Rating: 
Summary: Best book I've read in ages!!
Review: "Book of Wonders" is everything a historical novel should be. It is based upon the true events of a small village which isolated itself with the outbreak of plague; it has finely drawn and believable characters; and the writing is of a style that you could almost imagine it was really written at the time (please don't let this latter point put you off - the writing is not in any way archaic, as is often the trend these days).It is also however, profoundly sad, and I found myself weeping with the characters at their loss in an early part of the novel. I always think that is is a powerful book that can make you laugh or cry. The story of the people of this small village and their trials and tribulations in this terrible time is absolutely mesmerising. We watch them cling to their faith in God, and then turn to earlier more earthy superstitions to help them deal with the wave of death that has struck so many of them down. We also watch the development of the narrator from a simple village girl who thirsts for knowledge into the strong character she is by the end of the novel. Some of the earlier reviewers have commented that the end seems a little pat, almost as if the author wanted to finish the book and be done with it. I must admit that it doesn't finish the way I would have liked it to, but having said that, I truly do not believe that it in any way takes away from the mastery of the book. It is a fascinating, well written and well researched book. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Rating:
Summary: A Wonder of a Book
Review: Year of Wonders, an imaginative work of historical fiction by Geraldine Brooks, is a captivating journey into a time and place so different from our own. Brooks originally became enthralled when, after visiting the town of Eyam in England, she read a plaque about the 'plague village.' When researching the history and medical aspects of the plague, Brooks came across a note from the wife of the village pastor about her maid's continuing good health. It is through this maid, mentioned only briefly in a letter, that Brooks gives voice and life to this period of time. Anna Frith is a simple widow living with her two sons, working in the town rectory, and learning from the pastor and his wife a great deal about life beyond her little town. She is encouraged by the pastor to take in a boarder, a tailor from London who does fine work. When he sickens and dies, however, the town is loathe to call his illness what it is -- the plague. Soon, entire families become ill, and the village realizes that it must stand forth against the disease. Their pastor, Mr. Mompellion, urges everyone in the village to vow to remain within the confines of the town until the plague can be eradicated, to prevent its spread to the rest of England. All the villagers but one agree, and so they take a Sunday Oath to begin their year of confinement, or year of wonders. Anna is our constant companion through this year. She shows us how the confinement and illness bring out the best in some of the townspeople, particularly Mrs. Mompellion, who are willing to go the extra mile for their beloved neighbors by caring for them when they are ill. The plague, however, also brings out the worst in some townspeople, especially those trying to make a living off of the misery of others. Anna's faith during the year both sustains her and gives her reason to pause. Anna's growth as a person throughout the book is a wonderful look into how tragedy and hardship can forge a character, and bring them into the greater good. The end of this book is certainly unexpected, and perhaps overly dramatic. However, it does bring closure to an outstanding read.
Rating: 
Summary: (3.5)Atonement as a path to redemption
Review: In 1666, While London is under assault from the infamous Black Plague, a remote mountain village would be free from the scourge that takes the lives of rich or poor without discrimination. However, infected bolts of cloth arrive by coach, ordered by the village tailor, George Viccars, a man whose needlework is in great demand. Even when Viccars sickens and dies of a mysterious plague-like ailment, the villagers are loathe to name it Plague. They demand their new clothing, unwilling to pass up the rare opportunity for new clothing in their humble lives. They refuse to credit warnings that their clothing may contain the seeds of contamination. Later, as whole families perish, there is little doubt of the source of infection. The Puritanical church-goers band together in the beginning. The rector, Mr. Mompellion, preaches that they are, indeed, the "chosen". Only if these poor people bear the wrath of God's curse upon their uncleanness of spirit, via the plague, will His thirst be slaked. A poverty-riddled, God-fearing flock, the congregation agrees to voluntarily quarantine themselves from the surrounding villages. By the time that over half the villagers are dead, the congregation rebels, turning to witchcraft and superstition, anything to ward off this monstrous death. Anna Frith, a young widow, tells the story of these people she has known all her life. After she loses her own young children to the plague, she becomes a nurse/helper wherever possible, working with the minister's wife to decipher herbal remedies and curatives, soon adept at the healing arts herself. Yet the plague will have it's deadly quota. Well-researched and detailed, it is through Anna's voice that we learn of these village folk, who is merciful and kind, and who is vile and ruthless, including her own father. With such thorough research and careful accounting of facts, the novel is sadly lacking in any real passion, although Anna is swept into a misguided romance after all her trials. But the ending is purely absurd, and too quickly achieved in the final few pages. Would that Brooks had spent more energy in developing the complete course of her story, instead of relying on the momentum gathered from the devastation of the plague without thought to resolution of loose ends.
