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Year of Wonders

3.97 of 5 stars 3.97 · rating details · 56,525 ratings · 5,113 reviews

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 t...more

Paperback, 308 pages

Published April 30th 2002 by Penguin Books (first published August 6th 2001)

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Mar 29, 2013 Jennifer (aka EM) rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: plague-and-pestilence

Update: Mar 29/13--I don't know why I did it, but the very fact that I did it (finished this book) was going to lead me to up it to three stars. But now that I've done it I'M TAKING THIS DOWN TO ONE STAR -- HOLY MOLY AND GOLLY GEE WILLIKERS BUT I AM P.O.'d AT THIS BOOK.

None of the last 50pp - new character development COMPLETELY in opposition and nonsensical to anything that went before, new sub-plots suggested and followed - were either necessary or sensible. ALL of it was entirely a contrivan...more

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Apr 02, 2012 Jeffrey Keeten rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

1666 was not a good year for England with bubonic plague killing 100,000 people followed by The Great Fire of London which destroyed 80% of London or about 13,000 homes. It is hard for us to conceive of a disease that can show up one day and within a few short months kill 75% of the people we know. To survive is fortuitous, but to actually acquire the disease and survive is nothing short of miraculous. The first signs were bulges at the groin called buboes. Can you imagine the bone chilling fear...more 1666 was not a good year for England with bubonic plague killing 100,000 people followed by The Great Fire of London which destroyed 80% of London or about 13,000 homes. It is hard for us to conceive of a disease that can show up one day and within a few short months kill 75% of the people we know. To survive is fortuitous, but to actually acquire the disease and survive is nothing short of miraculous. The first signs were bulges at the groin called buboes. Can you imagine the bone chilling fear that would course through your body at the first appearance of such bulges?

George Viccars, a tailor, made a very innocuous decision to order a bolt of cloth from London. He used the cloth to make fashionable dresses for the ladies of Eyam little did he know the cloth was infested with plague carrying fleas. The plague kills Viccars first and spreads quickly from family to family taking the youngest and fittest in greatest numbers. William Mompellion, the minister of the shire, makes the heroic decision to quarantine the town and contain the contagion. Through the eyes of Anna Frith we are exposed to the devastating effects of fear and loss on the small community. Death brings opportunity to some and sends others into object poverty. Anna, though besot by her own demons, does the best she can to not only survive her personal losses, but also make the fateful decision to devout her life providing help and succor to those who need it most.

The midwives, medicine women, who command a deep knowledge of herbs and roots that would provide the most help during an outbreak of a deadly disease are the first to be treated with distrust. Their knowledge is looked on as magical well beyond the understanding of an under educated population. You would have thought these women had green skin and made grand statements like "I'll get you my pretty.", but they were just women interested in understanding the world around them and making the best use of what nature provided.

"And so, as generally happens, those who have most give least, and those with less somehow make shrift to share." The rich flee Eyam and the rest stay, intent on riding out the worst of the contagion. They had no conception of just how horrible things were going to get.

This is based on a true story. The book shows people at their very best and their very worst. It made me consider what I would do. Could I be as brave as Anna? Could I support the leadership of a Minister intent on keeping me and my family in harms way? Could I help those already infected? There are many things to admire in this tale. The ending though is odd. I notice that other reviewers mentioned the ending and I agree it was unexpected, but maybe we are all just underestimating the courage and determination of one woman.

Two other plague novels that I really liked are Company Of Liars by Karen Maitland and The Pesthouse by Jim Crace. I have no reviews for them; unfortunately, because I read them before finding the wonderful community of goodreads. Company of Liars is told in a similar vein to Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales and Pesthouse is a postapocalyptic America regressed to Medieval conditions. (less)

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Aug 07, 2007 JanB rated it 3 of 5 stars

I would have given this a higher rating if not for the strange ending.

