Year of Wonders

Rating:
Summary: Pretty Good Historical Novel
Review: This book was fine. Decent, but nothing special. It is the story of how one young woman in England, 1665 survived a year of plague in her village.
It started off very promisingly, with beautiful visual and emotional description. We feel keenly Anna's sorrow and mourning, and are expecting a great book. But as soon as the story goes back a year to the beginning of the plague, all the emotion falls flat. Apparently, the author couldn't mantain the excellent writing for very long.
Tragedy after tragedy happens to this poor little village, with gruesome deaths and gruesome events. All these happenings soon make the reader numb to whatever emotion the author managed to convey through the writing.
There is nothing very original in the heroine, Anna. She comes from an unhappy family background, is clever and resourceful, and "very clever with a desire for education." (told by the author, never noticed by the reader) And the ending!
Despite its flaws, this is an entertaining, quick read that you won't feel wasted your time. If you need a nice,afternoon read or a book for the plane, get this. if you have a limited budget and time, go for something else.


Rating:
Summary: Fictional Account of the Last Town that Carried the Plague
Review: I loved this book. It is one of my all-time favorites.

The book is a fictionalized version of the events surrounding the last township affected by the plague. Many of the characters were real, but obviously the events had to be surmised. The town cut itself off from society so as not to spread the plague. The novel discusses how the plague got into the town and the relationship between the towns folks as the plague began to spread.

I was so completely interested in the subject matter after reading this book that I researched the plague, the town, and the characters.



Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, well written novel
Review: I really liked this novel, I could not put it down. My only complaint is that it gets a little cheesy and clichéd when the author tries to convey the inner world of the main character. But I still recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Great Read!!
Review: I loved this book from beginning to end. I especially liked the fact that it was loosely based on an actual event. It grabs you from the beginning and does not let you down in the end.