Year of Wonders

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: Well-researched, but chickens out
Review: I looked forward to reading this book, as I enjoy (good) historical fiction and had previously read Geraldine Brooks' Nine Parts of Desire (which I do recommend.) I was disappointed in Year of Wonders, and I'd like to discuss why. This review contains important plot points, so if you haven't read the book, don't continue reading.

This book is set in 1665; its heroine is Anna Frith, an 18 year old widow with two young sons. It is soon revealed that her husband was a miner killed in a mining accident. Anna is a servant in the household of the local Anglican priest and his wife, Elinor.

As the book opens, it is clear that a) the "year of wonders" is almost over and b) Elinor is dead. Careful readers will learn in this chapter that Anna and Elinor were the bestest of friends and that Anna, despite the fact that she's a peasant in a remote English village, not only reads, but understands Latin. At this point, alarm bells started going off in my head. I'm always deeply suspicious of books that try too hard to make their historical heroines, well, heroic. Make the heroine smart, sure. Even let her have learned how to read on her own, fine - though it's unlikely that a young 17th century mother would have the time to learn and the ready access to books. But please don't make her an overevolved Rhodes scholar with modern sensibilities. Please. My pleas were not answered.

Anyway, as the book progresses, it's clear that Brooks is imposing 21st century values on her characters. In addition, some very unwelcome Oprah-ization slinks in, mainly in the discussion of Anna's family, where it is revealed that Anna has an abusive father (with zero redeeming qualities) who is married to a woman, Aphra, who turns out to be bitchy, unloving, and also into witchcraft (?).

On the other hand, Elinor is just as perfect as can be. She doesn't believe in social divisions. She literally looks like an angel, all wispy and with silvery hair and whatnot. She teaches Anna how to read and write and read great scholarly volumes. Apparently, Anna has plenty of time to indulge in all these scholarly pursuits. Anna, as I'll discuss later, also turns out to be pretty perfect herself. I actually laughed during Elinor's faux deathbed scene when Elinor basically congratulates both herself and Anna on becoming ever so wonderful.

(The priest, Mompellion, is your average tortured artiste type. He is supposed to have chemistry with Anna. Scandalous!)

Anyway, even though this is a novel of the plague, there isn't really THAT much about how horrible the plague is. Mompellion visits plague families. There's an interlude in which Anna and Elinor pluckily mine a vein so that a little Quaker orphan girl can keep the claim to the vein (Elinor and Anna are easily able to get beyond those silly 17th century prejudices about Quakers.) Anna's half-sister, Faith, is mentioned in passing about 300 pages into the book. Then she dies. Anys, a saucy herbalist chick, is hanged by panicked villagers. Boy, is Mompellion mad about that! (By the way, Anna is totally cool with Anys sleeping around, because she's moderne like that.) There are other random mentions of the village being deserted and various coping mechanism employed by the distraught villagers, but Brooks never really sells the reader on how horrible the Year of Wonders is. Rather, the Year of Wonders is more like a prep course to make Anna even more exceptional.

Anna not only becomes an ace scholar, but she also becomes a terrific midwife in less than a year. After a very brief indulgence, she has the moral rectitude to primly burn Anys' poppy stash when she finds it, becuase opium is BAD. Her horrible father and horrible stepmother die horribly. Oh, she also learns to tame Mompellion's stallion, because she is just that good.

Mompellion is written as an amalgamation of nobility and unexpected nuttiness. His abstinence from Elinor really doesn't make much sense, but it does mean that Anna can sleep with him without much guilt after Elinor dies.

Anyway, Anna takes off at the end of the book. At this point, it seemed to me like the author sat around and thought "Hmm. I want my main character to continue her scholarly pursuits in medicine. Where can she do that? I know! Morocco!" Yes, Anna abruptly ends up as the wife to a well-regarded Arab doctor at the end of the book, where she studies in Arabic and raises her children (her new kids - her sons having died in the plague.) Wow, did that come out of nowhere.

Brooks has clearly done a lot of research and the book is quite readable. But I found Anna and her friends to be too modern and too perfect, much like the protagonist of Pope Joan (another disappointing historical novel) or, dare I say it? Jean Auel's Ayla, the most perfect woman ever to exist in all prehistory.) If you want to read some decent fiction set in this period, I can recommend Slammerkin. The only diseases in that novel are venereal, though.

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: Not For The Squeamish ...
Review: Sometimes macabre, always riveting "Year of Wonders" is an amazing glimpse into seventeenth century England. Set in the plague-ridden village of Eyam, the story unfolds and is told in the voice of eighteen (eighteen!!) year old Anna Firth. Through Anna we experience what it was like to care for those infected by the plague, grieve for those killed by the plague, and experience the madness that overcame its victims (witch-hunting, self-flagellation, and sorcery).

Inspired by the true story of the villagers of Eyam and their extraordinary choice, Geraldine Brooks does a phenomenal job of recreating this piece of history. She uses dialect and description that will thrill historical fiction readers and vocabulary that is fun to sort through: garret, masty, placket, croft, whisket, gritstone, and boose. She provides ample detail of the time period and all of its horrors, but also allows for good storytelling and character development. Most importantly she captures the disintegration of the time and makes us hurt for its victims. That said, the ending is a bit too pat (the reason for the four star rating) but this is such a great book otherwise it is easy to forgive.

This is a perfect read for those who are interested in historical fiction or looking for an engrossing read. Enjoy!!

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?