the face of disaster, weaving together moments of hope and profound loss.
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Doomsday Book
First published: 1992
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Science fiction—time travel
Time of work: December, 2054-January, 2055, and 1348
Locale: Oxford, England, and Ashencote, a nearby village
The Plot
Kivrin Engle, a brilliant and determined young woman, is the first historian to journey back to the Middle Ages. She makes the trip despite the misgivings of her teacher and mentor, Mr. Dunworthy. His anxieties seem justified when the technician in charge of the time “net” mumbles that something is wrong and then collapses from a deadly new strain of influenza shortly after sending Kivrin to the past. What gradually becomes clear is that Kivrin has been infected with that same flu and sent not to 1320, as intended, but to 1348, the year the Black Death began to ravage England.
Unbeknown to her, Kivrin’s arrival in the past is witnessed by an illiterate but saintly priest, Father Roche, who brings the sick and delirious woman, whom he regards as a messenger from heaven, to the castle of his lord. Kivrin is nursed back to health by Lady Eliwys and her family, who were sent by her husband to hide from the plague in this remote village. While anxiously trying to relocate her rendezvous point—the exact location where the gateway in time will reopen—she quickly grows to love the people, especially Eliwys’ two young daughters, Agnes and Rosemunde. Travelers fleeing a nearby city bring the plague, and Kivrin realizes for the first time that she is in the wrong year. With little hope of returning to her own time, she does her best, along with Father Roche, to battle the plague and save the people of the village.
In the twenty-first century, Kivrin’s plight becomes an afterthought to all but Mr. Dunworthy as Oxford comes under a quarantine and doctors and scientists race to find a vaccine. Dunworthy does his best to mobilize the resources of the university to fight the epidemic and care for the sick, all the while trying to find some confirmation that Kivrin’s time traveling has gone well and she at least is safe.
Connie Willis effectively uses the parallel plots of the novel, cutting back and forth between the time lines, to increase suspense, create ironic juxtapositions, and ultimately affirm the common humanity of people battling disaster. In twenty-first century England, the epidemic is finally halted, but in the fourteenth century, the progress of the Black Death is inexorable. One by one, Agnes, Rosemunde, Lady Eliwys, and all the people of the village die in agony, despite the heroic efforts of Kivrin and Father Roche. Roche eventually dies, but the utter bleakness of the catastrophe and Kivrin’s grief are in some small measure relieved by his gratitude and love for Kivrin, who has indeed become the messenger from heaven of his simple faith, bringing comfort to the dying and surviving to bear witness. As Kivrin struggles to sound the death knoll as a memorial for Roche, the sound of the bell brings Dunworthy, who, though still weak from his own near death from influenza, has come back through time to seek Kivrin and bring her home.