Rating: 
Summary: I read this aloud to a blind man.
Review: Truman Capote said about _On the Road_, "That's not writing, that's typing." Oh, how apt is this comment about so many modern novels, but in _Year of Wonders_, every paragraph is worked and polished. It has the cadance of poetry. "When you've got the reader breathing with you, you've got them." Also Capote and also this book's beautiful prose. I read this book, one chapter a day, to a blind man. What a pleasure to read this aloud! He hung on every word.
I see from the book jacket Ms. Brooks has traveled to many disasters. She quite clearly fully understands what it is to witness the end of the world and examines here the quality of life force required to carry on without bitterness. I suspect many nameless women in many desperate places have looked her in the eye to great good effect because her understanding is authentic and powerful. Ms. Brooks, we, the blind man and i, will never forget the voice of your Anna. The image of a village stepping round a walnut sapling will be forever with me.
Rating: 
Summary: Well-written, beautifully read
Review: This novel is a beautifully written, detailed account of the plague in a small English village in the 1600's. It is hard for us to imagine an illness that spreads so rapidly with such deadly effect; indeed, today a course of antibiotics results in a speedy full recovery. Brooks is a reporter with a great eye for detail and a sensitivity to the devastating emotional, sociological and economic impact such a disease had on this tiny community. I listened to the very lightly abridged CD/Audio version of the book, which I highly recommend; parts of the story moved me to tears. Like other reviewers, however, I was quite bothered by the ending of the novel, which was not in any way anticipated by the rest of the story, and was simply not credible given who the main character was, and the historical setting. Other than that, however, well worth your while.
Rating:
Summary: Can't put this one down
Review: I am still reading this book....almost done, actually. It's wonderfully written. The characters, especially Anna, are so well developed. Anna is an intelligent, thoughtful and inquisitive woman who suffers much through this book. The topic of the book obviously makes it difficult sometimes....so much suffering and death in such a short period of time can feel overwhelming. Despite that, the book is splendid....well worth the read and hard to put down. I plan on recommending it to all of my friends.
Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable, but total nonsense
Review: This novel is based on the story of Eyam in Derbyshire, England, notorious as the plague village that imposed its own quarantine.
First let me say that as a novel this is very enjoyable and very readable. A fine story.
But let me also point out that I live quite near Eyam and that the story Brooks presents is total tripe. If you want a story about Eyam there are far better ones that this. I should also point out that the real story is far more gripping than this.
Rating:
Summary: A fun read, but little more.
Review: This book was quick, easy reading. I found the writing a little clunky, but it's a popular fiction book that's meant to sweep the reader quickly along, and it definitely did. Unfortunately, I felt that the author forced along the pace of the novel--she pulled trick after trick out of her hat, thrusting the characters into unbelievable situations and yanking them out by their chinny-chin-chins time and again. The final scenes--I won't ruin them for you--tested my credulity even further. Nonetheless, I think Brooks has a future as a writer, and has better things ahead of her. Year of Wonders is a quick, fun book, but little more. She can do better, and I'm sure she will.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, realistically historic
Review: This was a wonderful novel of the Plague year in a little landlocked village in England. The story is told by an 18 year old widow and mother of two, however her voice seems to be from a woman much older. The author does a wonderful job with the language, transporting the reader to the 1660's. Never once did I question the authenticy and intelligence of the work, which is a hard thing to pull off in historical fiction. Although the main character Anna is the narrator, we get more than just a glimpse into her life, but of the entire life of the village. We see how the Plague destroys not just the physical lives of the ill, but the emotional well being of their family, friends, and neighbors. And of course we see the destruction of the humanity. If you are looking for a perfect ending, then I warn you that it took a twist that I found a bit off. However, I guess that makes this a good ending in the fact that it was not anticipated. I highly recommend this, and look forard to other novels by this author.
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Summary: Very interesting story of a horrible time in history
Review: The editorial reviews tell the details of the story of Anna Firth's life in Eyam England during the year spanning 1665-66 so I won't go over all of the details again but I did find it very interesting and fast to read. The book is written as though Anna had written it down herself some years after the story took place, very well done and researched with even the wording taking on a 17th century flavor but with 20th century spellings. You'll read about her very hard widowed life, her trials and tribulations as well as those of the rest of the village. The story is very detailed and can even be unpleasant, definitely not a romantic novel but worth reading for someone who wants to know what life would've been like in rural 17th century England and the devastation brought by bubonic plague. The last chapter summarizes Anna's life as she tells her story, to me it veers away from the course of the rest of the story, perhapds reflecting the writer's Islamic interests.
Rating:
Summary: innovating and interesting
Review: If a friend hadn't recommeneded this book to me, i must admit i wouldn't have picked it up due to the sub-title "a novel of the plague". That didn't exactly seem like an interesting story. But it is! I highly recommend this book. The book reflects heavy research by the author and I felt as if I understood how people lived in this era. There are several parts throughout the book that are not for the faint-hearted so be forewarned. This book not only educates you on how people lived in this time period and how they handled disease but also the emotional aspects of being a woman during this time period. The only issue I had with this book was at the end. This rather tentative woman who hesitated to wear anything brighter than the "sad" colors accepted a living arrangement (which I won't detail to give away the ending) that I think she would have found unacceptable being the person she was. Also, the person who she had this living arrangement with may have been someone famous but is not someone I am familiar so this part of the storyline was somewhat confusing. However, despite these concerns, I enjoyed this research, the writing and the historical fiction very much and i believe that you will too.
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Summary: Well Read Book of Wonders!
Review: "Year of Wonders", by Geraldine Brooks. Audio Cassette version read by Josephine Bailey, Books on Tape/Penguin Putnam, Inc. Book Number 5708 Set in England, in1665-1666, this book recounts in vivid detail the effects of the plague on a little village whose main industry is lead mining. On one level, it is entirely too detailed account of how so many people sickened and died from the plague, spread by rodents and their fleas. On another level, it is a love story of the village minister and his wife, Eleanor. On a third level, it is a story of the achievements of the young housemaid, Anna, who becomes the central character recoding the events of the "Year of Wonders". The minister's wife, Eleanor, recognizes the intellectual ability of the recently widowed Anna, and begins to teach her reading and writing. Anna's husband had died in a lead mine cave-in. The young minister, who takes the place of the older Puritan cleric, preaches a sermon which causes the village population to quarantine themselves after they discover they are infected with plague. During this year of quarantine, Anna, the housewife, grows from a simple village girl, (who suffered the loss of husband and then her two sons), into an established mid-wife, with a knowledge of medicinal herbs, the ability to ease both child birth and the birthing of lambs, and a the ability to understand the motives of so many of her neighbors. In some ways, this book is too gory: the details of the birthing of both lambs and children are far too vivid. The details of the death of Anna's father, as punishment for cheating his neighbors when he dug the graves for the dead, are too vivid. And, the attempt to drown the newborn daughter of Lady Bradford is described too vividly. Some of this I ascribe to the ability of the reader, Josephine Bailey, whose skill in making you see and feel the scene is a wonder in itself. Ms. Bailey, the reader for the audio book, has a wide vocal range, so that you can almost hear the preacher exhorting the villagers to establish their self-imposed quarantine. I enjoyed the book as I commuted around I-495, the ring road around Boston.
Rating:
Summary: The Year of Wonders ... Geraldine Brooks
Review: I have just finished reading this book and thought it was wonderful. I could not believe that Geraldine did not grow up in England (as I did) her research was so thorough that one would think she had always lived there.
Her characters were warm and haunting and her descriptions of the horrors that occurred during the plague were incredible.
I cannot wait for her next book.
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