Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague (2001)

Wow, what a book!!
This story of a village, tormented by plague was so nice to read! Well, of course the subject is sad, so nice might not be a good choice of words, but I think you get my point.

Told without a word too much, simply sketching the lives of the villagers, their desperation, hopes, what they are going through. I think that is what made such an impression on me, what made me feel so strongly about Anna, Elinor and the others.
What courage do they show, sheer never ending strength in helping others, despite their own grief and sorrow. ( )

I highly recommend this novel. Of course, any novel written about the plague years will be sad, but this one is strong and true, and grippingly written.

And I loved the protagonist. She’s a housemaid, her name is Anna Firth, and she copes with this time of crisis with strength and passion that never feels contrived. It’s her story, but it’s also the story of a community, and this also feels very real. Brooks did a lot of research, and much of this novel is based on the actual historical record of a small English village. But Brooks also has great story-telling instincts.
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Summary: It is 1665, and the restoration is spreading across England, but in the small lead-mining town of Eyam, the wider world seems very far away. But not as far away as they might wish, when a traveller arrives in town bearing the seeds of the deadly Plague from London. As members of the town begin falling ill and dying, the townspeople - lead by their rector, Mr. Mompellion - choose to quarrantine themselves to the confines of their town rather than risk spreading the disease to other villages. This story of the year that follows is told through the eyes of Anna, a serving girl in the Mompellion's household. Anna initially agreed with the quarrantine, but as people continue dying with no end in sight, and the very fabric of their society begins to unravel, how can the villagers keep any shred of their normal lives from crumbling to dust?

Review: I can't entirely believe I waited as long as I did to read Geraldine Brooks's books. This and People of the Book are different books, with very different narrators, but Brooks manages to slip into each of their voices seamlessly and completely. In this case, I was instantly caught up in Anna's voice, and her story, and in the world of tiny mining town in the English countryside. (Although I occasionally had to remind myself that this was all happening in a post-Tudor, post-Shakespeare world. Most plague novels I've read are set much earlier - notably Connie Willis's Doomsday Book, and the rural setting didn't always provide a multitude of clues as to the time period.) I got so involved in this book that I almost started crying while reading it on the bus. And the amazing thing is that Brooks manages to draw out this emotion, despite the fact that we know how it's going to end. The book starts with a scene from near the end of the Plague year, and mentions some of the most important deaths right off the bat. We know within the first 20 pages that those that Anna loves are going to die, but it's still totally heartbreaking when they do. Also impressive is that again, even though we know how the story ends, Brooks manages to maintain a certain sense of tension and suspense throughout the story, and even pull off a surprise or two - certainly not all of the events of the story unfolded the way I expected them to, nor did the path that events took to reach where they stand when the book opens run the way I thought it would in several key cases. There are a few places where the story slows down a bit, but all in all, this book was immersive and sad and beautiful, and a general pleasure to read. 4 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: Historical fiction fans should snap this one up, if they haven't already. ( )

recommended for: historical fiction buffs, those who enjoy a good plague story

This book is about plague that strikes an English village in 1665-1666 and about the different reactions and behaviors of the residents when the village decides to quarantine themselves to prevent its spread to the surrounding villages and cities. The main protagonist is Anna but many of the characters are well developed. Even though I understood why the book ended as it did, I found myself unhappy with the ending. I did find the book special though and enjoyed a lot. It was fascinating to see how people reacted so differently under the stress of the plague. ( )

Set in England during the mid 1600’s, this novel centres on a small village and Anna Frith, a young local widow who works as a house maid for the local priest and his wife. Anna accepts a lodger, a tailor, who dies suddenly after his trunk of material arrives from London. Quickly, others start to die, and the village realises that they have been stuck by the plague, which has been carried from London in the tailor’s material.

The Reverend convinces the village to place themselves in quarantine. All must stay and face death. Anna and Elinor, the Reverend’s wife, help the villagers as two thirds of them die, including Anna’s children. Terror sets in and people look for someone to blame.

As a subplot, Anna is infatuated with the Reverend, and after Elinor’s murder, briefly falls in love with him.

Based on a real event. ( )