Year of Wonders: Summary and book reviews of Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks, plus links to an excerpt from Year of Wonders and a biography of Geraldine Brooks.

This gripping historical novel is based on the true story of Eyam, the "Plague Village," in the rugged mountain spine of England. In 1666, a tainted bolt of cloth from London carries bubonic infection to this isolated settlement of shepherds and lead miners. A visionary young preacher convinces the villagers to seal themselves off in a deadly quarantine to prevent the spread of disease. The story is told through the eyes of eighteen-year-old Anna Frith, the vicar's maid, as she confronts the loss of her family, the disintegration of her community, and the lure of a dangerous and illicit love. As the death toll rises and people turn from prayers and herbal cures to sorcery and murderous witch-hunting, Anna emerges as an unlikely and courageous heroine in the village's desperate fight to save itself. Exploring love and learning, fear and fanaticism, and the struggle of science and religion to interpret the world at the cusp of the modern era, Year of Wonders is at once a story of unconventional love and a richly detailed evocation of a riveting moment in history. Like Arthur Golden's Memoirs of a Geisha and A. S. Byatt's Posession, Year of Wonders blends learning and romance into an unforgettable read.

Media Reviews

Kirkus Reviews Painstaking re-creation of 17th-century England, swallowed by over-the-top melodramatics a wildly uneven first novel by an Australian-born journalist.   Library Journal Fans of Judith Merkle Riley's historical novels will find much to savor in the new work. Recommended for all fiction collections.   Publishers Weekly Discriminating readers who view the term historical novel with disdain will find that this debut by praised journalist Brooks is to conventional work in the genre as a diamond is to a rhinestone. Sena Jeter Naslund An unforgettable read, this splendid novel enriches our human memory of both despair and courage. Arthur Golden ...leaves us with the memory of vivid characters struggling in timeless human ways with the hardships confronting them...and engaging story.

Recent Reader Reviews

Rated of 5 by Vanessa
Everything
This book was more of a story from a girl who learns so much but I also liked it because I noticed something that no one else did. I saw that this wonderful girl had love but also had faith. Imagine yourself as her being forced into all the things...   Read More

Rated of 5 by Elizabeth
Outstanding
Using this horrible era in history as the basis of the book, it takes you into the homes and into the lives of the people in the 1600's who had old myths about witchcraft, awful ways of curing illnesses, and describes their ignorance of medical...   Read More

Rated of 5 by Elizabeth
Outstanding
Using this horrible era in history as the basis of the book, it takes you into the homes and into the lives of the people in the 1600's who had old myths about witchcraft, awful ways of curing illnesses, and describes their ignorance of medical...   Read More

Rated of 5 by Katherine
Anything
This was a rather intriguing book but I found myself asking for more content. I also found some of the things in this book hard to believe and much of it common knowledge for anyone who would read a minor passage on the plague. I was looking for...   Read More

Rated of 5 by Mav
Year of Wonders
It's rare that I can read a book more than once. This one I have read twice and will savour the next time I read it. I can't put my finger on why it's magical but it truly is. There is something so utterly engaging about the way it is written....   Read More

Rated of 5 by rebecca wood
absolutely amazing
I have just finished year of wonders and I would honestly recommend it to ANYONE! It is the most fascinating, interesting book I have ever read! I have been searching google about the plague and eyam..... and I would love someone to recommend me...   Read More

...19 More Reader Reviews

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Books with similar themes

• Historical Fiction
  
• UK (Britain) & Ireland 
  
• 17th Century or Earlier 
  
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