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Year of Wonders
 

Year of Wonders

by Geraldine Brooks

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... (read more)

Top tags: historical fiction,  plague,  fiction,  england,  medieval (all tags)

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Other Reviews

Amazon Reviews (5)
 

Most Helpful Reviews

Liked It

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.
Elizabeth P
  • Rated 4 stars

“whoa. ultra scary, very vivid. thank goodness for antibacterial soap.”

Elizabeth P’s full review »
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Didn’t Like It

2 of 2 members found this review helpful.
dickensfan
  • Rated 2 stars

“This book made me mad. Brooks started off wonderfully with a compelling narrator who chronicles the hardships of living in her tiny, quarantined village during a resurgence of the Plague in 1666. While it's difficult to read about all of the deaths (especially of the young children), it was interesting to see just how Anna, the narrator, and the other villagers were able to persevere in the face of pestilence.

Once the Plague ends, however, Brooks seems to lose both steam and focus,...”

dickensfan’s full review »
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Community:
  • Rated 4.123636 stars
Amazon:
  • Rated 4 stars
  

Newest Comments

  • Sarah A

    sarah a said:

    “A lot of people have been commenting about the surprising ending. Although it is quite sudden and unexpected, I never really minded it, though I sometimes wish it was different. I think the ending is supposed to be a full contrast to her previous life, down to the two daughters as apposed to the two sons and the highly educated and exotic husband and life of relative leisure and pleasure contrasting the mates and lifestyle she experienced throughout the story. ”

    posted 7 days ago
  • mama2three

    mama2three said:

    “I totally agree with the disconcerted ending. I found that I had to read it twice to even grasp why the author would go that direction, and even then, still don't understand why the ending took that turn. The only thing I could come up with was the obvious light/dark contrast with not only the "blinding light" of the island, the obvious dark skin of the Arab etc...
    Any more thoughts anyone???”

    posted Thursday, October 9 2008
  • Sandy B Groovy

    sandy b groovy said:

    “Great story, but the end seemed like a different book. What was with the porno sex and marriage to an arab ... What?”

    posted Thursday, September 25 2008
  • Cindy A

    cindy a said:

    “This reminded me of Thomas Mullen's The Last Town on Earth - much more contemporary history of the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic in a small town in Washington state.”

    posted Wednesday, June 25 2008
  • Brianne

    brianne said:

    “Liking the way this book is starting out. Took me a few pages to adjust to the different language/writing style (formal english)...but am intrigued by the story...”

    posted Monday, June 9 2008
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