Rating: 
Summary: Historical fiction at its best
Review: I picked up Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks for two reasons: our school librarian highly recommended it, and I discovered that Brooks is the wife of one of my favorite non-fiction authors, Tony Horwitz (Confederates in the Attic and Blue Latitudes). Although a book about the plague in 17th century England, this is not just a story about disease and death, but also a moving tale about survival, passion, compassion and unlikely heroes. Based on a true story, this historical novel weaves a fabulous and heartwarming tale about how one small town in Derbyshire dealt with the plague. Year of Wonders is told through the eyes of a lowly and uneducated peasant girl named Anna Frith. Anna is a young widow with two young sons. She goes to work for the Anglican rector and his wife, Michael and Elinor Mompellion. Elinor takes Anna under her wing, and becomes not just a teacher and mentor, but also a friend. The town is thrown into chaos when it is discovered that the plague has struck. Rector Mompellion convinces the town that they must close their borders and that all residents must stay (to prevent it spreading to other villages). He also offers a promise that no one will suffer alone, and he convinces the earl from a neighboring town to provide food and other necessities. What follows is a tale of tragedy and triumph. The plague lasted over a year, and two thirds of the townspeople perished. Mompellion, Elinor and Anna take on the task of ministering to the town in ways that are heroic. They find themselves battling not only this dreaded disease, but also superstition, greed, and even murder. And despite their own tragedies, they discover that their efforts make them stronger and that they have more courage than they thought possible. Brooks' writing is truly elegant, and Anna's thoughts and words are written in the lyrical but simple cadence of the 1660's. Anna describes her husband; "his hands were big, cracked things with broken, blackened nails, and his idea of lovemaking was a swift and sweaty tumble, a spasm and then sleep." I just couldn't turn the pages fast enough. There is also much historical research including not only the plague itself, but also of the living conditions in a small English village during the 17th Century. While this is Geraldine Brooks' first novel, she has two nonfiction books to her credit including Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women. I will definitely be reading more of this talented author.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful book
Review: Sometimes you'll read a book and it will stay with you for a long time. Other times, you read'll a book and it will give you one passage, or one scene, that keeps coming back into your mind. This book has done both for me. It will not only stick with me, but has left me with a great memory of a woman and her sons, on a day when she discovers what the miracle of her life is. It was moving beyond words. Now, for the bad...the ending did not disappoint me to the degree it did some of the other reviewers. I think maybe because someone gave it away in their review and so I was anticipating it all along (shame on you!!!!). However, it was a disjointed ending that didn't fit with the flow of the rest of the story. No matter. I enjoyed the read and have left it feeling satisfied. Isn't that what we readers desire most?
Rating:
Summary: A powerful portrait of the Plague
Review: "Years of Wonders" by Geraldine Brooks is an engrossing read. This fictional account of events in the tiny English village of Eyam in the year 1666 left me with an insatiable desire to learn more about the Plague in Europe. A young servant woman, Anna Firth, narrates the story. Anna is a full-bodied character with a strong narrative voice. However, her somewhat feminist viewpoints are hard to accept in a 17th woman. In fact, there are a few women in the book with feminist leanings, and they seemed false and contrived to this reader. This shortcoming did not spoil my reading, however. Brooks created a complete world in "Wonders." The town and its people are well drawn. Brooks rendered detailed scenes of horrible suffering as the Plague attacks family after family.
Through Anna's eyes, we watch the village fall prey to superstitions, witch hunting, and illicit love. At times, I felt that Brooks attempted to incorporate too many Plague-related catastrophes into the story. She clearly did her research, but it seemed to me that she wanted to include everything she learned in this book, even if it meant straining the storyline a bit far. I highly recommend this excellent piece of historical fiction. Mothers may find certain scenes emotionally challenging, so keep your Kleenex close at hand! I found that I had to put the book aside occasionally and take a break -- many scenes include raw depictions of how the Plague virus ravaged human bodies.
Rating:
Summary: A small village suffers through the plague in 1665
Review: Geraldine Brooks writes of her inspiration for this story in the Afterword of "A Year of Wonders". Based on actual events in a village named Eyam in Derbyshire, England, Ms. Brooks tells a mostly fictional accounting of what it might have been like for the villagers suffering the devastation of plague and the consequences of quarentining themselves from the outside world. The tale is very successful in depicting historic details - about the social class system of a small village, the various trades that existed at the time, the plague symptoms - all very well told through the eyes of the narrator, Anna Frith. Anna is a woman of subdued character, whose strength sustains her throughout the trying ordeals she must endure on her own and with her fellow neighbors. I felt that Anna's character was almost too subdued, but she does grow and evolve, albeit slowly. The most disappointing aspect of the book is the ending. About 30 pages or so from the ending, the story takes a turn that most resembles some of the bodice-ripper romance novels I used to read at the beach as a teenager. Ms. Brooks fumbles with this inadequate ending and flimsily attempts to regain the strong-female character plot, barely redeeming the story. Despite the ending, it's an intriguing story.
