The Great Trouble

The Great Trouble

A Mystery of London, the Blue Death, and a Boy Called Eel

3.8 (253 ratings from Audible, Overdrive)
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Read by: Matthew Frow, Kimberly Farr

Language: English

Length: 5 hours and 57 minutes

Publisher: Listening Library

Release date: 2013-09-10

The suspenseful tale of two courageous kids and one inquisitive scientist who teamed up to stop an epidemic.

Eel has troubles of his own: As an orphan and a “mudlark”, he spends his days in the filthy River Thames, searching for bits of things to sell. He’s being hunted by Fisheye Bill Tyler, and a nastier man never walked the streets of London. And he’s got a secret that costs him four precious shillings a week to keep safe. But even for Eel, things aren’t so bad until that fateful August day in 1854 - the day the deadly cholera epidemic (“blue death”) comes to Broad Street.

Everyone believes that cholera is spread through poisonous air. But one man, Dr. John Snow, has a different theory. As the epidemic surges, it’s up to Eel and his best friend, Florrie, to gather evidence to prove Dr. Snow’s theory - before the entire neighborhood is wiped out.