A fascinating story, beautifully written. Odd ending, mind you.

Once before, some years, I tried to read this book and got about 10 or 15% in and then dropped it. Not because of the writing or the subject matter either. It was just not the time for comparison to what was in my TBR pile.

So I read every word. The first half was at least 4 stars and her writing prose skill is even higher. She builds words and rhythms as a master. And for Anna and several other characters made them core and soul real. And furthermore kept them completely within their "time" too.

But somewhere around 45% that "time" fit wavered. Anna became beyond her character's period / epoch/ experience to become a 1750 or 1800 plus type of mental and physical entity. And that revises to such an extent that the whole village picture, for me, doesn't stay on the same "real" page as the earlier parts.

And as it approaches and especially in the Epilogue, I think the book was barely a 2 star.

She's a gifted and practiced writer. But her "eyes" and general worldview are reflected in all her works I've read. Not to the advantages of the copy itself, not at all. It makes her product ultimately much more effusive and "make believe" than her skill would produce if she became objective. Instead she is subjective and reactive. It hurt this book badly.

What dire times! And what losses of all in such disease ridden epochs. Not just life, but connection, liberty, structures for solid mental capacity.

Started this as an audiobook, but the narrator was terrible. She sounded like she was completely bored and was about to fall asleep. But I was too interested in the storyline, so I checked the hard copy out at the library. I think if I had continued the audio version I would have rated about a 2.
The story is loosely based upon the actual present plague village in Derbyshire, the source of contagion still debated. 1666 was a tough year for the country: the great plague, a Dutch invasion, the great fire. Somehow the plague spread to this little hamlet and killed two-thirds of the population during the year of disease. Our narrator is the creation of the author. She experiences the sickness, terror, filth, and despondency as well as finds strength, sisterhood, fortitude, and courage. Death is balanced with new life; spells and incantations with true physic. Some true accounts researched by the author are interspersed with possible events imagined.

Anna Frith resides in a remote village where a bolt of cloth delivered from London brings with it the bubonic plague. Guided by a vision bestowed upon the town minister, Anna and her village elect to quarantine themselves, hoping to prevent the plague from spreading. Days of quarantine turn into weeks. As the months come and go, villagers grow restless. Death is prevalent in every household; suspicion and anger mount as villagers yearn for someone to blame for their plight. Anna soon faces far greater perils than the devastating plague.

Year of Wonders is brimming with the same elegant, beguiling prose one can anticipate from any book written by Geraldine Brooks.

At the edge of the field, the hedgerows were deep green in their glossy leaves and the blackberries beginning to plump and redden. Fat lambs, their fleeces gilded by sunlight, grazed in lush grasses.

Instead, I lingered in the quiet grove behind the church, where the old graves are. It is a lumpy place, where the ground has heaved and sighed into grassy mounds and the briar roses tumbled in a bright profusion of ruddied hips over graves whose markings are weathered and barely legible.

While the village is portrayed as a beautiful place any would be lucky to wander, the author depicts the horrors of the plague with equal skill, making use of ghastly descriptions that spare no detail:

The day of his death, the strange circles bloomed on him: vivid crimson welts rising in rings just beneath the topmost layer of his skin. As the hours passed, these turned violet then purple-black, hardening into crusts. It seemed as if the flesh inside of him was dying while he yet breathed, the putrefying meat pushing and bursting its way out of his failing body.

Eighteen-year-old Anna Frith remains a fascinating character from start to finish. She faces many hardships but remains a strong woman with a loving heart, befriending outcasts and dabbling in perilous medicinal trades. Despite the many dreadful events she bears witness to, Anna maintains a tender view of the world.

[He] died as babies do, gently and without complaint. Because they have been such a little time with us, they seem to hold to life but weakly. I used to wonder if it was so because the memory of Heaven still lived within them, so that in leaving here they do not fear death as we do, who no longer know with certainty where it is our spirits go. This, I thought, must be the kindness that God does for them and for us, since He give so many infants such a little while to bide with us.

Occasionally the pacing in Year of Wonders stumbles and slows, but it always picks up again and eventually arrives at one of the most satisfying conclusions of any book yet read.

***SPOILER ALERT******

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 =)

I'm still reading the novel and must admit it's really gripped me. The novel presents the atmosphere in a 17th century remote English village during the Plague, but not only, it describes a small rural community, the beginnings of mining, witch hunting and superstitions, all of which ultimately lead to dramatic events. Also, the language is exeptionally powerful, you do not read it as a historical novel written in modern times. I did enjoy reading the novel as it's always interesting to observe how people, unable to leave the place, behave towards each other when confronted with a problem.

I surprised myself by how much I connected with the main character in Year of Wonders, a woman in a small village in 1666 that becomes the epicenter of a plague epidemic. It was fun to read something so outside my normal fare, and despite some stomach-churning childbirth scenes (I'm definitely not cut out for the health-care profession) I couldn't wait to see what would happen (or who would get infected) next.

I recently attended an author event in which Geraldine Brooks was interviewed by Laura Moriarty! Brooks is smart and articulate, with a delightful sense of style. You can read about the experience here. (Photo of her kickass red booties included!)

