The Diary of Samuel Pepys

I found my way to this diary in an odd way. My book club chose The Journal of Mrs Pepys, the fiction journal of the wife of the famous diarist, as its selection for January of 2022. I had already read that book in 2021, so I decided to read this book, the actual diary kept by a civil servant in England during the 1660s.

I can see why so many have been compelled to read this book over the many years of its existence. Pepys tells about not only the big events of his day—the Restoration, the Second Dutch War, the Great Plague of London, the Great Fire of London—but he also speaks of the intimate details of his life.