71 likes · like · see review

Jun 23, 2010 Meredith Enos rated it 2 of 5 stars

A lot of people have complained about this book being slow, but I found it beautifully paced for what it was about--after all, the title is "Year of Wonders," which kind of sets up an expectation and timeframe right away. The pace helped set up a world, a time when things moved more slowly, when people were more thoughtful, when people paid attention to the seasons and nature. This is a beautifully narrated, incredibly seamless (for the amount of research that must have been put into to it, it r...more

25 likes · like · see review

Jan 15, 2011 Francine rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: modern-lit, historical-fiction, books-i-don-t-care-for, brit-lit

I had read a couple of Geraldine Brooks' essays for my Lit Theory class while I was in grad school, and while I was never one of those ultra-feminist types, I liked what she wrote about women as being strong, independent and intelligent creatures without overtly politicizing femininity as a whole. So I looked forward to reading "Year of Wonders", primarily because I loved the topic, I loved the time period, I loved the location and because I thought Brooks would be able to impart something diffe...more I had read a couple of Geraldine Brooks' essays for my Lit Theory class while I was in grad school, and while I was never one of those ultra-feminist types, I liked what she wrote about women as being strong, independent and intelligent creatures without overtly politicizing femininity as a whole. So I looked forward to reading "Year of Wonders", primarily because I loved the topic, I loved the time period, I loved the location and because I thought Brooks would be able to impart something different to the story.

I was not impressed. As a whole, and academically speaking, the novel was flawless - it had strong characters, it was well-written grammatically, it had everything readers would look for in a novel. And I think that was what set me off. It followed all the rules about Writing The Novel: protagonists were good, antagonists were bad. Good people were redeemed at the end and the bad ones were punished. Scared, ignorant people did ghastly things because they didn't know any better: they reacted more than they thought. Women were strong, intelligent and outspoken, men were either enlightened or bought into the patriarchal hegemony, and in the end, the novel showed how the human spirit overcame everything bad that was thrown at it. Brooks did an excellent job with her research, so the locales were vividly described and she clung to historicity almost to a fault.

But in making the "perfect" novel, she lost something. It was not authentic at all. There were anachronisms all over the place. I found it extremely cloying that the language switched back and forth between modern and early modern (17th century) English. I found some of the characters 2-dimensional (good were good, bad were bad, when in reality, a really decent character would have both qualities - these days, everyone knows about the "flawed hero"). I thought that some of her characterizations and descriptions were better suited for a novel set a century later, not in 1666. She had a tendency to rely too much on idiomatic expressions, which made the writing awkward at times and the reading quite tedious. I had a few eye-rolling moments and honestly, I couldn't wait to finish the book - not because I wanted to know what happened, but because I had lost patience with it.(less)

15 likes · like · see review

Aug 05, 2008 Judith rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: adultfiction

I enjoyed this a lot, but with some reservations. First of all, I knew the basic story very well from Jill Paton Walsh's wonderful children's novel "A Parcel of Patterns", so in a way, I didn't feel I was coming fresh to the book.

Secondly, I felt the narrator was a bit of a Mary Sue, in that she seemed to me--a rabid historical fiction fan as a teenager--to be an idealised version of what we think we'd like to have been like if we'd lived in the past. Maybe that's unfair on the author--someone...more

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Feb 21, 2011 Hannah rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-reads, historicals

Rarely has a book so captivated and then disappointed me with such a 180 turn to what I called utter "dreckage". Year of Wonders managed to do this, infortunately.

In order to review, I have to break the book up between pages so that you can see where the trainwreck happened for me, and why I'm so PO'ed I could almost cry....

REVIEW FOR PAGES 1-255
Rating: 5 stars (I'd give it 10 stars if Goodreads had that designation, but since 5 stars means it was amazing, then 5 stars it is)

Year of Wonders: Pag...more

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Jun 06, 2008 Rebecca rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: people who like historical fiction.

Recommended to Rebecca by: LisaMM

Year of Wonders is a historical novel about a small English town 100 miles outside of London. It's the year 1666, and the town has been struck by plague, brought to them by a London tailor boarding with our narrator, Anna. The village is so remote that when the plague first appears the villagers don't recognize it for what it is. Once they learn the horrors of the disease, the villagers are asked to make a decision whether to flee in order to save themselves, or to stay put in order to keep the...more Year of Wonders is a historical novel about a small English town 100 miles outside of London. It's the year 1666, and the town has been struck by plague, brought to them by a London tailor boarding with our narrator, Anna. The village is so remote that when the plague first appears the villagers don't recognize it for what it is. Once they learn the horrors of the disease, the villagers are asked to make a decision whether to flee in order to save themselves, or to stay put in order to keep the disease from spreading any further.

In the end, everyone in the village agrees to stay, aside from the only rich family in town - the only family with the means to run far from the reaches of the disease. As we follow the rest of the town through its year of isolation, we watch Anna, who begins as a lowly maid, transformed into a strong woman who the town begins to depend on for herbal remedies to just about every malady, in addition to becoming the only midwife in town (after an unfortunate incident that leaves the former midwife dead).

