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Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plagueby Geraldine Brooks |
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When an infected bolt of cloth carries plague from London to an isolated village, a housemaid named Anna Frith emerges as an unlikely heroine and healer. Through Anna's eyes we follow the story of the fateful year of 1666, as she and her fellow villagers confront the spread of disease and superstition. As death reaches into every household and villagers turn from prayers to murderous witch-hunting, Anna must find the strength to confront the disintegration of her community and the lure of illicit love. As she struggles to survive and grow, a year of catastrophe becomes instead annus mirabilis, a "year of wonders."
Inspired by the true story of Eyam, a village in the rugged hill country of England, Year of Wonders is a richly detailed evocation of a singular moment in history. Written with stunning emotional intelligence and introducing "an inspiring heroine" (The Wall Street Journal), Brooks blends love and learning, loss and renewal into a spellbinding and unforgettable read.
"The novel glitters . . . A deep imaginative engagement with how people are changed by catastrophe." (The New Yorker)
"Year of Wonders is a vividly imagined and strangely consoling tale of hope in a time of despair." (O, The Oprah Magazine)
"Brooks proves a gifted storyteller as she subtly reveals how ignorance, hatred and mistrust can be as deadly as any virus. . . . Year of Wonders is itself a wonder." (People )
From Amazon.com Review:
Geraldine Brooks's Year of Wonders describes the 17th-century plague that is carried from London to a small Derbyshire village by an itinerant tailor. As villagers begin, one by one, to die, the rest face a choice: do they flee their village in hope of outrunning the plague or do they stay? The lord of the manor and his family pack up and leave. The rector, Michael Mompellion, argues forcefully that the villagers should stay put, isolate themselves from neighboring towns and villages, and prevent the contagion from spreading. His oratory wins the day and the village turns in on itself. Cocooned from the outside world and ravaged by the disease, its inhabitants struggle to retain their humanity in the face of the disaster. The narrator, the young widow Anna Frith, is one of the few who succeeds. With Mompellion and his wife, Elinor, she tends to the dying and battles to prevent her fellow villagers from descending into drink, violence, and superstition. All is complicated by the intense, inexpressible feelings she develops for both the rector and his wife. Year of Wonders sometimes seems anachronistic as historical fiction; Anna and Mompellion occasionally appear to be modern sensibilities unaccountably transferred to 17th-century Derbyshire. However, there is no mistaking the power of Brooks's imagination or the skill with which she constructs her story of ordinary people struggling to cope with extraordinary circumstances. --Nick Rennison, Amazon.co.uk
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Great read! - |
Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague Review |
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This is wonderful read, both from the perspective of the insights into the way of life at the time in question, and from the perspective of the development of the personalities and motivations of the charachters. I am a fan of non-fictional histories, so this was a bit off the track for me, but it was a wonderful diversion. Having recently read The Great Mortality by John Kelly, I found the intimate details of life in these times even more fascinating. |
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Book missing pages -  |
Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague Review |
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Emailed book vendor BUT NEVER RECEIVED A RESPONSE. Pages 1-34 were missing from Years of Wonder and vendor didn't even offer refund, replacement OR copies of missing pages. I'll order elsewhere in the future. |
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I'm Loving This Author - |
Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague Review |
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After reading March, I had to immediately read this novel by the same author. It's the story about the plague hitting a small village in England and how the people in the small town change as a result of it. I've been fascinated with historical fictions about plagues since reading Connie Willis' Doomsday Book. I still think I enjoyed Doomsday Book a bit more, but they are, after all, two entirely different stories.
I found it interesting how this particular plague tale focuses on a real plague in a real town. The Puritans of the town don't know whether to blame God, Satan, or witches for the plague. It's interesting how they looked to their pastor (who wasn't a Puritan) as a leader to tell them what steps to take next: quarantine their town, burn all their possessions, etc. The main character, Anna, was dreamed up by the author when she read that the town's minister's servant was spared in the plague. Curiosity about the servant led to the author creating a historical fantasy in her mind about the town, its inhabitants, and the ministers servant. This was a great first fiction novel for Brooks. However, it doesn't have nearly the power that March has. The only semi-unfulfilling parts for me were the unfinished relationships and an ending that felt rushed. Of course there are going to be unfinished relationships in a time of plague, but there are too many that are senselessly cut short. And when the main character is suddenly thrust into a new life toward the end, we merely get a detail-starved synopsis that leaves us wishing there was more. I suppose that an author has the prerogative to end their story however they want, but I wish they wouldn't take the story to such a different turn and then just stop. |
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Unexpectedly, A Great Read -  |
Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague Review |
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A story about the plague that is set in England in the 1600's isn't one that I would have likely read had it not been chosen by my book club. However, I'm glad that I read it, and highly recommend it to others. Even if you're someone who doesn't generally read books set in a different time period, don't shy away from this one. It may take a few pages to adjust to the language, but the story is compelling and moves quickly. Dire circumstances bring out the best in some people and the worst in others, and this author does an outstanding job of demonstrating this through the experience of the residents of a small village that is nearly decimated by the plague. Based on a true story and told through the eyes of Anna, reading about this small village is an emotional experience that offers opportunities to examine ones own reactions to the decisions and actions of the village members. |
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Beautifully Written, But Strange Ending - |
Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague Review |
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This is a beautifully written book with elegant prose. The author handles the gory details of plague accurately (I assume, I've never seen plague) and tastefully. You are struck by the horror and devastation, but not totally repulsed by the gore of so much death.
I have wondered how people who survive something like this (seeing almost all of their family and friends die) do so without serious pyschological damage. They don't. Even those who seem strong cannot, in the end, withstand the trauma of it all. Their grief leads to some very strange and out-of-character actions. I highly recommend that you put enough time aside to read the last 100 pages without interrruption because you will be rivitted. The ending is odd, and will shock you, but how do you end a book about events that were totally out of the ordinary for these people? |
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