Geraldine Brooks

a novel of the plague

Year of wonders

This gripping historical novel is based on the true story of Eyam, the "Plague Village," in the rugged mountain spine of England. In 1666, a tainted bolt of cloth from London carries bubonic infection to this isolated settlement of shepherds and lead miners. A visionary young preacher convinces the villagers to seal themselves off in a deadly quarantine to prevent the spread of disease. The story is told through the eyes of eighteen-year-old Anna Frith, the vicar's maid, as she confronts the loss of her family, the disintegration of her community, and the lure of a dangerous and illicit love. As the death toll rises and people turn from prayers and herbal cures to sorcery and murderous witch-hunting, Anna emerges as an unlikely and courageous heroine in the village's desperate fight to save itself.

Lorelei 

This book was great and I could not put it down. The reason I put 4 stars was because the Epilouge was unnecessary and ruined what would have been a perfect book.

Marisel 

This was a great read in so many ways. One year into the Covid pandemic, I finally felt ready to take on some plague themed historical fiction, especially in the hopes of finding some source of hope and inspiration from the characters based on a historical events in a small English village during the years of the black death. The story is beautifully written, a compelling page turner, and an interesting account of the resourceful ways in which the village attempts to control spread of contagion. The story develops well and builds high expectations for a solid ending. I became immediately annoyed and disappointed, however, when the story takes a surprising, completely unnecessary and somewhat cheap turn. The author does somewhat recover the plot in the end and somewhat manages to save the integrity of the story, but not without having lost some significant ground. Had she finished the tale some 100 pages earlier, nothing would have been loss and I would have counted this a near flawless read. It clearly isn’t—yet I did enjoy it immensely and would recommend it with a warning of possible approaching disappointment.

A young woman's struggle to save her family and her soul during the most extraordinary year of 1666, when plague suddenly visited a small Derbyshire village and the villagers, inspired by a charismatic preacher, elected to quarantine themselves to limit the contagion.

A Novel of the Plague

Year of Wonders

Janice Hopper

I've got mixed feelings about this book.

The very first part sets the stage. Something terrible has happened. A village has been decimated by the black plague. No one is left unscathed.

The the story jumps back to where everything started. Anna Frith is a young widow with two boys. She has some sheep and does some help at the Big Fancy House in town, and at the rectory. It's the Restoration. Puritans aren't quite as powerful as they used to be. People can wear colors now! 

Anna takes in a boarder, and things seem to be going ok. There's a bit of attraction between them, and you kinda hope that Anna can start a new life. But then the plague comes to town in a bolt of cloth from London, where people are already fleeing the plague there. And the first casualty is the boarder. Then just about everybody else starts to die.

Anna and Elinor (the rector's wife) do what they can. The rector decides that the best thing the town can do is to voluntarily quarantine themselves. The local nobleman agrees to drop supplies for the village at the Boundary Stone. People keep dying. Bad things happen. The rector gets the inspiration to burn everything that had been in contact with the folks who had died. Soon after that, new cases of plague stop appearing. People stop dying.

So far, so good. This part made me think of Doomsday Book, where a time traveler inadvertently lands in a period where there's an outbreak of the black plague. There's the same unrelenting work to help, the same heartbreak and loss.

After that, though, the story really does go kinda sideways. I;ve now read other folks' reviews that were unhappy with the direction of the story. (I was unspoiled before.) They're not wrong, though I wasn't quite as unhappy with it all as some. But yeah, it got kinda weird.

I still liked the book. If you're a word nerd like me, be aware that the author uses a lot of older words and terms that probably won't be in your Kindle dictionary, and may not be in your Merriam Webster. You can infer the meaning, but for part of the book, I sat with my laptop open so I could search some of the terms a little more easily. But that's me. I like to know what words mean.

Colette McDermed

I can't stop thinking about this book! If I were to describe it in 2 words, they would be thought-provoking and disturbing. It was worth my time, and very underrated. The ending felt a little random, but I still liked really liked it. Definitely worth your time.

Sarah Ryan

This novel was inspired by the true story of a small English village, known as the Plague Village, during the mid 1600s. After an outbreak of plague in the village the villagers make the heroic decision to quarantine themselves in order to stop the spread of the disease. I generally enjoy historical fiction, and this was no different. It is a slow but enjoyable read. Graphic in some parts so the squeamish should beware!

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of ‘March’ and ‘People of the Book’. A young woman’s struggle to save her family and her soul during the extraordinary year of 1666, when plague suddenly struck a small Derbyshire village.

Kerry Gibbons

Well, this was a fairly well read audiobook. It kept me wanting to find out what happened next, even though the first few minutes left me wondering who the hell was reading it.