When I first saw this book I knew it was going to be an easy read, merely because of its length (only 336 pages!). What I didn't know was how much I'd enjoy reading it. This book packed in a ton of information, along with many vivid scenes. Time and again I found myself being shocked by how much I learned from this book and how many different places/people were described in so few pages. Brooks is an amazing writer for both her economy of words and her ability to tell a story well. Also, she does a wonderful job of using old English without it seeming cumbersome. I have read other historical books and been completely put off by them because it's so difficult for me to figure out what the characters are saying to each other.

I really enjoyed watching Anna grow as a person. One of my favorite parts of the book was when she went to the mine with Elinor (her partner in seeking herbal remedies to the plague) to save Merry from losing her family's mine. I was surprised Brooks made these women so independent in a novel about the 17th century, but in the interviews with her in the back of the book she talks about the necessity of women taking a leading role during that time and the fact that women were starting to gain more freedom during that century in England.

There were some cringe-worthy moments in this book - from the witch hangings to a couple of scenes where women are physically abused - but I think it added to the authenticity of the book. We live in such a sterile world today, it was difficult for me to imagine what it would be like to live in such a dirty place while trying to fight a fatal disease.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I would definitely recommend it (and already have forced it upon a number of friends). The one thing that really disappointed me was the epilogue, although that was pretty much because it went against what I had imagined and what I was expecting to happen. Normally I'd be glad about this because I hate when books are too predictable (and I probably would have said it was predictable if it had ended the way I had expected it to, so I don't know why I'm complaining), but after all the death and destruction in this novel, I guess I kind of wanted a couple of people to end up "happily ever after."(less)

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Jul 16, 2008 Gina rated it 4 of 5 stars

Ah me, I'm afraid I had to reach for the smelling salts many times during Brooks' depiction of the plague's rampage through a small village in central England in the year 1666. The village and it's heroic decision to isolate itself to prevent the spread of the Black Death to other parts of the country is a reality. The characters spring to full-blown life from the author's imagination: preachers, servant girls, noble people who take on the roles of "heavies", Puritans, Anglicans, Ancients and c...more Ah me, I'm afraid I had to reach for the smelling salts many times during Brooks' depiction of the plague's rampage through a small village in central England in the year 1666. The village and it's heroic decision to isolate itself to prevent the spread of the Black Death to other parts of the country is a reality. The characters spring to full-blown life from the author's imagination: preachers, servant girls, noble people who take on the roles of "heavies", Puritans, Anglicans, Ancients and children, and most vividly drawn, witches performing white and black magic.

Like THE PEOPLE OF THE BOOK, this novel is painstaking in its detailed research. The Plague comes to the village on a bolt of material a tailor brought from London. The tailor is a lodger with a young widow, the narrator and so, naturally, a survivor of the Year of Wonder. Wonder is a many layered choice for the title: first, it describes the miracle of living through such horrors but I suggest it describes the philosophical question, the "why" about suffering that has asked since myth making began.

It did not take great powers of deduction to guess where the story was going since Anna opens her narrative after the worst has happened, and she is attending to the Preacher, strong, silent and virtuous. However, let me state that this is no Harlequin Romance and surprises and yes, wonders, occur before the final page.

But let me get back to my queasy stomach and attacks of the vapors. Brooks did her homework too well: we read about the boils and the blood and the piteous deaths of children and old folk. It seems the middle aged often had the stamina to live through or past the epidemic. As if this were not enough, several other varieties of deaths come to life with sickening verisimiltude. Just warning, not spoiling, that you keep one of those airplane bags nearby. Childbirths are not omitted nor unique and hideous punishments meted out to those who extorted their fellow man and those innocent women herbalists who were branded as Satinist.

This is not a book for the faint of heart but it is informative and its fictions rest on actual happenings during that Fateful Year.(less)

17 likes · like · see review

May 18, 2012 Angie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Angie by: Diana

As a child of 11, I visited Eyam in Derbyshire for a 3 week long holiday staying in a 15th Century farmhouse. If the house wasn't creepy enough, the history of the 'Plague village' and its brave inhabitants totally fired up my imagination and I haven't forgotten the impression this made on me and my sisters and brother. I remember seeing the well, a crude stone with holes in it which was the furthest point the villagers could go to and where they left notes, money and requests for basic necessit...more

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Jan 26, 2012 Orsolya rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, library, stuart-england

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 m...more 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 delicates 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.
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Jan 20, 2011 Ann Canann rated it 4 of 5 stars

A terrific novel of ordinary people in an extraordinary time. Brooks is a gifted story teller with riveting observations of everyday things and period detail. She brings an amazing 17th century historical event to life in a story of how one village heroically faced the black-death. A wonderful read, my favorite by Brooks.

