Year of Wonders

"I loved this book! An historical fiction about Eyam, also known as Plague Village in England. The bubonic plague hit this town in 1665 and together the villagers made the novel choice to quarantine instead of flee…"

"One of my all-time favorites"

"Amazing book, amazing author. I will devour everything Geraldine Brooks writes. "

"It’s about the plague. Light-hearted historical novel (sarcasm font). I think Geraldine Brooks is one of the best authors. "

"I can't think of a better novel to be reading in the current covid moment than this homage to the real life villagers of Eyam in England who agreed to lock themselves away from the outside world after plague invaded their village in 1665. The 3 central characters: plain spoken , intellectually curious Anna, selfless, ethereal Elinor, and passionately spiritual Michael form a united front against disease, superstition, and beastliness, as the villagers descend into despair tinged by madness. Questions of faith and moral responsibility intertwine: are we free to save ourselves at the risk of killing others? What do we owe to our neighbors and to God? And if God ignores our prayers, are we free to ignore his commandments? Brooks doesn't come down hard on any particular side, but she seems to favor Anna's generous spirited acceptance of human foible and her determination to forgive even the ugliest of human behavior. (Warning to the squeamish: much of it gets very ugly indeed.)<br/><br/>Geraldine Brooks skillfully blends a prodigious amount of historical detail into a naturally flowing narrative in tune with its time period; there is never a sense of research being used to show off , (although I would have appreciated a glossary of many 19th century terms). A beautiful novel of ordinary people doing their best under extraordinarily tragic and circumstances."

"I like this book and I didn't like this book. <br/><br/>I love the concept. Character development was good. Writing was good, even trying to put you in the setting of how they actually talked then. There were times while reading when I actually fell asleep and I'm not sure why. Maybe if I wasn't so depressed I could like this book more. Overall, I think the book was good but I thought the ending was a bit weird. <br/><br/>Give it a try if you like historical fiction."

"It was hard to get through the first chapter but once I did I fell into a comfortable rhythm I get when I'm into a good book. Then the inevitable happens... the sudden downfall of how to end a book and throw in the authors special interest all at the same time. The last chapter of the book is awful. Made me feel like it was a waste of time. Instead of making the minister become a monster the main character could have taken his confession to her as an act of kindness towards his late wife ... because what else would you call marrying a woman who is spoiled and wouldn't have been able to marry. It's not like the characters didn't love/appreciate each other. But no. We had to throw in a far fetched let's runaway and marry a Muslim doctor who has many wives. Seriously. I finished this book just before I fell asleep and then I couldn't because I was so irritated at the authors self deprecating approach to the ending."

"Good fall read #apples"

"4.5/5 stars"

"It was hard to get through the first chapter but once I did I fell into a comfortable rhythm I get when I'm into a good book. Then the inevitable happens... the sudden downfall of how to end a book and throw in the authors special interest all at the same time. The last chapter of the book is awful. Made me feel like it was a waste of time. Instead of making the minister become a monster the main character could have taken his confession to her as an act of kindness towards his late wife ... because what else would you call marrying a woman who is spoiled and wouldn't have been able to marry. It's not like the characters didn't love/appreciate each other. But no. We had to throw in a far fetched let's runaway and marry a Muslim doctor who has many wives. Seriously. I finished this book just before I fell asleep and then I couldn't because I was so irritated at the authors self deprecating approach to the ending."