Pascale Haldi is an independent plague doctor whose goal is to limit the spread of a mysterious, fattening plague that is currently tearing through England. Her exploits have taken her all over the countryside, educating the village people on basic sanitation and nursing the sick, but she has grown to weigh more than three hundred pounds with exposure to the disease. The image of a sociable and professional doctor falls apart for her in private, where she becomes irritable and needy.