Daughter (Tania Lyon) put "Year of Wonder" in her to-read list.

Daughter (Kristin Stangl) responded: "Don't be fooled by the heroism-in-bad-times marketing bit; this is a disturb...more

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May 19, 2009 Amy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, read-in-2009

***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 Villag...more ***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 =)
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Feb 21, 2013 Julie (julie37619) rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: library

I honestly have two totally different ranks for this book: one of the first 200 pages and one of the last fifty. The last fifty pages totally ruined everything I loved about the first 200. If I weren't reading on my computer, I'd throw it across the room.

Year of Wonders is inspired by a true story of a village called Eyam in England, which experienced an outbreak of the plague in 1666. Our story focuses on Anna, a housemaid for the village priest, and her experiences with loss, family, and commu...more I honestly have two totally different ranks for this book: one of the first 200 pages and one of the last fifty. The last fifty pages totally ruined everything I loved about the first 200. If I weren't reading on my computer, I'd throw it across the room.

Year of Wonders is inspired by a true story of a village called Eyam in England, which experienced an outbreak of the plague in 1666. Our story focuses on Anna, a housemaid for the village priest, and her experiences with loss, family, and community as the village is cut off from all other society in an effort to contain the plague.

Writing
So this is kind of a modern classic, right? It's a New York Times and Washington Post notable book, it's a best seller, and you'll find it on all kinds of "Best of" and "Required Reading" lists. I felt obligated to read it and have had it on my list for years. After reading it, I'm honestly lost as to where to start in reviewing the writing. I feel like it was almost two separate books.

The first book - made up of the first 250 or so pages - was amazing. I thought the writing was beautiful, I love the characters, and I was very impressed with the overall quality as well as the author's storytelling capabilities.

And then the last fifty pages happened and it wasn't even in the same world as the first section. Things just go absolutely nuts in the last fifty pages. I don't want to spoil, but I could not, even by the largest stretch, suspend my disbelief that far. It was totally and completely unbelievable, not just based on history and fact (the book is not a fantasy) but also based on everything the author had established about the characters to that point. You can't write two hundred and fifty pages of character development and then turn around and have the characters act against everything you've already established. No, just no.

Entertainment Value
Despite my anger at the fact that the last few pages of the book take place in some alternate universe with characters who do not in any way resemble the characters we've established throughout the rest of the novel, I actually was quite entertained by the whole thing. I mean, I'll always be entertained by crazy stuff happening, but in this case being entertained was not the best thing. The crazy stuff, while crazily entertaining, had absolutely no place in the book.

Overall
The ending ruined it. I'm not ready to say I don't recommend it, because I feel like the first part of the book is really good. And it's not a horrible waste of time in the way a more believable but cliched and un-memorable story would be. This one is certainly memorable and inspired discussion between me and the friends who have read it - so in that way it was a success. Just don't model your upcoming plague novel on the last fifty pages, ok?(less)

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Jun 30, 2008 Laura rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Laura by: Kathryn Latour

1666. A young housemaid walks through the empty streets of a village decimated by plague. She attends to the rector, a formerly charismatic leader now sequestered in his empty house, listless and faithless. The previous year a bolt of fabric from London brought bubonic plague to this remote northern village, and as one by one the villagers began to die, the rector convinced them that instead of fleeing the village and bringing plague to others (who probably would drive them away anyway), they sh...more 1666. A young housemaid walks through the empty streets of a village decimated by plague. She attends to the rector, a formerly charismatic leader now sequestered in his empty house, listless and faithless. The previous year a bolt of fabric from London brought bubonic plague to this remote northern village, and as one by one the villagers began to die, the rector convinced them that instead of fleeing the village and bringing plague to others (who probably would drive them away anyway), they should quarantine themselves and ride it out. As nearly two-thirds of the inhabitants sicken and die, our 18 year old heroine joins forces with the rector and his wife to minister to the living, dying, and dead, and try to prevent the village from descending into superstition and barbarity. At times they succeed more than others, but watching those who rise to extraordinary challenges and those who don’t is compelling entertainment.

