Literary Research

The Pestilence, 1919, Big Nose Printing The Pestilence
(Big Nose Printing, 1919)

The Pestilence came later in her writing career at the age of 63 and is probably one of Chesley's bleakest works.

Though clearly influenced by the great influenza epidemic of 1918-1919, and in particular the deadly second and third waves of the epidemic that killed more than 30 million people, Chesley's look at disease goes much deeper than mere reportage.

Like many of her stories, the novel centers around the plucky and resilient female lead character, in this case, an ironically named Lulu Pasteur. Her last name suggests that we will follow the protagonist in her efforts to cure the plague. In reality, we watch the beleaguered figure of Lulu try to deal with the tragedy and death surrounding the epidemic that she is in some ways the cause of.

The story starts off interestingly, with Lulu looking down on the Earth from a colony on the moon. The opening page display some of Chesley's most breath-taking prescience -- instead of postulating a moon-colony with an atmosphere, water, et. al, as many of her contemporaries would do (Edgar Rice Burroughs springs immediately to mind) -- Chesley imagined what it might be like to live on a world without an atmosphere like ours.

As the Earth rose over the intense white horizon of the moon, Lulu Pasteur wondered what it might be like to step outside into the rarified atmosphere; devoid of the elements she and her co-Lunists might need to survive, she would surely perish. But to breath in for just once the clean, pristine void of sky and stars! Such a vivid impression it made on her mind, that she almost forgot the figure of Lions Hamersmaad, waiting for her to return to their bed.

But the opening paragraph does not satisfy our prurient desire to see what Lulu and Lions might do in their bed together -- instead we see Lions be one of the first to succumb to the pestilence.

Chesley may have created the innovation of a moon without an atmosphere to cover a plot point. The fact that the entire moon colony must share the same air source is the reason that the plague spreads so quickly in the opening chapters of the book.

Lulu barely recovers from the death of Lions and her other "co-Lunitsts", before she realizes that she will perish on the Moon without help. She makes her way back to Earth, and in doing so, brings the pestilence with her.

The story gets depressing from there.

--"Scholarship" by The Squire

(in)Complete Works Original Fiction & Poetry Novel Gallery Chesleyan Chestnuts		The Pestilence (Big Nose Printing, 1919) The Pestilence came later in her writing career at the age of 63 and is probably one of Chesley's bleakest works. Though clearly influenced by the great influenza epidemic of 1918-1919, and in particular the deadly second and third waves of the epidemic that killed more than 30 million people, Chesley's look at disease goes much deeper than mere reportage. Like many of her stories, the novel centers around the plucky and resilient female lead character, in this case, an ironically named Lulu Pasteur. Her last name suggests that we will follow the protagonist in her efforts to cure the plague. In reality, we watch the beleaguered figure of Lulu try to deal with the tragedy and death surrounding the epidemic that she is in some ways the cause of. The story starts off interestingly, with Lulu looking down on the Earth from a colony on the moon. The opening page display some of Chesley's most breath-taking prescience -- instead of postulating a moon-colony with an atmosphere, water, et. al, as many of her contemporaries would do (Edgar Rice Burroughs springs immediately to mind) -- Chesley imagined what it might be like to live on a world without an atmosphere like ours. As the Earth rose over the intense white horizon of the moon, Lulu Pasteur wondered what it might be like to step outside into the rarified atmosphere; devoid of the elements she and her co-Lunists might need to survive, she would surely perish. But to breath in for just once the clean, pristine void of sky and stars! Such a vivid impression it made on her mind, that she almost forgot the figure of Lions Hamersmaad, waiting for her to return to their bed. But the opening paragraph does not satisfy our prurient desire to see what Lulu and Lions might do in their bed together -- instead we see Lions be one of the first to succumb to the pestilence. Chesley may have created the innovation of a moon without an atmosphere to cover a plot point. The fact that the entire moon colony must share the same air source is the reason that the plague spreads so quickly in the opening chapters of the book. Lulu barely recovers from the death of Lions and her other "co-Lunitsts", before she realizes that she will perish on the Moon without help. She makes her way back to Earth, and in doing so, brings the pestilence with her. The story gets depressing from there. --"Scholarship" by The Squire