This book was excellent. It reminds me of Down the Common in the sense that it puts you right in the time and place in which it is set. Life was not easy back then, but I think people were somehow happier. They seemed to find happiness easier than we do now. Simple pleasures were reveled in more often than now it seems.

Anna was very brave. A young widow with 2 kids, she was the housemaid to the rector and his wife. She also helped out now and again at the snooty people’s house when they had a big dinner party. Anna was the soul of goodness. Even when people treated her badly and deserved her ire, she loved them and tired to comfort them. I don’t think I could be that good and kind. Her father was a right shit, and in the end when he was nailed up to the entrance of the mine of the man he tried to cheat, she went to him. Of course she was too late and he was dead. Her stepmother blamed her even though she didn’t go to the old man herself either. After that, her stepmother went a little crazy and it wasn’t hard to figure out who was masquerading as the ghost of the “witch” and selling charms to the frightened and superstitious villagers.

The killing of the local healing women was a real tragedy and I could hardly read it I was so angry. The two people who were so vitally necessary to village life were killed very early on in the epidemic. The younger one Anys, screamed at the crowd of lynchers that their wives and daughters had joined her in her dancing frenzies with Satan. And in their blind rage and fear, the men started to turn on these women, too. Luckily, someone called the rector Michael and he set them straight. Telling them they were nothing but murderers and fools. That she screamed her invective because it was the last weapon she had against their unreasoning violence. The older healing woman they drowned (naturally if a woman floats she’s a witch) and despite the fact that she sunk and they berated themselves for killing her when she wasn’t a witch, they had no trouble going after Anys. Truly sick. I can’t even imagine the fear that these women went through. It’s so sad.

So Anna took up the role of healer. She did it slowly and reluctantly though. Anys had admonished her on occasion for not knowing the properties of very basic healing herbs – that she should know these things because she had children and they might need it. Anna and Elinor (the rector’s wife) took over the midwife duties as well. Elinor had never had a child or helped birth an animal, so Anna was the lead on these. She was wonderful and saved a couple of women after the “doctors” gave up (breech or sideways positioning that Anna could change, the “doctors” didn’t dare actually touch the woman you know!).

At the very end, the rich family that fled the village at the beginning of the story, came back and demanded the same level of service and respect that they had before half of the village was killed by the plague. This included Elinor. She didn’t die of plague, no, that she survived believe it or not. But instead, in a cruel twist of fate, she was stabbed in the neck by Anna’s stepmother when Michael had her restrained because she went totally crazy. Elinor died instantly.

After that, Michael went into a huge decline. Anna tried to help him and care for him, but he was reclusive – didn’t eat, seldom slept and never went out. After the village burned most of their possessions, the plague left them. Things got back to normal. Eventually, Anna and Michael started an affair. It was hot and mutual and I was rooting for them to find some love or happiness after their ordeals. But Michael revealed what an asshole he was.

Apparently he married his wife out of a desire to punish her. She had gotten pregnant out of wedlock when she was a young teen. Rather than have the baby, in her fear, anger and desperation, she aborted herself and almost died. She was unable to have any more children. The father of course, had nothing to do with her as soon as he tired of her after a few days. Her family was freaked out and thought she’d never marry. Michael married her to keep her humble and never let her forget her sin. He never had sex with her. Never slept with her and never touched her. She loved him blindly because she was convinced this was love and that he was shielding her from her baser desires. As soon as she died though, he was shagging Anna like there was no tomorrow.

Anna was pretty sickened by this and took off. She ran into the daughter of the snooty family who needed help with her mother who was having a very hard time giving birth. The baby was breech and the mother had lost a lot of blood. Anna help and the baby and the mother survived. When Anna was out of the room and suddenly returned, she caught the daughter trying to drown the baby in a bucket. She saved the child and freaked. The daughter said that the kid was illegitimate and would not be tolerated by her father. They worked it out so that Anna would take the baby and a bunch of money and jewelry as a bribe never to talk and to go far away and never return.

In his final good deed, Michael advised her to leave immediately. That soon the daughter and the father would change their minds and probably kill them both. He gave her his horse and she and the child left. Eventually, she got a passage to India or the Middle East and became an apprentice to a doctor there (she had to become one of his wives to do this, but it was all just for show). She could help the women of the area when they or their husbands refused to have a male doctor treat them. She raised the baby right beside her own new daughter (Michael’s). It was nice to see that she had people to love again. After her boys died of the plague, Anna was haunted and lost. She is a nurturer and needs to have someone to love like she needs to breathe. The end was a little far-fetched, but had a nice romantic aura about it and gave the book a rosy glow at the end. ( )

Plague hits a small village in 1666 England. Well written, and plenty of drama to keep the reader engaged. The only thing I didn't care for was the ending, which is why I rated it 4 stars instead of five. ( )

Respected Australian journalist Geraldine Brooks' first foray into fictional territory is an engrossing look at how the plague ravages an isolated village in 17th century England. She deftly recreates the mood of hysteria and fear of 'otherness' that has imperiled societies throughout the history of civilisation. Year Of Wonders is a fast-paced, satisfying and thoroughly unpredictable read. ( )

Year of Wonders is a novel inspired by the true story of the little town of Eyam in Derbyshire, known as the Plague Village, during the years 1665 - 1666. Although the cause of how the plague showed up in their village is still unknown, the villagers' decision to quarantine themselves in order to stop the spread of the deadly disease has sealed their place in history.

Geraldine Brooks provides us with a fictional account of what life looked like from within the Plague Village and gives us insight into the human nature that accompanies tragedy.

Anna Frith is a widowed housemaid busy raising her two sons and working in the home of the town's priest and his wife, the Montpelliers. When Anna's lodger dies she suspects the plague to be the cause of his awful death and it's not long before her fears are confirmed. The spread is rampant and the fatalities of the villagers grow daily. No one is safe from the disease and every Sunday the church pews get emptier. Anna and Mrs. Montpellier team up to care for those afflicted while Mr. Montpellier works tirelessly bringing comfort to the dying.

What really fascinated me in this novel was the human factor - how the villagers dealt with the constant death of their loved ones and neighbors, the trauma of self-exile and how their faith was tried. They sought a reason why this plague had come upon them, to understand...why was God punishing them or was he testing them?

My favorite part of the novel was the friendship between Anna and Mrs. Montpellier, which has been strengthened by the tragedy is really beautiful to read and you can't help but love both of them and stand in awe of their strength.

The ending is a bit of a rollercoaster with the revealing of secrets and hidden desires realized. Brooks ties the ends up nicely and while I was a little surprised by the ending, it was a pleasant surprise and I felt a great way to say goodbye to Anna, knowing she would have the happy future she so deserved.

This poor book has been sitting on my TBR tower for ages and I could just kick myself for waiting this long to finally read it! Brooks' writing is brilliant, I can't wait to read more from her. Do yourself a favor and read this! You won't be sorry you did =) ( )

Year of Wonders (2001) traces a young woman who looses all her loved ones to the plague in a 17th century small English village. As the protagonist struggles to find the will to keep living, she learns that the survival of her own soul is linked to that of the others in the village. It is a story of courage and human dignity in the face of death, disease and superstition. ( )