Astonding, mesmorizing, and full of human pathos. That is how I would describe this tale of the village of Elam in the year 1666--the year the plague came to town. The story is told through the eyes of the serving woman who, along with the rest of the townsfolk, followed the leadership of the Vicar and sequestered herself so that the neighboring towns would not be infected with their 'plague seeds'. Many facets of life during that time, such as the way women were treated, the persecution of those who were different, the rules of their mining community, and so on are woven into the story. Brooks also throws in bucketloads of period terms, using most ina way that the reader will understand what they mean--but as a wordaholic I had to read this with a dictionary (or the internet) handy. So satistfying, and quite enjoyable to discuss with others. The only caveat I have is the ending.
I highly recommend this to anyone, but especially to fans of historical fiction and history in general. And to those who love stories of human drama. ( )

After reading People of the Book earlier this year I wanted to read this novel and I wasn't disappointed. When the Great Plague of 1665 hits a small English mining village they make the decision to isolate themselves rather than spreading the disease. This novel takes the few facts known about a real town that made this choice and gives us a truly wonderful story. The various reactions of the villagers to the deaths of family, friends and neighbours feel real. Definitely my kind of historical fiction. ( )

Beautiful writing style tells the story of a small town who voluntarily decides to quarantine themselves during the plague. So poignant. A story of love, loss, grief, courage, discovery, and of course pain. So amazing. I loved it. ( )

Good Book! A quick read but a really good story. ( )

I'm majoring in history and geography, so this book by Geraldine Brooks appealed to me when my friend Janet pulled it off the shelf. A Year of Wonders is a fictionalized account of a 17th century English village that reacts to the arrival of the Plague by quarantining itself from the rest of the world. The isolation provides a kind of psychological laboratory that examines the ways in which communities experience mass fear, mass hysteria, and the consequences of losing 2/3 of its population in the space of a year.

The story is told from the point of view of Anna, a maid for the local minister and his wife. It is the minister who through the force of his personality convinces the villagers to close the town off from the rest of the world, and who struggles mightily to keep them from succumbing to superstition even as entire families of their neighbors die. Anna is a sympathetic narrator, not immune to the tragedies wrought by the infection. The oddity of a peasant-class woman knowing how to read and write is addressed in the text.

I thought I knew where this book was going, if not the details, but the ending really took me by surprise. The unusual twist requires the reader to re-examine their assumptions and casts familiar characters in an entirely new light. I don't know how realistic it is — not very, I suspect — but it surely made me think.

Another interesting aspect: Brooks' afterword details her research into a real-life village that was the inspiration for her novel. While she used many of the known facts, they are few and far between, which gave Brooks a license to invent. I suspect that if we were able to know the true story it would be fascinating in its own right, but in the absence of that, Brooks has given us a fine substitute. ( )