Rating: 
Summary: (3.5)Atonement as a path to redemption
Review: In 1666, While London is under assault from the infamous Black Plague, a remote mountain village would be free from the scourge that takes the lives of rich or poor without discrimination. However, infected bolts of cloth arrive by coach, ordered by the village tailor, George Viccars, a man whose needlework is in great demand. Even when Viccars sickens and dies of a mysterious plague-like ailment, the villagers are loathe to name it Plague. They demand their new clothing, unwilling to pass up the rare opportunity for new clothing in their humble lives. They refuse to credit warnings that their clothing may contain the seeds of contamination. Later, as whole families perish, there is little doubt of the source of infection.The Puritanical church-goers band together in the beginning. The rector, Mr. Mompellion, preaches that they are, indeed, the "chosen". Only if these poor people bear the wrath of God's curse upon their uncleanness of spirit, via the plague, will His thirst be slaked. A poverty-riddled, God-fearing flock, the congregation agrees to voluntarily quarantine themselves from the surrounding villages. By the time that over half the villagers are dead, the congregation rebels, turning to witchcraft and superstition, anything to ward off this monstrous death. Anna Frith, a young widow, tells the story of these people she has known all her life. After she loses her own young children to the plague, she becomes a nurse/helper wherever possible, working with the minister's wife to decipher herbal remedies and curatives, soon adept at the healing arts herself. Yet the plague will have it's deadly quota. Well-researched and detailed, it is through Anna's voice that we learn of these village folk, who is merciful and kind, and who is vile and ruthless, including her own father. With such thorough research and careful accounting of facts, the novel is sadly lacking in any real passion, although Anna is swept into a misguided romance after all her trials. But the ending is purely absurd, and too quickly achieved in the final few pages. Would that Brooks had spent more energy in developing the complete course of her story, instead of relying on the momentum gathered from the devastation of the plague without thought to resolution of loose ends.
Rating: 
Summary: captiviating...
Review: and historically accurate.
Brillantly written with the help of the muses. A more complex plot then it first seems, and the drama blossoms splendidly. Not very difficult or challanging a read, however, but excellent and captivating. If you like historical fiction, you'll probably love this book. If you don't, this may make a fan out of you :)
Rating:
Summary: "A Plague Be Upon Your House"
Review: What a special, special book. In its richness, attention to detail, vivid scenes, a depth of understanding and imagination, and a dedication to historical accuracy, it reminds me of another such work, "Galileo's Daughter." Small wonder that "Year of Wonder" has been selected as both a "NY Times" and "Washington Post" Notable Book. It is the best single fictional work on the Black Plague - a phenomenon that depopulated Europe up to 50% in some areas such as Florence, Italy and surely 35-45% in other areas of Europe, wiping out at least 1/3 of Europe's population. This dreadful recurring nastiness, with a horror 20th century folks cannot imagine, ushered in a European mentality that shaped and molded the civilization of a Continent. And created the conditions for growth, increased wages, and labor demand.
What Brooks does is reduce this century of astonishing death to one small isolated village in England. We live through the intimate details of the horrendous deaths and the living of those who survived in a way no one has yet captured so strongly. I would recommend that one read this jewel of a novel in conjunction with the work by Norman Cantor, "In the Wake of the Plague - The Black Death and the World it Made." And perhaps, most important, to journey through the plague with "A Journal of the Plague Year" by "eyewitness" Daniel Defoe - enlarging upon his own childhood memories. Possibly the most important record of the Plague written, Defoe gives us the observer's incredible account, while Brooks shares a solid researcher's remarkable imagination and literary excellence. And captures the internal struggle occurring within so many thinking folks of the time about God as causation and Nature as causation. If God brought the plague upon the "house," the solution is in prayer and lamentation. But if the Plague came out of nature, then the observing eye and a slight emergence of the "scientific method" might discern causation that has remedies based in reality.
Rating: 
Summary: A captivating read
Review: Details of plague, death, fear, sorrow, helplessness... all felt so alive while reading this book. The story is wonderfully written; you feel for Anna - her losses, her loves, her determination, her betrayal. I wish the book had ended differently (won't give it away) - but I felt that the strength of Anna was somehow negated by her final situation & it felt somewhat out of place compared to the rest of the story. I still say "4 stars" - the final scenes were too few to overshadow this beautiful story.
Rating:
Summary: This book is quality
Review: Year of Wonders is quality historical fiction. It is extremely well-written and absorbs the reader from the outset. I loved this book, it is truly fabulous. It has many of the same qualities that made Girl With A Pearl Earing such a success - if you loved that book, you will enjoy this.
Rating:
Summary: A beautifully written gem
Review: I am in awe of this novel. I did not want to put it down once I began reading it. Not only is it beautifully crafted and elegantly written, it is a story that is incredibly compelling on a subject matter I thought I had very little interest in. I cannot recommend this book strongly enough.
I heard the author speak at a local bookstore, and she was as wonderful and eloquent as the book itself. She did an incredible amount of research to make this book as historically accurate as possible. She has led a fascinating life herself.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Book to Read Despite its Weakest Link
Review: This book takes a fascinating and imaginative look at human survival in the village of Eyam during the plague year of 1665 where the odds for death are 2 in 3. Despite taking on as morbid a subject as this fateful epidemic, the novel manages to keep up our interest in our heroine's fate. We follow her proactive adventures and attempts at midwifery, herbal medicine, and even mining as she and the rector's wife stay actively involved, aspiring to humanitarily aid the sick, orphaned, and dying through this ordeal. The language Brooks uses lends realism to the setting, especially her utilization of Old English words no longer part of our modern day vocabulary. It is clear that this author did a good bit of historical research. One unrealistic element present is a "time machine" sort of phenomenon. Our heroine's attitudes, thinking, and comprehension are a reflection of our own times. We find her to be surprisingly modern rather than medieval in character. For example: Anna unquestioningly and promptly attributes abberent behavior to mental derangement, although the woman in black along with her incantations, chants, and charms would most likely be labelled a witch in those times which preceded the development of psychology and psychiatry.
Some very colorful characters are created such as the greedy gravedigger and the flagellante ascetic which add flavor to this novel. In fact, this book reads very well and quickly until we come to its weakest link, the incongrous ending, so far fetched as to be implausible. In many ways the conclusion seems borrowed both in subject matter, setting, and style from a chapter in some romance novels. After reading such a great, fast moving, and very well written story, our anticipation results in disappointment. The ending is so troubling as to motivate this reader with a desire to rewrite it.
Rating:
Summary: Exceptional Listening!
Review: This is an incredible book to listen to on audiocassette! The voices of the characters are done wonderfully well. The story compelling and very much about the realities of the plague and the lives women led during it.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: "Year of Wonder" surprised me. I expected to enjoy the book out of my curiosity about the plague. However, as I read I became wrapped up in constant flow of new stories and the struggles, both with the plague and themselves, of the characters.
The book does take a while to "heat up". When I began reading it I found myself saying, "Okay, when are people going to start dying already?" Stick with it. When the plague does strike the town there is a constant flow of drama and excitement, making it an entertaining as well as a quality read.
It has been critisized that Geraldine Brooks made Anna too modern of a character. I've heard critics say that Anna's ideas are pure 21st century. However this aspect of the narrator and main character helps to connect the time of the book's readers and the time in which the book takes place.
Rating:
Summary: A Thumping Good Read
Review: I heard a review of this book on NPR and it BLEW me away! A totally reviting story--and imagine it's based on a true event! I was captivated by this book--its theme, its characters, its sense of drama, EVERYTHING! I would highly recommend this book to any avid reader!
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