Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague
by Geraldine Brooks
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Book Summary Information
Author: Geraldine BrooksEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2002-04-30
ISBN: 0142001430
Number of pages: 308
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780142001431
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague
Book Review: Year of Wonders: A Soap Opera of the Plague
Summary: 1 Stars
It is difficult to categorically damn such a well respected book as Geraldine Brooks' Year of Wonders as a completely futile effort in the mealy, airless medium of melodramatic pulp fiction, but that is the image I have in my mind after reading the book, and it is not one of those confused images that will be shaken off by contemplating the work or by a second reading, as there is nothing substantial to think about. It is impossible to think that the author did not have a good deal of knowledge about the Black Death and medieval culture, but it almost appears that her apparent goal to portray the life of a simple peasant during the great plague was a coldly disingenuous ploy to tell a lurid and totally unbelievable tale.Use of facts about that period of history were heavy-handed and appeared to be stuffed into the narrative until every available character and event had been gorged with contradictory and unexplained caricatures of historical events. In one completely isolated mining village there arise flagellants, witch-drownings, saccharine oaths among the dying to not spread the plague and to remain steadfastly in their village, men and women driven mad and to witchcraft, the arrival of science and medicine, maps drawn by a lightly educated preachers wife showing how the plague spread, a stunning appearance of the belief that God was not the author of the plague and that maybe he did not exist, and so on. This may represent an unmagnified picture of the year 1666 were the stage expanded to include most of Europe, but in the confines of a small village, they are laughable. The heroine begins superstitiously leery of medicine and herbs, but, in the course of the year, becomes a master healer and pharmacist. The preacher has time to reason that the plague is carried by the people's belongings which must be burned or boiled, but he still has time to endlessly tend to his flock, prepare fiery and lucid sermons, regain and lose his faith, lose his wife, administer justice by force and by words throughout the town and fall madly in love with the heroine.
As if to hide her garish literary showmanship, the author narrates as a simple peasant in a small village and does not reveal herself beyond her characters. This decision proves fatal, though, since Brooks has a great deal more to say than a medieval peasant could ever comprehend and with every lofty contemplation or ridiculous action, the character becomes more and more transparent and silly. The real intention of the book becomes clear at every turn of the page. Brooks is looking at history and the ignorance of the people and, with 20-20 hindsight, she commands her literary time machine to take her back to plague-riddled England and runs wild in the ever-popular daydream of how great one would be if one could exercise his too-common 20th century knowledge in ages past before the awed primitives. She, of course, cannot make this journey alone lest the superhuman aspects of her heroine become too clear so she brings along a strong, handsome, equally wise, philosopher-king of a preacher to help her hide among the serfs. The whole narrative smacks of politically correct feminism (Which has an important and vital place, but not in medieval minds) and totally worthless PC theology. The characters, particularly the female characters are obviously 20th century figures hammered into the story like the old square peg in a round hole. In addition, there are a number of "sex scenes" which I have nothing against in principle, but these were torn right from the pages of those books with shiny airbrushed covers depicting muscular long-haired heroes and glamorous heroines on a four-post bed draped with pink satin - true verbal garbage.
Brooke's heroine, a bright but illiterate, superstitious maid, blends beautifully with the narrative in the early chapters while the story talks of apples tumbling into apple bins and the smells of Autumn and the simplicity of medieval life. It seems as though the Author might have started along a safely navigable course or, perhaps, was wise enough to lure readers in with a genuine setting before subjecting them to the most finely written episode of "Days of Our Lives" ever penned. What better setting could she have chosen? The plague swoops in and out of her story killing children so that the mothers can eloquently weep and run about howling fury at God. It takes a potential husband away from the widow that loves him the moment after they first admit their mutual love. It clears away wives and husbands so that the chosen characters may follow their passions. It provides a fittingly terrible, awe-inspiring background to allow these stomach-turning scenes to blend into an emotional and colorful stew rather than standing out as repugnant trash reserved for popular bestsellers, romance novels, and daytime television.
In trying to look at the Black Death from the perspective of one who lived through it, it is possible to imagine a story far darker and far more compelling than this blunt caricature. I am tempted to judge this book as somewhat allegorical, but it lacks the power and ambiguity in language that might have made it rise above a paperback love story.
On the whole, I think this book wildly and inexcusably distorts any view of real life in 'The Plague Years.' A reader who has no knowledge of the historical background of the book will have a tremendously skewed perspective of the condition of the people who lived in those times and a reader with even a modicum of knowledge must either laugh at it or choose to simply note the brief glimpses of reality found in the pages. In my own experience, I found the text to be so shallow that I was able to read it in one sitting without pausing once or re-reading any section and I arose from the experience with no lasting thoughts beyond the idea that maybe I should be a writer if this nonsense gets such a pretty cover and sells so many copies. But, of course, so do Tom Clancy books and romance novels, so I must content myself with warning off any reader with even a stub of intellect from this tepid verbal diarrhea.
Summary of Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague
When an infected bolt of cloth carries plague from London to an isolated village, a housemaid named Anna Frith emerges as an unlikely heroine and healer. Through Anna's eyes we follow the story of the fateful year of 1666, as she and her fellow villagers confront the spread of disease and superstition. As death reaches into every household and villagers turn from prayers to murderous witch-hunting, Anna must find the strength to confront the disintegration of her community and the lure of illicit love. As she struggles to survive and grow, a year of catastrophe becomes instead annus mirabilis, a "year of wonders."
Inspired by the true story of Eyam, a village in the rugged hill country of England, Year of Wonders is a richly detailed evocation of a singular moment in history. Written with stunning emotional intelligence and introducing "an inspiring heroine" (The Wall Street Journal), Brooks blends love and learning, loss and renewal into a spellbinding and unforgettable read.
Inspired by the true story of Eyam, a village in the rugged hill country of England, Year of Wonders is a richly detailed evocation of a singular moment in history. Written with stunning emotional intelligence and introducing "an inspiring heroine" (The Wall Street Journal), Brooks blends love and learning, loss and renewal into a spellbinding and unforgettable read.
Geraldine Brooks's Year of Wonders describes the 17th-century plague that is carried from London to a small Derbyshire village by an itinerant tailor. As villagers begin, one by one, to die, the rest face a choice: do they flee their village in hope of outrunning the plague or do they stay? The lord of the manor and his family pack up and leave. The rector, Michael Mompellion, argues forcefully that the villagers should stay put, isolate themselves from neighboring towns and villages, and prevent the contagion from spreading. His oratory wins the day and the village turns in on itself. Cocooned from the outside world and ravaged by the disease, its inhabitants struggle to retain their humanity in the face of the disaster. The narrator, the young widow Anna Frith, is one of the few who succeeds. With Mompellion and his wife, Elinor, she tends to the dying and battles to prevent her fellow villagers from descending into drink, violence, and superstition. All is complicated by the intense, inexpressible feelings she develops for both the rector and his wife. Year of Wonders sometimes seems anachronistic as historical fiction; Anna and Mompellion occasionally appear to be modern sensibilities unaccountably transferred to 17th-century Derbyshire. However, there is no mistaking the power of Brooks's imagination or the skill with which she constructs her story of ordinary people struggling to cope with extraordinary circumstances. --Nick Rennison, Amazon.co.uk
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