Rating: Very Good

Genre:
Historical Fiction

This is the story of a small village in England that got quarantined because of a horrible plague in the year 1666. This novel is inspired by the true story of the villagers of Eyam, Derbyshire. The characters are fictional and the stories that surround them are too. The author has used some real names here but nothing beyond the names was used.

The protagonist of this book is Anna Firth whom we follow her story and feel her sorrows after she loses her husband and later children. She plays a great role in helping others in the village when this plague starts to spread causing big chaos. The villagers agree to self-quarantine so that the plague will not spread beyond the village itself to other villages and towns.

One aspect that I really liked about this story is how people go into full panic. Some lose their faith and believe in hope, others go for witchery and other means and some others think this plague as God's punishment to them so they start to self harm themselves in a way or another as they think this act will cleanse their souls!

It is hard for a reader to say that he enjoyed reading this book because the subject is very serious and today we are experiencing it, so the word enjoyment does not fit here, but I'd rather say that I appreciated all the human nature that the author has exhibited in her characters during this contingency. The writing style is beautiful here but sometimes I felt my mind getting distracted not sure because of a fault in the writing itself but maybe because I am reading it right now when more than half of the world is in quarantine!

I know that some of my friends did not enjoy the ending and how one of the important characters in the story revealed himself as someone totally different from what he used to be or what Anna thought he was. I think that was a plus for me and added more intrigue to the tale. If you want to read a story about quarantine this is a really good one, but make sure you are brave enough to handle such a subject these days.

Romāns atstāj spēcīgu pēcgaršu. Labi, ka šodien spīdēja saule, aizvēru vākus un kādu brīdi skatījos pa logu - mierinājumam. Lai gan romāna beigas ir savā ziņā gaišas (un es īsti to negaidīju), tomēr gads, ko ciemata ļaudis pavada pašizolācijā, ir pārāk smags, tas atstāj dziļas rētas. Mēris un tā nestās nāves pārbauda cilvēku ticību un atklāj kā labākās tā sliktākās īpašības. Es pilnībā noticēju Annas stāstam, bet man grūti noticēt, ka šis ir autores debijas romāns. Meistarīgi.

Despite the vast majority of this story being a seemingly unending tide of death and devastation from the Plague, I absolutely loved this novel. Granted I'm kind of a sucker for a historical novel set in a small seventeenth century British village with medical themes and an empowered female protagonist, but this story did an excellent job of combining period details, developing compelling characters, and showing a community in an impossible situation. I liked the end, though I'll admit it was awfully tidy and speedy in its completion. This was the best book I've read in months, and a beautiful story of how death and misery cannot completely crush the possibility of life's joy and growth.

If you are writing a book and want a solid example of what NOT to do, then “Year of Wonders” by Geraldine Brooks is an ideal case study. Yes, that may be harsh but Year of Wonder displays the prime example of an interesting plot with poor execution.

To begin, the text style is somewhat repellant as it is bland and one dimensional, lacking depth and energy. Also absent is a strong sense of imagery, with a monotone and drab voice, causing the reader to want to scan the pages (trust me, you won’t miss much). The language is elementary with sections that read as follows, “I picked up my skirts to avoid the mud. I walked to the stables. The horses looked happy to see me”; versus something along the lines of: “Picking up my delicate skirts hoping to prevent damage, I walked to the stables where the horses pawed the ground in a warm greeting”… you get the idea.

The character development in Year of Wonders is very poor. The reader never truly gets a grasp of Anna’s psyche and mental emotions. Simply put, she isn’t accessible while she furthermore fails to maintain any chemistry with the extensive number of characters within the novel. On several occasions, Anna mentions her deceased husband Sam, but there is no woven emotional connection to him. The story progression is also flat and doesn’t involve much more than: Person A dies from plague then Person B, then we try to prevent Person C from passing but he dies along with Person D…SNOOZE. You think that the portions describing witches and spells are more engaging? WRONG. They are nothing short of cheesy and unbelievable, better suited for a YA novel.

Need more convincing on the negative aspects of this book? The narrative quite bluntly has no spirit. Even when Anna’s children die from the plague, the reader doesn’t feel much remorse because Anna herself barely details any. The time period also seems to be “off”. Although taking place in 1666, Year of Wonders doesn’t encompass Stuart England and fall shorts on bringing the experience to life. In fact, the text is a bit more modern than the time period chronicled.

Okay, this review is nothing more than a list of complaints but I truly found no redeeming factor in Year of Wonders. There are too many books and too little time to focus on a poor story.

I loved the book Horse by Geraldine Brooks. Year of Wonders is my second Brooks book and I liked it okay but not as much as I liked Horse.

Year of Wonders is set in the 1600s when a plague strikes. The small town of Derbyshire self-quarantines to prevent further deaths. The main protagonist, Anna, and the rector's wife, Elinor, collect herbs and learn how to use various herbs to help with minor ailments. They also become midwives. Tragedy and death continue throughout the story.

Year of Wonders is a 2001 international bestselling historical fiction novel and it was a NY Times and Washington Post notable book. There are many high ratings from Goodreads reviewers and I encourage readers to read them.

For me, the amount of death and tragedy was challenging and depressing.