Rating:
Summary: Loved it
Review: Geraldine Brooks really did a superb job with YEAR OF WONDERS. It is amazing what happens when strife enters a small town. Everyone reacts differently, and sometimes people become heros - like Elinor and Anna - and sometimes people go crazy from the pressure. The ending surprised me! Anna becomes dear to you and her struggles become yours. An amazing read!
Rating:
Summary: A modern-day parable with historical elements
Review: For its historical detail and the aggregation of fear and suspense, "Year of Wonders" is surely a book of wonders. "Based on a true story" (although very loosely), the novel relates the events of 1665-1666, when the villagers of Eyam, in Derbyshire, agree to isolate themselves from the outside world after several residents come down with the plague.
The tale begins at the end; the reader finds out right away that nearly two-thirds of the town will die, including all the loved ones related to parish rector Michael Mompellion and his servant Anna Frith (who serves as narrator). The book, a true page-turner, is at its best when depicting the town's claustrophobic fear and the ease with which its inhabitants become self-centered and turn on each other (including an unexpectedly gruesome end for Anna's alcoholic father and a harrowing scene in which one of the neighbors is accused of witchcraft).
Brooks clearly means to offer us the town of Eyam as a microcosm of late Renaissance England, as well as "a distant mirror" of our own society. It's the latter aspect that can be, at times, jarring. Both Anna and Michael are 20th-century personalities trapped in 17th-century bodies. Anna, conveniently, has learned to read and write and her outlook on life is anachronistically progressive; she and the minister's wife even serve as the town's unofficial medical scientists. And, in spite of a chauvinistic about-face in the last scene, the rector preaches a very modern gospel indeed. There is very little "fire and brimstone" and far more along the lines of this sentiment conveyed to an adulterer: "Who made our lusts, our low ways and our high? Did not God? Is not He the author of it all? The appetites we have all come from Him; they have been with us since Eden. If we slip and fall, He understands our weakness."
Brooks' depiction of Eyam is of a village with a far more diverse sample of English society than any small rural town actually would have had, and the thoughts and deeds of its heroes are beyond the reach of its post-medieval pastoral setting. Instead of historical fiction, "Year of Wonders" is best described as a modern-day parable with historical elements: a soap-opera thriller with a message for our own times rather than a true-to-life novel in the tradition of "The Name of the Rose."
Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: This book was very well written and had a great story line. I appreciated a fictional perspective on a real life historical famine and got a perspective on how life might have been in those days. On that note, this book is emotional and made me realize how lucky we are to live in our times with our evolved health care. This book is very sad a lot of the time, but it has a great consistent flow to it with strong characters. If you are interested in history I would definitely read this!
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't put it down
Review: I would never have picked up this book about the plauge if it hadn't been a book club assignment, but I'm so glad I did. I thoroughly enjoyed it and couldn't put it down. On the plus side, I loved the writing style -- it has a mild old world flair that lends authenticity. And the pacing is quick and non-stop, yet slow enough to be thought provoking and beautifully descriptive. The reader comes to know and care about the villagers. We worry about some of them. We hate others. The historical aspect was intriguing and made me want to know more. On the down side, the characters are either backward and ignorant or unbelievably modern and liberal. (Guess which ones are the "heros"?) But I didn't mind, because I'm a modern woman and could more easily empathize with the characters when they were given modern mindsets. If the heroine had been true to a 1666 female, I would have found her unbearably ignorant, subservient, and backward. The modern type-casting was necessary for a modern audience. The religious attitude of the novel also has a modern, liberal slant which annoyed me, -- Christian faith is not shown in its best light. Also, the novel is moderately graphic regarding illness, death, and sex -- but only moderately so, not overly. I only list these negatives because this is a critique. None of these negatives ruin the fun and I still give it four enthusiastic stars. "Year of Wonders" is a great rainy-day read.
Rating:
Summary: a book I wish I'd written
Review: As an author, I wish that I could have written such a fine novel. It was just about perfect, and although the ending is controversial, I loved it and felt that it fit. I first read the book not long after 9/11, and I loved that author Brooks could draw parallels between that year in Eyam and our own time, that then as now there were ordinary people doing extraordinary things to save their fellow men. I have re-read this book many times since then, and it is one of my favorite books of all time.
Rating:
Summary: I wonder...
Review: I loved the style of language used in this book. It was so pretty! But one thing that was odd was Anna's character in her time and place. It doesn't feel like it fits in the book. Imagine this...same setting, same characters, but in the 21st century. You wouldn't have to change much to make it sound modern. I don't know..It was a weird book, but it painted human experiences beautifully.
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