Review of Year of Wonders

Year of Wonders
Geraldine Brooks
2001

Finished May 3, 2008

When the plague rips through a village in England in 1665 it tests the strength of the town's people beyond our imagination. Anna Frith is 18, widowed and left with two young children when her boarder contracts the plague. This sparks the rampant spread of the disease and Anna's quest to survive.

The book spans one year 1665-1666 and is based on the true story of the devastation caused by the plague in the English village of Eyam. The village is quarantined from the outside world for one year to stop the spread of the disease. There were plenty of opportunities for Anna to give up everything but she carried on caring for the sick and dying. She formed and unlikely friendship with the rector's wife, Elinor. She watched her abusive, alcoholic father's demise and her step-mother lose her sanity.

Geraldine Brooks does a wonderful job with telling this story. Her writing is simply beautiful. I will add her other novels; March (2006 Pulitzer Prize Winner) and People of the Book to my TBR list.