This is a book about the bubonic plague so I am basically expected this by the end:Spoilers abound below along with a not insignificant amount of profanity:(view spoiler)[So, expecting this book to be bleak, I shunted all of the emotions I anticipated feeling into the area of my heart where I keep my New York Mets fandom. You know, these guys:Sufficed to say their years of incompetence and disappointment have formed a nice level of scar tissue over that part of my metaphorical heart. So whatever this book was going to throw at me I knew it wouldn't sink its emotional claws into me.That being said, fuck this book. It was a never ending parade of despair, death, exploitation, inhumanity, and suffering with a little dash of hope thrown in every so often to make the subsequent despair, death, exploitation, inhumanity, and suffering that much worse. I swear, the town this takes place in (based on an actual town, Eyam) must have killed the writer's grandmother considering the amount of suffering she heaps upon the inhabitants. If I wanted this level of depression I would just read a non-fiction book about the plague.Look, I understand that this book was about a horrible situation. The town voluntarily (and, might I had, quite nobly) secluded itself from the outside world once it was clear they were infected with the Bubonic plague (not the Black Death vintage, but one of the later outbreaks called The Great Plague of London). And yes, under those conditions some pretty terrible stuff will (and did) happen.My issue with this book, though, was how the author presented the situation. Like I said, it was a never ending parade of death and despair. I was often introduced to families with the preface that they had already lost X amount of children plus one or both of the parents. I can feel bad for them on an abstract level, but if I didn't know them before hand it is difficult for me to rouse much emotional connection with them. They are just another set of future (or existing) corpses that I shouldn't bother getting to know or care about.There are a few characters we get to know quite well.Anna, the narrator. A peasant women in the employ of the local rector and widow to a local miner with two children. Michael Mompellion, the local rector and moral backbone of the community who proposes the the self quarantine. Elinor Mompellion, the wife of Michael who is a (positive) force to be reckoned with. Extremely empathetic, very hands on when it comes to problems, and generally a wonderful woman.We are also introduced to some other characters as well: Anna's father and step-mother, the Gowdies (a Aunt/Niece pair who have extensive herblore) and the Bradfords (local well to do family).So, some of the terrible things that the author heaps upon the reader:-The lynching of the Gowdies because people thought they were witches. There goes just about all of the herblore for the village, forcing Elinor and Anna to learn everything on their own.-Drug abuse (poppies in this case)-Child abuse-A crude form of crucifixion of Anna's father after he tries to kill someone in order to claim the victim's goods as payment for digging a grave (the previous person who did that died of a heart attack from overwork, another cheery note).-Anna's step mother, Aphra, going crazy from grief both from losing her own children (yes, lots and lots of children die) and having her husband die from the aforementioned crucifixion after Anna does not go to free him (she expected Aphra to do it but Aphra was at her home taking care of her children who all came down with the plague in shortly after the crucifixion). Aphra begins to masquerade as the ghost of one of the Gowdies, selling people fake supernatural remedies.-Child sacrifice-Families felled in such numbers that the village runs out of consecrated ground-Despair that drives some folks to self-flagellation-Attempted infanticide-Unnecessary mention of the slave trade. Not because the practice didn't occur, but because of all the other terrible things that have happened why include yet another terrible aspect of humanity during this time on top of everything else as part of a throw away line?-Elinor, whom we know at the beginning of the book is dead, comes down with the plague. So while you expect her to die she makes a recovery. Sounds good right? Nope, she gets killed when Aphra goes even crazier and stabs her to death in front of what is left of the village.-The Rector, Michael, after being a pillar of strength for the community, is broken by the death of Elinor and loses his faith (can't really blame him for that). But after hooking up with Anna (biblically speaking) he reveals that he never had sex with Elinor as a punishment for her sin of killing her out-of-wedlock child in the womb (using a heated iron brand no less). He specifically said that he strove to make her love him more and more so that his withholding of sex would hurt her that much more. Talk about a stone hearted, crazy religious zealot son of a bitch. Of course, because Anna become such good friends with Elinor and we see how great of a person Elinor is, this comes off as even more depressing and is a complete 180 from his previous personality to the point where it felt very jarring.So like I said, this book was fucking bleak. Everyone I was introduced to ended up dead, crazy, or deeply emotionally scarred (or were just terrible people to begin with). By the end we were left wwith this:Yes, the ending was sort of happy (if you ignore the mountain of corpses you had to climb over to get there), but Michael's crazy genes got passed on to another generation and the happiness lasted all of three pages before the book ended.There are ways to write bleak, depressing stories that don't involve constantly hitting the reader over the head with all the terrible things happening. After the third or fourth family is wiped out by the plague, the marginal emotional impact of each subsequent family death is extremely low. By the time I was halfway through the book every terrible thing the author dumped on poor Anna or the village just elicited a heavy sigh, not unlike the sighs I utter when the Mets once again find a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.Upon final analysis this book failed for me because I did not resonate emotionally with any of the characters and the never ending parade of death and destruction just sort of numbed me to the entire experience. Family of seven wiped out by the plague? How passe. Drowning a baby? Par for the course. Crazy lady with a giant knife that slays the most beloved character in the village? Not terribly surprising. Religious man turns out to be a heartless self-righteous jackass? Certainly surprising, but completely undercuts any good feelings I had towards him this entire book.If you are interested in seeing a community collapse and die off from a plague and their own inhumanity, you might like this book. The writing and descriptions are quite sharp and well crafted, just expect a windmill full of corpses by the end. (hide spoiler)]
