Historical Fiction

 

Title: Year of Wonders

Author: Geraldine Brooks

Paperback: 308 pages

Publisher: Penguin Books, 2002

Language: English

Genre: Historical Fiction

Time Period:  1665-1666 A.D.

Summary

Anne Frith grew up in a simple dwelling with her abusive father and aloof step-mother.  When the occasion presented itself for Anne to marry a local coal miner and begin her own life, she embraced the opportunity.  Hardship soon followed as her husband perished in a mining accident leaving her to raise her two children alone.  To earn extra money to help with the upkeep of the cottage and to feed her young children, Anne decides to take in a boarder.  George Remington is a cloth merchant who has traveled all over England selling his goods and services. Unbeknownst to George, his cloth contains the elements of the disease that will eventually claim his life and the lives of over two thirds of the villagers within a year's time.  Since Anne chose to take George in as a boarder, she is the first to encounter the deadly disease as she watches George succumb to the illness.  She next has to endure the agony of losing her children to the plague.  Withdrawn and barely taking care of herself, she is pushed back into reality as the needs of the dying require her assistance for care and comfort. 

Death and despondency quickly runs throughout the village and anyone not inflicted with the curse must care for the infirmed or dying.  Anne befriends the new church rector and his wife as they tirelessly battle the disease.  Not knowing what is causing the spread of the disease, the villagers lose faith in the church and begin to embrace superstition to protect them from getting the disease.  Through fear and ignorance, the villagers set upon the local healers and accuse them of witchcraft and kill them to eradicate the curse upon the village.  For a full year the villagers endure incredible loss and hardships and when the disease begins to run its course, it takes the life of the rector's wife leaving the rector to question his faith. Now the village must come together to heal and find comfort in order to rebuild and begin a new chapter in their lives.

Genre: Historical Fiction

Death, hardship, and superstition intertwine throughout the novel as the destruction of the bubonic plague ravages a remote village in Derbyshire, England.  The book is based on a true story of sacrifice as the village chose the selfless act of closing its boarders to minimize the spread of the deadly pestilence. The author carefully guides the readers to the evolution of fear and superstition as the villagers grasp at anything to stop the pain and destruction. The ordinary life and customs of the village is described in depth, from coal miners, midwives, and healers.  The author's research delves into the intricacies of life in a rural village and the social interactions that are dependent on survival.  The story is well crafted with such details that the reader is whisked to a dark period in time where comfort and security is scarce.

The book unfolds at a moderate pace.  The mood is rather dark and smacks of desperation as the villagers cope with the devastation of the plague. The author uses her writing skills to keep the reader interested in the storyline through the use of interesting characters and events, despite the dark tone of the book.  She also uses modern language, instead of local dialect, to keep the story flowing all the way to the conclusion.  The expectation of "the light at the end of the tunnel" feeling is what keeps the reader moving forward.  

Historical Fiction

The Maid: A Novel of Joan of Arc by Kimberly Cutter

The War of the Roses: Through the Lives of Five Men and Women of the Fifteenth Century by        Desmond Seward 

Daughter of York by Anne Easter Smith

Historical Nonfiction

The Time Travelers' Guide to Medievel England by Ian Mortimer

A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century by Barbara W. Tuchman

In Search of the Dark Ages by Michael Wood