At the tail end of the First World War, Canadian soldiers began returning home from overseas. Along with joy over the war’s end, they brought with them a virus that would turn out to be the cause of one of the deadliest epidemics in history. Spanish Influenza struck down an estimated 40 million people worldwide – 50,000 of them Canadian, and 1,700 in the city of Toronto alone – before receding in 1919. The disease spread rapidly through the population due to its extremely short incubation period and fierce accompanying pneumonia: people died in as little as 24 hours of experiencing their first symptoms. No one knew how the disease was communicated, or whether victims were contagious before symptoms began to appear.

This horrific period is the backdrop for business writer Pat Bourke’s first novel. The story opens with Meredith Hollings arriving by train at Toronto’s Union Station to work as a kitchen maid in the home of wealthy Dr. Waterton. At 13, Meredith has left behind school and her dream of becoming a teacher. Two years younger than the required age for the position and completely inexperienced, she is determined to make a go of the new job and send her earnings back home to help her mother in rural Port Stuart cope with a legacy of debt left behind by her father, a travelling salesman who died in the war before Meredith and her mother even knew he’d joined the service.

Meredith’s lack of familiarity with the city and her new job makes it easy to immerse readers in the world of the novel: we learn about her new life at the same pace she does. Her position in the Waterton home illustrates the extent to which Meredith’s class defines her. While the doctor and his sons treat her with respect, his daughter Maggie, also 13, likes to show her who is boss. Meredith has a warm relationship with both the housekeeper and the chauffeur, but Parker, the butler, is snooty and derisive.

Through Meredith, Bourke also shines a light on the physical labour needed to run a household almost a century ago. She is expected to be the first one up and working every morning, stoking the stove so that it’s hot by the time Mrs. Butters, the housekeeper, arrives at 7 a.m. Meredith helps with all the kitchen tasks, looks after five-year-old Harry Waterton, and serves the family and their guests at mealtimes.

Once Meredith is established at the Waterton house, Bourke shifts the story quickly into page-turner mode. One by one the Watertons and their servants fall victim to the flu, eventually leaving only Meredith and Maggie healthy. With Dr. Waterton working at the hospital around the clock, the girls have to care for the two Waterton boys and other household staff while also protecting themselves against the disease. 

Bourke doesn’t shy away from the harsh details of the illness, depicting milder cases that could be mistaken for an autumn cold, as well as the more frightening symptoms of the full-blown flu. Some characters are rendered practically unconscious with fever, vomit repeatedly, or experience respiratory bleeding. Others choke on their own sputum before finally coughing it up. The hospitals won’t accept patients and cabs won’t pick up the sick; the fear in the community is palpable. At one point, Meredith’s newsboy friend Tommy describes undertakers rolling through his working-class Cabbagetown neighbourhood, ringing a bell so people would know to bring out their dead. “We’re lucky they came,” he says, explaining how he carried his mother’s body into the street. “Mrs. Hainey next door says some folks have waited two days or more.”

The story’s pacing is pitch-perfect, and Bourke advances the plot at just the right clip. She uses dialogue to great advantage, both as a tool for defining her characters and for introducing differing opinions on the epidemic. Before the disease comes home to roost, Meredith is witness to more than one kitchen-table argument between butler and chauffeur over the severity of the illness. These discussions neatly sum up the divergence of opinions at the time: on one side, fear and anxiety over the disease sweeping into Canadian cities; on the other, complete and utter denial.

A decent “Historical Notes” section provides more information on the spread and effect of the Spanish Flu pandemic, with a special focus on Toronto. The notes include facts about the First World War, folk remedies that were in use to ward off the illness, and mourning customs common at the time.

Yesterday’s Dead is a well-written story with an engaging protagonist. Both witness and survivor, Meredith pulls readers through the crisis and touches the lives of everyone around her. Bourke does a great job of calling attention to a brief but important moment in history.