Rating:
Summary: captiviating...
Review: and historically accurate.
Brillantly written with the help of the muses. A more complex plot then it first seems, and the drama blossoms splendidly. Not very difficult or challanging a read, however, but excellent and captivating. If you like historical fiction, you'll probably love this book. If you don't, this may make a fan out of you :)
Rating:
Summary: "A Plague Be Upon Your House"
Review: What a special, special book. In its richness, attention to detail, vivid scenes, a depth of understanding and imagination, and a dedication to historical accuracy, it reminds me of another such work, "Galileo's Daughter." Small wonder that "Year of Wonder" has been selected as both a "NY Times" and "Washington Post" Notable Book. It is the best single fictional work on the Black Plague - a phenomenon that depopulated Europe up to 50% in some areas such as Florence, Italy and surely 35-45% in other areas of Europe, wiping out at least 1/3 of Europe's population. This dreadful recurring nastiness, with a horror 20th century folks cannot imagine, ushered in a European mentality that shaped and molded the civilization of a Continent. And created the conditions for growth, increased wages, and labor demand.
What Brooks does is reduce this century of astonishing death to one small isolated village in England. We live through the intimate details of the horrendous deaths and the living of those who survived in a way no one has yet captured so strongly. I would recommend that one read this jewel of a novel in conjunction with the work by Norman Cantor, "In the Wake of the Plague - The Black Death and the World it Made." And perhaps, most important, to journey through the plague with "A Journal of the Plague Year" by "eyewitness" Daniel Defoe - enlarging upon his own childhood memories. Possibly the most important record of the Plague written, Defoe gives us the observer's incredible account, while Brooks shares a solid researcher's remarkable imagination and literary excellence. And captures the internal struggle occurring within so many thinking folks of the time about God as causation and Nature as causation. If God brought the plague upon the "house," the solution is in prayer and lamentation. But if the Plague came out of nature, then the observing eye and a slight emergence of the "scientific method" might discern causation that has remedies based in reality.
Rating: 
Summary: A captivating read
Review: Details of plague, death, fear, sorrow, helplessness... all felt so alive while reading this book. The story is wonderfully written; you feel for Anna - her losses, her loves, her determination, her betrayal. I wish the book had ended differently (won't give it away) - but I felt that the strength of Anna was somehow negated by her final situation & it felt somewhat out of place compared to the rest of the story. I still say "4 stars" - the final scenes were too few to overshadow this beautiful story.
Rating:
Summary: This book is quality
Review: Year of Wonders is quality historical fiction. It is extremely well-written and absorbs the reader from the outset. I loved this book, it is truly fabulous. It has many of the same qualities that made Girl With A Pearl Earing such a success - if you loved that book, you will enjoy this.
Rating:
Summary: A beautifully written gem
Review: I am in awe of this novel. I did not want to put it down once I began reading it. Not only is it beautifully crafted and elegantly written, it is a story that is incredibly compelling on a subject matter I thought I had very little interest in. I cannot recommend this book strongly enough.
I heard the author speak at a local bookstore, and she was as wonderful and eloquent as the book itself. She did an incredible amount of research to make this book as historically accurate as possible. She has led a fascinating life herself.
Rating:
Summary: Exceptional Listening!
Review: This is an incredible book to listen to on audiocassette! The voices of the characters are done wonderfully well. The story compelling and very much about the realities of the plague and the lives women led during it.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: "Year of Wonder" surprised me. I expected to enjoy the book out of my curiosity about the plague. However, as I read I became wrapped up in constant flow of new stories and the struggles, both with the plague and themselves, of the characters.
The book does take a while to "heat up". When I began reading it I found myself saying, "Okay, when are people going to start dying already?" Stick with it. When the plague does strike the town there is a constant flow of drama and excitement, making it an entertaining as well as a quality read.
It has been critisized that Geraldine Brooks made Anna too modern of a character. I've heard critics say that Anna's ideas are pure 21st century. However this aspect of the narrator and main character helps to connect the time of the book's readers and the time in which the book takes place.
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