At a dinner recently a friend handed this over to me and said, “You should read it — it’s wonderfully written!” She was right — the prose is beautiful, the story gripping, and the portrayal of human nature fascinating. Then (fun coincidence) I was two chapters into the book when another friend brought me to a book reading by Tony Horwitz, this very funny travel writer, who turned out to be Geraldine Brooks’s husband! Who knew?! Well, obviously he did, as did the book store lady who introduced him. So I grabbed a copy of Year of Wonders and asked him to sign it along with one of his own books, which he did without making me feel too ridiculous. He also told me that this was his favorite of his wife’s books. It’s a fast read, and guaranteed to make you feel really good about living in the 21st century. My only problem is with the ending. All through the book a couple of characters display obviously modern sensibilities, but the end really does seem to go off the rails with bizarre plot twists more suitable to a supermarket paperback than good historical fiction. Added to that is the toll on faith that the plague takes — really, nobody’s faith is strengthened after going through this sort of ordeal?? Granted, who knows if mine would be, especially given the absence of plumbing, medicine, or decent food, as well as the cast of illiterate drunkards I’d have to endure, but shouldn’t we at least hope for characters who come through the refiner’s fire wiser and stronger? Other than that, very interesting and beautifully written.
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Mar 16, 2008 Amy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2008-books-read, plague

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 i...more

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Nov 29, 2007 Melissa rated it 3 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this book. The characters were interesting and I liked the narrator, Anna. The book is loosely based on actual events: there was an entire village that willingly quarantined itself during the plague so its members would not carry the disease to other villages. It's a facinating premise and Brooks shows us the best and worst of people living with a self-imposed death sentece. I enjoyed reading the book through Anna's perspective. She was not formally educated, but smart and insightful -...more

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Jul 03, 2007 Stephany fisher rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: historical fiction lovers

The Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks - Recommended
I really enjoyed this book. It is an interesting mix of historical and feminist fiction that brings to mind The Red Tent, or The Instance of the Fingerpost. The book is about the plague in a village near London in the years 1665-1666. One of the most fascinating aspects of this book is that it presents the ending (or almost the ending) at the beginning of the book, and yet still evokes tremendous suspense. I was hungrily compelled to reach the...more

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Jun 28, 2007 Lois rated it 5 of 5 stars

Wow this book is SO good. I kept NOT reading it, knowing it was one of those "how I survived the plague when others around me fell" books.....and you definitely have to be in the right state of mind for that.
Well, I'm actually listening to this on CD, and the narrator is fantastic and the story is one I have to tear myself away from. Possibly a tiny bit of contemporary sensibility transplanted onto the young widowed protagonist, but not enough to be distracting, and probably just enough to attr...more

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Nov 11, 2008 ShaRose rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: adult readers

Recommended to ShaRose by: local library pick

Shelves: favorites

Just about my favorite read book to date! It took me around 30 pages to get in to a groove because I was about to quit it after several restarts. Written in an Old English style that takes getting used to, though well worth it, this is the most eloquently beautiful book I have ever read, as if the language is well-oiled. The story is set in the 1600's during the time of the Plague, and not a book one might think of as lovely under these circumstances and yet, it is a fascinating weave of events...more

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Dec 05, 2007 Christine rated it 5 of 5 stars

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 aw...more

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Dec 06, 2010 Ron rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, maps

Wonderful evocation to a time far enough from our own as to seem like a fantasy. Excellent characters and plot, based on true events.

Marred only by the heroine's preternatural wisdom (it is fiction) and the inane, un-historical Epilogue, but even that is not enough to deflect my recommendation. Read and enjoy.

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Sep 26, 2010 Jessica rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Dec 01, 2009 Heather rated it 5 of 5 stars

I officially love Geraldine Brooks! This book is slim, but powerful in its imagery and emotional heft. My favorite similarity with People of the Book is the way they both feature gentle and life-loving females taking the joys and pains of life as they come, but they are neither passionate silly women, nor calm schemers or intellectuals, nor shining heroines who can do no wrong and are always brave.

Anna is depicted as a real person, who has made tough decisions (some which she regrets, but somet...more

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Nov 07, 2009 Graham rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical, literature

A friend of mine lent me this book accompanied by her hearty recommendation. I confess it sat, unread on my desk, for a number of months while I caught up on my TBR pile, but at last I finally got around to checking it out. I’d completed it within a few days.

It’s a fabulous historical novel. I wish ALL historical novels were like this. Everything is spot on: the attention to detail is perfect, the pacing just right, the writing style readable and intelligent. Best of all is the author’s grasp of...more

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Feb 22, 2009 Becky rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, 2009, religion-related, reviewed

This was a very interesting book. I really enjoy historical fiction. I love to read about how people lived before the invention of the internet, or the car, or the cotton gin, or whatever the case may be.