I don't know. I quite enjoyed it. On describing a bit of it to my mother, she suggested I read The Pillars of the Earth. Maybe I'll check it out.

I'll admit that I don't know if I'd enjoy this book if it hadn't been an audiobook.

Alexandra Gillgrass

After reading the blurb I was really excited to read this book. 

This was a really unusual read for me as it wasn't blindingly good but it wasn't horrendously bad either; it fell somewhere in between which is why I've given it three stars. 

I felt like the storyline wasn't really going anywhere and it was more of a recounting of all the people that had died that previous week or day. The plot had no clear direction as I believe it didn't really have one because of the topic matter. It isn't necessarily a bad thing but it did make it difficult for the reader to become gripped and want to find out more. 

The main character, Anna was the only character I could really name or tell you anything about. Because as soon as there was any shred of character development, the character suddenly died. So there wasn't really enough time to become attached to the characters and as a result I wasn't emotionally invested in them which I think is detrimental in a book. If not the characters, then certainly the plot. Both of which this book lacked. 

However, there were some really good qualities that this book had. I have never read a book where every sentence felt like a piece of poetry. The writing is so lyrical and descriptive that it instantly transports you back and time and you can almost always feel and see what the characters are seeing through the power of words. And that's a success for any author. Because of this I had to read the book in small sections as it was sometimes too heavy and I lost sight of what the author was trying to get across because of the amount of description. 

All in all I wouldn't say I enjoyed this book but it was definitely a reading experience I had never experienced which is one of the reasons I stuck with it. If you like history and descriptive language then it shouldn't be too hard to get past the directionless plot and the lack of character development.

Jennifer Gregory

It seems that I am in agreement with the majority of reviewers. This is a wonderfully written, brilliantly paced novel...until the last 50 pages. Characters' personalities take 180° turns, and the actual conclusion is forced and off-the-wall. What would have been 5 stars became a very low 3 star rating.

window

Terrific story - stayed up until the wee hours to finish it.

Set in England in the 1660s, Year of Wonders is based on the true story of a village that is afflicted with the bubonic plague. The villagers have to choose whether to leave the village and try to outrun the disease, thereby putting others at risk, or stay in order to contain the contagion. Persuaded by a charismatic clergyman, the villagers choose to remain quarantined in the village until the disease runs its course. This is where Ms. Brooks picks up with the fictional aspect of the story.

Led by the rector, Mr. Mompellion, and his quiet and selfless wife, Elinor, the villagers at first feel noble. Anna Firth, a young widow, works as a maid for the Mompellions and assists them with the care and comfort of the afflicted. Anna finds herself performing a number of tasks and feats that she would never have attempted before in order to try to save her friends and neighbors. She jumps in to help both out of necessity and as a way to escape her own sorrows. As the death toll rises, grief and 17th century superstition lead to charges of witchcraft and devil worship as the plague brings out the best and worst of human behavior amongst the villagers. 

A Year of Wonders is not only a story of death and survival, it's a story about people struggling with their faith when it is sorely tested and discovering what they're really made of.

Rebecca Light

I'm a huge Geraldine Brooks fan. As a historical fiction junkie, I think she's very close to mastering the genre. I adored March. I was riveted by The People of the Book. I was smitten with Caleb's Crossing. I was... slightly disappointed with Year of Wonders. It's really a wonderful book but I think my expectations were just too high. I would recommend the aforementioned three books to anyone and everyone. I probably wouldn't push so hard for this one. I would say, if you are interested in this period of history, definitely pick it up. It captures the time period and the horror of the plague brilliantly. I just don't think it gets into the heart of the characters as much as her other novels. I just fell in love with every character in Caleb's Crossing and March. I found myself feeling rather apathetic about the folks in this novel. There was more time spent with my jaw dropped at the gruesome descriptions of the plague, than my heart breaking for the plight of the characters. 

Many have made comments about the ending. I was eager to see what all of the fuss was about. I wasn't as outraged at the strange ending as some other Goodreads readers, but I will admit that yes, it was disappointing and odd. Odd in that it didn't seem like the ending Brooks wanted. I almost felt like I could hear her editor pressuring her to write it. Like they felt it needed a Hollywood ending. That's all I'll say without giving anything anyway. The jury is out on the ending for me. Mostly, yes, I did not like it. But it didn't completely sour the book as a whole. Still gets 3 solid stars for it's historical accuracy and courage.

Kali Nichta

3 1/2 stars

A highly readable story marred by what felt like the author playing an insane game of "what if" at the end.

Year of wonders a novel of the plague

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