Eleanore of Avignon

How does Eleanore saving the dog Baldoin from the trap introduce her character? How do their ongoing meetings shape her story?

"Why must it be him?' I'd demanded, pacing our room like a cat. 'You could have anyone, Margot. Any merchant or solicitor or physician. Why must it be Erec Dupont?" (pg 2). What does Margot's choice of partner show about the differences between her and Eleanore?

Eleanore and her mother both treat Mathilde Dupont and both suffer consequences for it. What do you think about the line between personal feelings and medical care? What would you have done in Eleanore's situation?

"This great beast of a man is Guy de Chauliac: a doctor of great renown, born a peasant, who by his own skill and intelligence became the pope's personal physician" (pg 50). Guigo and Eleanore both have unusual backgrounds. How do their differences help or hinder their work?

The novel includes a three-month time skip after the first day Eleanore treats a patient with the plague. What is the impact of seeing how the city has changed?

Father Loup does not recognize Eleanore at first when they meet again. Why do you think that is?

Eleanore is torn between her selection as midwife for Queen Joanna and her mission to help Guigo find a cure for the plague. In what other ways do politics and healthcare intersect in the story?

Both David and Eleanore face the prejudices of people who do not trust their skills or knowledge. What did it mean to be a marginalized group at this time? How do they both react to the distrust?

People in the Middle Ages had both misguided and effective approaches to preventing and treating the plague. After living through our own modern-day pandemic, how did our society's approach compare? What strategies did we later learn were misguided?

"You are myself." How does this mantra between Margot and Eleanore develop over the book?