Rarely has a book so captivated and then disappointed me with such a 180 turn to what I called utter "dreckage". Year of Wonders managed to do this, infortunately.In order to review, I have to break the book up between pages so that you can see where the trainwreck happened for me, and why I'm so PO'ed I could almost cry....REVIEW FOR PAGES 1-255Rating: 5 stars (I'd give it 10 stars if Goodreads had that designation, but since 5 stars means it was amazing, then 5 stars it is)Year of Wonders: Pages 1-255 is a beautiful, incredibly moving fictional account of a real event that happened in Eyam ("Eem"), Derbyshire, England in 1665-1666. Today, road signs point out the direction to "Plague Village", so I think you get the idea of where this story is going to go....The villagers of Eyam were ground zero for an outbreak of bubonic plague that had apparently been introduced to the remote village from flea infested bolts of cloth brought into the town. Best guess estimates of the population in 1665 set it around 380 villagers. By the fall of 1666, only about 120 were left. While people all over London and other places in England were hurriedly leaving the areas of plague infection, the villagers of Eyam, under the strong guidance of their pastor Michael Mompellion, decided to stay put, self-quarantine themselves and ride out the storm. They saw it as a test of their faith and trust toward God, and felt that they would be blessed beyond all measure once the plague left them.Author Geraldine Brooks tells this story through the eyes of Anna, a young widow with 2 very small children to support. Anna's role in helping Michael Mompellion and his high born wife Elinor shines the light on all that was the very best of human nature during a time of crisis, as well as what was the very worst in human beings stretched physically, emotionally and spiritually beyond their endurance. Brooks married the two extremes so well, weaving a highly readable tale of immense pain, degradation, fear, and ultimately faith. I was appalled later, (when I googled Eyam), to learn that many of the incidences Brooks used in the book were true. Human beings definitely have the capacity for both extreme nobility of spirit, as well as extreme barbarism.If Brooks had left the story of the plague village at page 255, I would have happily accorded this wonderful book a cherished slot in my bulging bookcase and marked it as "favorite" on these, my Goodreads shelves. Alas, the book was 304 pages long. Therefore, we come to book-review-within-a-review:BOOK REVIEW FOR PAGE 256-304Rating 1 star (My feeling for these final 50 pages can best be summed up by the word: aaaarrrggghhh.)Year of Wonders: Page 256-304 must be read in connection with the first 255 pages to be fully believed. It is EPIC FAIL at it's most EPIC. It is so crammed with schlocky, hokey, trite piles of plot shite that I can hardly believe that it's written by the same author as my beloved book, Year of Wonders: Page 1-255. How is this possible? Did Brooks suddenly seize up and hand over the pen to some Harlequin romance writer? (please, no PO'd posts by Harlequin fans - I happen to enjoy Harlequins in small doses myself, but there IS a difference in quality between the two writing mediums).What Brooks did so perfectly in pages 1-255, she completely decimated in pages 256-304. Was she attempting to pull off her own mini-plague by killing off all the good and noble and faithful ideas her story fostered? WTH happened to plot continuity? To the characters? I am so confused by her ending that I don't even know what to say about it, except that (view spoiler)[I'M PISSED, PISSED, PISSED (hide spoiler)]
What do You think about Year Of Wonders (2002)?
This is a beautifully written book. Set in 1665/6, and inspired by actual events, the novel tells the tale of a remote village in northern England which contracts the Plague from an infected bolt of cloth sent up from London. Inspired by their charismatic young rector, the villagers decide to quarantine themselves so as not to spread the contagion. The effects of this dramatic undertaking are witnessed by Anna, a young widow, and housemaid to the rector and his aristocratic wife. Although inexperienced, in these extreme circumstances Anna discovers in herself a talent as a healer and midwife and in this role comes into contact with all aspects of village life. At the same time, in her position as housemaid and confidante to the rector’s wife, Anna discovers the tragic secret behind their seemingly ideal marriage. For the most part, the reader is enthralled by the story, characters and poetic language, but every now and then one is left shaking one’s head, as the author’s modern sensibilities take control of her characters. The ending especially strains a reader’s credulity.Beautifully written as I said, but basically flawed.
—Pauline Montagna
I didn't hate the ending, but it was a shock! It signified such a break from Anna's existence in England. But who among us, especially after living through a horrible experience, wouldn't want to just take off and find a new life?
—JanB
Another winner from this author! An engaging plot and an interesting glimpse of what life was like for country people back then. Historical novels are the perfect niche for Geraldine Brooks. She does ample research, then creates a perfect blend of fact and fiction.This book is based on a true story about the village of Eyam, Derbyshire, where they really did quarantine themselves during the Black Plague of the 17th century. People long ago didn't understand how disease was transmitted, so they resorted to a combination of religious fervor ("this is God's punishment"), superstition (witch hunts, magic charms), and feeble attempts at scientific inquiry. This is just a great read from start to finish, full of memorable saints and villains and unexpected events. It really shows how, in times of crisis, a person's true nature emerges. Some become even more loving and selfless, some become hysterical and helpless, and some continue to think only of themselves. By the way, I was glad that the gross-out factor was kept to a minimum. There are numerous other mini-dramas to keep your interest, so it's not only about plague victims and putrefaction.
—Jeanette "Astute Crabbist"