This was a short book, at just over 300 pages, but it didn't feel short. The characters were well-developed, the pacing of the story was just right, and it kept me entertained from start to finish. I really enjoyed seeing how the people in the village reacted to the deaths all around them. It's...more

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Mar 28, 2008 Katy rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have to say that I liked this book. But, I was greatly disappointed in it. I came to the book knowing of the sacrifice of that village and knowing, too, that when people sacrifice in such a way they are abundantly blessed by God. Unfortunately, the latter was completely missing in this book. It is easy to be an onlooker to suffering and assume that you’ve seen the injustice and the loss and the pain and that there is nothing else to see. This is not only completely at odds with everything I be...more I have to say that I liked this book. But, I was greatly disappointed in it. I came to the book knowing of the sacrifice of that village and knowing, too, that when people sacrifice in such a way they are abundantly blessed by God. Unfortunately, the latter was completely missing in this book. It is easy to be an onlooker to suffering and assume that you’ve seen the injustice and the loss and the pain and that there is nothing else to see. This is not only completely at odds with everything I believe to be true but also at odds with people I know who have suffered and the tales they tell of the comfort they have received. In the not too far distant history of my own people there is a sad tale of suffering and deaths of the daily “will this never end?” type. However, unlike the survivors of Eyam, we have their own words of the experience and as one survivor said, “The price we paid to become acquainted with God was a privilege to pay.” Surely there were miracles in that village as they sacrificed for the good of their people. Surely God walked with them. Surely there were wonders. Unfortunately there was nothing of this in the book. We are left only with what the author assumes would be left after such a year – a rector who no longer believes and a village that doesn’t either. You can write a lot of things from our atheistic, modern standpoint, but in the matter of a village who sacrificed for their fellow man in the name of a God in whom they all believed, you can not write and get it right. You can not write of such things and leave God out. It leaves out half of the story and the most important half at that. My guess is that those villagers were never the same, but not in the hopeless way the author assumes. My guess is that for those villagers, they never had to look to the skies and wonder anymore if God was there and if He were listening, because my guess is that for them, all doubt had been swept away. They now knew He was there because He had walked with them in their year of wonders. That was the story I wanted to hear.(less)

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Feb 28, 2008 Leila rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: recent-reads

Brooks' prose is lyrical, absolutely beautiful, and her account of a plague village in England is fascinating, gruesome, heart-rending, and inspiring by turns. But the end--argh! This is one of the most dissatisfying endings I think I've ever read. I really don't have a problem with the idea of feminism in historical novels. The fact that it didn't have a NAME, the fact that it wasn't commonly understood that women were the equals of men in so many ways, does not necessarily mean that it never o...more

3 likes · like · see review

Jan 19, 2009 Jeanette rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: europe-and-british-isles, all-fiction, historical-fiction, four-star-fiction

Another winner from this author! An engaging plot and an interesting glimpse of what life was like for country people back then.
Historical novels are the perfect niche for Geraldine Brooks. She does ample research, then creates a perfect blend of fact and fiction.

This book is based on a true story about the village of Eyam, Derbyshire, where they really did quarantine themselves during the Black Plague of the 17th century. People long ago didn't understand how disease was transmitted, so they r...more

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Feb 03, 2008 Roisin rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: no one

I have to admit that I have never been a huge fan of historical fiction so this is not the kind of book that I would normally read. Having read several positive reviews and been impressed by the author's credentials, however, I started reading with an open mind. The writing style was very welcoming and drew you in from the beginning and I warmed to the strength of Anna, the protagonist. I felt however that the story became so flawed and was so inconsistently paced that by the final page I had lo...more

14 likes · like · see review

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About Geraldine Brooks

Australian-born Geraldine Brooks is an author and journalist who grew up in the Western suburbs of Sydney, and attended Bethlehem College Ashfield and the University of Sydney. She worked as a reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald for three years as a feature writer with a special interest in environmental issues.

In 1982 she won the Greg Shackleton Australian News Correspondents scholarship to th...more

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“God warns us not to love any earthly thing above Himself, and yet He sets in a mother's heart such a fierce passion for her babes that I do not comprehend how He can test us so.” — 32 people liked it

“I borrowed his brightness and used it to see my way, and then gradually, from the habit of looking at the world as he illuminated it, the light in my own mind rekindled.” — 5 people liked it

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