Path of the Pale Horse

Lep lives to heal others. Apprenticed to Dr. Peale, he’s devoted to learning the doctor’s art. When yellow fever strikes Philadelphia, its frightened citizens grasp at faith and foolishness. Many flee. Lep and his master, by contrast, feel called to come to the city.

It’s an adventuresome stay. Church bells toll ceaselessly. Death, astride his pale horse, roams the streets. Lep searches for his sister, labors to save his patients, and becomes entwined with dupes and deceivers. Gradually he uncovers as well the godlike Mr. Bodkin’s great secret.

The epidemic of 1793, which crippled the country’s young capital and carried off one tenth of its people, is the setting for this stirring story of science, superstition, and a young healer’s limitations.