Is it dystopian fiction or narrative nonfiction? Daniel Defoe's
A Journal of the Plague Year
has baffled publishers and librarians since it's first appearance in March 1722. It is one man's account of events during what until recently was the last Great Plague of London in 1665. Defoe published the book under the initials "H.F.," which likely refer to his uncle, Henry Foe, who lived in Whitechapel during the plague. Daniel Defoe himself was five years old in 1665. Although the prevailing school of thought has been to classify the book as fiction, it is evident that Defoe conducted considerable research for the book, even including tables of casualties and identifying specific streets and even houses that do, in fact, exist. Too, the book is far more detailed than the account in the diary of Samuel Pepys, to which it is often compared and which, of course, is classified as nonfiction. Watersgreen House is an independent international book publisher with editorial staff in the UK and USA. One of our aims at Watersgreen House is to showcase same-sex affection in works by important gay and bisexual authors in ways which were not possible at the time the books were originally published. We also publish nonfiction, including textbooks, as well as contemporary fiction that is literary, unusual, and provocative. watersgreen.wixsite.com/watersgreenhouse