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February 2001, and farming communities the length and breadth of the country are on the brink of catastrophe. An outbreak of foot-and-mouth spreads remorselessly through northern England, decimating farms and leaving piles of burning corpses in its wake. The television reports, the newspaper photos - these all conveyed the scale and horror of the tragedy, but with so many people affected, so many thousands of animals destroyed, how can we begin to comprehend the suffering of an individual amongst so many personal tragedies? Yet out of this bleakness and despair has sprung one of the most startling, most profoundly moving books for many months. This is the fictional diary of a young girl, written between January and April, when the crisis was at its height. It chronicles the arrival of this dreadful disease on her father's farm, and the awful price they have to pay. Morpurgo - founder of Farms for City Children - wrote the novel very quickly, as a gut response to the horrors of foot-and-mouth. He delves deep into the wretchedness experienced by the Morleys; the disease creeps closer and closer, and despite all their precautions the farm becomes infected. Becky is riddled with guilt - she thinks she is responsible for bringing the disease to the farm. Her father is devastated by the destruction of his animals, and sinks into depression. This huge epidemic consisted of thousands and thousands of private tragedies; Morpurgo tells the story of just one. It is truly heartbreaking, yet the novel ends on a positive note. A new beginning is possible - life can indeed spring up out of the ashes of these dreadful funeral pyres. (Kirkus UK)
