Year of Wonders

By Geraldine Brooks

This book takes place in 1665 in an isolated mountain village in central England. The village is the epicenter of the Plague Epidemic of the 17th century. The main character is a young common woman, Anna Frith, who was married to a miner and had two little boys. Her husband dies in a mine cave in, and Anna takes in a taylor named Mr. Viccars as a border. He is patient number one. He dies and the clothing he has mended and fashioned into new clothes for the villagers, carry the plague ridden fleas to the community. Anna loses her two boys as the plague tears through the town. She helps Anys Gowdie and her mother Mem who are local women who grow and distribute medicine and healing herbs to the village. The other main characters are the Rector Michael Mompellion and his wife Elinor who becomes Anna’s employers and friends.

The description of the plague and the desperate beliefs in its cause and remedies that get more and more bizarre and ineffective, are both vivid and heartbreaking. Anna is one of the immune. In an aside, the descendents of the plague survivors, in otherwords most of of us, are essentially genetically immune to the bubonic plague, The story is grim and Anna is a remarkable heroine.

The story continues to descibe the plague years in this town, and the crazy and desparate people in this village and beyond. The relationships are both dramatic and touching. The writing is exceptional, and the story continues through to the end of the plague pandemic.

In case you wonder if you want to read a story about a horrible disease that killed approximately 40% of population of England and in some towns nearly 90%, Anna’s life improves and the ending sees her happy and healthy.