SOLVED. YA dystopian novel about villages and birds, set in old-timey England. [s]

[Rainbowheart]

Hi guys,

A recent thread about Nest of Lies reminded me of another bird-themed dystopian book. Definitely pubbed prior to 2010. I think early 2000s, but it could also have been as early as the '80s if it had updated cover art.

Super vague memories. It was kind of a dark, bleak, gloomy, windy landscape. Very rural, people lived in villages. Even though it was dystopian, there was no technology. People lived similar to old-timey England. I believe it was set in a far-future England. There was a girl, or two girls. There was a big, forbidding house. I think the girl's parents died and she went to work as a maid at the house.

The main thing about this book is that the people had a bird cult. I think they were terrified of birds or birds were held in great honor. I think they had temples to birds and possibly worshiped certain birds. Birds were for sure super important in the story. There were maybe competing bird cults, or the bird cult competed with other pagan faiths or Christianity.

The girl ran away from the house and ended up traveling across canals to a big city. She may have gotten stuck in a palace. There could have been a plague or sickness going around. I believe they saw some sick, plague-ridden people at a river. The palace could have ended up burning down. There was another girl, a younger girl that she traveled with. I think there may also have been a male love interest, but if so, he was not a huge part of the story.

Thanks mucho for any help!

[Rainbowheart]

I'm pretty sure that when the MC met the plague-stricken people, she was in the middle of a river or canal on a boat. The boat could have been a ferry transporting people to the palace. They plague victims had red marks, like signs of the pox. Some of them may have been little kids. It's possible that some plague-ridden people were also swimming in the river.

Also, I remembered more about the palace. I think the MC hid in some underground catacombs while the palace was burning up above. Not positive it was on fire, but there was some big commotion above that the MC was hiding from.

[SBC]

Is it Murkmere Hall or Ambergate by Patricia Elliott?

[Rainbowheart]

Oh my God, yes! Thank you so much. I think I was actually conflating the two. Most of my description was from Ambergate, so that's the one I'm going to say it is. I'm not sure I ever read all of Murkmere.

[SBC]

Great, I'm glad I could help. I remember Murkmere better than Ambergate, so I wasn't 100% sure about the plague part...