Rating: 
Summary: Startlingly Bad
Review: After all the praise I heard from usually reliable sources, I picked up this book. That's a couple of newspapers, magazines, and a friend whose recommendations will be suspect from now on.Brooks commits (over and over) what Patricia Finney (author of some wonderful Elizabethan historicals) calls " the sin of psychological anachronism." Over and over. Her narrator/protagonist is heroic in the mold of an ... heroine; the Anglican minister and his wife could take up residence at any suburban Episcopal church in America. About the time the minister's wife and our plucky protagonist climbed into the mine to save the little Quaker girl's claim, I did some advanced book-flinging. And it's not just the ludicrous anachronisms; the writing sytle is also ponderous and wearying. Brooks apparently never heard the writer's maxim "show, don't tell." We are TOLD, in no uncertain terms, where each poor character stands in the Anna-ordered universe. No character -- not even the beloved Mompessons -- gets a voice of his or her own. There is a revival going on now of really good historical fiction, probably in reaction to the tiny, solipsistic novels that pass as literature today. Brooks tried to catch that wave, but missed. ...
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful Until the End
Review: I agree with the reviewers who found fault with the ending of this novel. It is out of place with what went before and not really believable. However, I still think Year of Wonders is well worth reading. Ms. Brooks writes with such self-confidence and an eye for character and detail that the overall experience is amazing, considering this is her first novel. I hope she tries her hand at fiction again, for her talent is impressive indeed.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing ending
Review: When I read the first chapter, I was not sure that I was going to enjoy the book. But then I became thoroughly involved...in fact, could not put the book down. Then came the final chapter...a true disappointment. It did not leave you hanging, but it just did not seem a part of the story. I would recommend the book.....but omit the last chapter.
Rating:
Summary: It was a 5 until the end.
Review: Year of Wonders takes you to a small English village in 1666 - the plague year. Though the eyes of Anna, a young widow, you watch as the village endures the horrors of plague and the search for a scapegoat. Herbs and other potions were considered witch-craft, but others who turned to fanaticism found no relief from the plague. I could hardly put the book down and was thrilled with the story until the last chapter and the epilogue, which I found to be disconnected from the rest of the story - unnecessary twists that didn't fit Anna's character at all. For that, I rate it a 4.
Rating: 
Summary: Living in the 1600's
Review: This book really transported me back to the English countryside of the 1600's. I found it very interesting to meet the characters within this village, their beliefs, their way of life, their lusts. I enjoyed learning about the plague and how it was regarded by the villagers within their framework of knowledge and beliefs. The story was told very well through the character of Anna. Even though I didn't know many of the words, I understood the meaning. I really really enjoyed this book and highly recommned it to anyone who likes historical fiction.
Rating:
Summary: Year of Wonderful!
Review: This is an extraordinary read. I went into it thinking it would be beyond depressing. It was not! So incredible were the characters and the historic info. I was deeply impressed by the historical reality it brought. I do think, however, the ending fell short. Leaving on the ship may have been enough - her adoption into another culture so easily was not very believable.
Rating: 
Summary: Year of Wonders is a promise unfulfilled
Review: While engaging in the way an ABC movie of the week is engaging (you just can't turn your head away to see what new horror is around the corner) the fundamental flaw with this book is the heroine and her journey, or more accurately, her lack of one. Brooks is operating in a modern frame of mind and narrative with Anna, which I was willing to forgive, but Anna is SO giving, and understanding, and noble that you really feel she as a character has nowhere to go - except for her faith, which she questions almost as an afterthought in several points in the book. The right way to end this book would be to have this questioning become a real crisis for Anna, and have her transformed by that crisis in some way. Instead, she quite literally rides off into the sunset away from the plague village, and even more unlikely, ends up with two daughters to replace the two sons she lost in the epidemic - all without ever really dealing with the one point - her faith - which would have made her an interesting, well-written character. What could have been a wonderful insight into the seeds of thought for the Age of Reason became a contrived happy ending. Disappointing.
Rating:
Summary: Heartrending tale
Review: This fascinating historical novel is based on a true story. It takes place in the mid seventeenth century in a small British village that succumbs to the plague. It's told through the eyes of a young widow, Anna Frith, whose two sons die from the plague in as sorrowful a recounting as I would ever wish to read. The author effectively, with rigorous attention to detail, captures what it must have been like. Anna works as a maid for Vicar Michael Mompellion and his gentle, selfless wife, Elinor, who has taught her to read.
The rector proclaims the plague to be a scourge sent by God, and the village voluntarily agrees to seal itself off from the rest of the world. The deaths begin to mount, and superstition and mob psychology seek vengeance on those they have decided are witches or guilty of devil worship. There is a horrifying scene, worthy of an Ashcroft creation, when the drunken townfolk decide that a local herbalist is a witch and they put her to trial by ordeal. They throw her into a deep well, bound hand and foot, only to be terrified that that might have murdered her when they watch her sink (in the classic water trial by ordeal, if the accused sank and drowned, he/she was considered innocent, i.e., accepted by God; if one floated, the accused was adjudged guilty, i.e. rejected by God, and then hanged or burned. It was the classic no-win situation for the accused.)
Anna suffers from a twentieth-century kind of existential angst, but the reader remains riveted to the story, haunted by the flawed and despairing humans trying to deal with a terrifying and inexplicable disease.
Rating:
Summary: An intriguing look into a difficult time
Review: I truly enjoyed this book, but would have loved a more substantial ending. Anna's Frith, the book's main character, was amazing. She was the backbone of a very desperate society. Ms. Brooks language transported me to another time and I felt as if I were really in the village, suffering right along with my neightbors. Her descriptions were stunning, her prose beautiful. It is highly unusual for a book to stir a desire to "learn more" through research, but this book did just that. It was truly a difficult time, compounded by ignorance. "Year of Wonders" is a heartfelt work, right up until the last chapter. Was it the publishers idea to stretch the book out? The ending did not flow with the rest of the book and left me wondering what happened to Anna. Bad ending and all, I would still recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Page-Turner with Disappointing Ending...
Review: While this book is chock-full of fantastic, Jane Austin-esque characters, I found the pacing of the book to be full of energy and enthusiasm. The last chapter and "epilogue" (pages 261 to 304) were perfectly described by another viewer as being straight out of "a bodice-ripper romance" completely out of sync with the 90% of the book. The rest of the book (pages 1 to 259), while short, was a very well-crafted, page-turner, powerhouse of pure schlock. Who needs believable characters in fiction? I've got enough "real". I'm reading fiction for a reason, baby! It's basically literary television... Right up to the end where you stand up, outraged, and yell, "Noooooo! Whadya mean?!" because the writers ran out of time and had to have someone die to tie up all of their floating plot strings before the end of the show. In the end, however, I was left with a sour taste in my mouth. I felt a little cheated. Still, I have hopes for Ms. Brooks and hope her talent for crafting a nice rhythm to her language carries into future projects! I say, read this pop-literary joy pages 1 to 259, then put it down and make up your own ending. You will adore it if you do.
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