A Journal of the Plague Year

Originally published in 1722, Daniel Defoe's "A Journal of the Plague Year" is a first-person, mostly nonlinear fiction narrative told by protagonist H.F., an unmarried saddler whose name is only revealed by his signature at the end of the work. The Journal is a tale of his experiences during the plague that afflicted London in 1665.

Daniel Defoe was only around five years old during the Great Plague that claimed nearly 100,000 lives. This makes "A Journal of the Plague Year" an imaginative reconstruction. Unfairly, "A Journal of the Plague Year" is perhaps Defoe's most under-valued novel.