Forged in the Fire
Encyclopedia
Forged in the Fire is a 2006 novel
for young adults
by Ann Turnbull
, about Quaker life in the 1660s. It is the sequel to No Shame, No Fear
, published in 2003.
In Forged in the Fire, Will and Susanna are separated despite their love; Will is working as a bookseller in London
, while Susanna stays in Shropshire
waiting for Will to return with enough money to provide for her. When the bubonic plague
strikes London, Susanna travels there to find Will, but their safety is then threatened by the Great Fire of London
.
When Susanna finally finds out where Will is located she travels at once to London. There she finds Will happy and healthy in Edmund's home with his eldest daughter. This is the one and only blow to their love but is soon overcome. The two get married in the sight of God at a Quaker meeting.
The London fire is the next huge thing to happen. The city is destroyed bit by bit, and now that Susanna is with a child she and Will must leave. But Will refuses to leave until he has finished his work, so he sends Susanna, with friends, to make it out of the city and into a farm where she is to camp for many nights. Finally Will with Nat manage to get out of the city and they are reunited at last. Will also makes up with his father who has never much cared for Will and Susanna's love. He gives them some money and they live happily ever after. A few years later they have a son and life happily goes on.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
for young adults
Young adult literature
Young-adult fiction or young adult literature , also juvenile fiction, is fiction written for, published for, or marketed to adolescents and young adults, roughly ages 14 to 21. The Young Adult Library Services of the American Library Association defines a young adult as "someone between the...
by Ann Turnbull
Ann Turnbull
Ann Turnbull is a British writer of fiction for children and young adults. Her work includes picture books as well as novels. Many of her novels are set in Shropshire, the English county where she lives...
, about Quaker life in the 1660s. It is the sequel to No Shame, No Fear
No Shame, No Fear
No Shame, No Fear is a 2003 novel for young adults by Ann Turnbull. Set in Shropshire in the 1660s, the novel depicts the love between a Quaker girl, Susanna, and Will, the son of a rich merchant...
, published in 2003.
In Forged in the Fire, Will and Susanna are separated despite their love; Will is working as a bookseller in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, while Susanna stays in Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
waiting for Will to return with enough money to provide for her. When the bubonic plague
Bubonic plague
Plague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death...
strikes London, Susanna travels there to find Will, but their safety is then threatened by the Great Fire of London
Great Fire of London
The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through the central parts of the English city of London, from Sunday, 2 September to Wednesday, 5 September 1666. The fire gutted the medieval City of London inside the old Roman City Wall...
.
Plot summary
Forged in the Fire is an epic love story in which love prevails over all. When Will is sent to prison during the plague, Susanna has no way of knowing whether her beloved is alive or not. Will gets sent to jail with two of his friends for starting a fight in the streets. Whilst in jail both his friends are infested with the plague and Will becomes deathly ill. Both of his companions die but Will is bailed out by a man called Edmund who is extremely wealthy and a friend of Nat, who during the story is always at Will's side.When Susanna finally finds out where Will is located she travels at once to London. There she finds Will happy and healthy in Edmund's home with his eldest daughter. This is the one and only blow to their love but is soon overcome. The two get married in the sight of God at a Quaker meeting.
The London fire is the next huge thing to happen. The city is destroyed bit by bit, and now that Susanna is with a child she and Will must leave. But Will refuses to leave until he has finished his work, so he sends Susanna, with friends, to make it out of the city and into a farm where she is to camp for many nights. Finally Will with Nat manage to get out of the city and they are reunited at last. Will also makes up with his father who has never much cared for Will and Susanna's love. He gives them some money and they live happily ever after. A few years later they have a son and life happily goes on.