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amandasbookreview 's review for:
Year of Wonders
by Geraldine Brooks
This is such an unusual time that we are all experiencing right now. I have studied history and our history is riddled with plague, disease, and infection. I wanted to read about another’s view about these circumstances, whether fiction or nonfiction. Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks is a fictional story that takes place in the year 1666. Anna Frith is a housemaid in a village in the hills. She is married to a simple miner and has two children. They live a simple life but a happy one. That is until a piece of cloth finds its way to the village from London, carrying the plague. The local pastor makes the decision to quarantine the town from the outside world. This doesn’t stop the disease from destroying the village. What is left is destroyed by the mass hysteria of those who are left alive…
This is definitely a unique experience reading a book about the plague while in quarantine. One thing is for certain, the pastor acted way faster than our government did. However, there are some similarities. The book shows religious hysteria and witch hunts. They don’t understand why this is happening and how the disease spreads, so they take it out on each other the only way they know-how. Fast forward to the present day, we are more arrogant. We have better medical advancements and we have an idea how the virus spreads but the problem is stopping it. We don’t necessarily have witch hunts, but we do have the internet which is vital in the spread of false information and conspiracy theories. There are also people who think that they can’t be quarantined. That they can just go where they please…doesn’t that sound familiar.
Okay, now more about the actual book. This book is absolutely beautiful. The hope that comes out of utter despair is my favorite aspect of the book. There is also the courageous Anna. She witnesses loss beyond all imagining but still gets up every day, leaves the house to take care of those who are suffering, all while having the want to learn as much as she can about healing. She is a heroine. (Just like all our essential workers, right now. I see you and thank you!)
Another beautiful part of the story is Anna’s friendship with the pastor’s wife, Elinor. They lean on each other and gather strength from each other. I love how they just build each other up, as what women should do.
“Oh, the spark was clear in you when you first came to me–but you covered your light as if you were afraid of what would happen if anybody saw it. You were like a flame blown by the wind until it is almost extinguished. All I had to do was put the glass around you. And now, how you shine!”
YEAR OF WONDERS PAGE 234
The prose is absolutely stunning and I was entranced from the very first page. This book really dives into the human condition and shows the beauty in sometimes a very dark world. This book gets a perfect 5 stars from me!
This is definitely a unique experience reading a book about the plague while in quarantine. One thing is for certain, the pastor acted way faster than our government did. However, there are some similarities. The book shows religious hysteria and witch hunts. They don’t understand why this is happening and how the disease spreads, so they take it out on each other the only way they know-how. Fast forward to the present day, we are more arrogant. We have better medical advancements and we have an idea how the virus spreads but the problem is stopping it. We don’t necessarily have witch hunts, but we do have the internet which is vital in the spread of false information and conspiracy theories. There are also people who think that they can’t be quarantined. That they can just go where they please…doesn’t that sound familiar.
Okay, now more about the actual book. This book is absolutely beautiful. The hope that comes out of utter despair is my favorite aspect of the book. There is also the courageous Anna. She witnesses loss beyond all imagining but still gets up every day, leaves the house to take care of those who are suffering, all while having the want to learn as much as she can about healing. She is a heroine. (Just like all our essential workers, right now. I see you and thank you!)
Another beautiful part of the story is Anna’s friendship with the pastor’s wife, Elinor. They lean on each other and gather strength from each other. I love how they just build each other up, as what women should do.
“Oh, the spark was clear in you when you first came to me–but you covered your light as if you were afraid of what would happen if anybody saw it. You were like a flame blown by the wind until it is almost extinguished. All I had to do was put the glass around you. And now, how you shine!”
YEAR OF WONDERS PAGE 234
The prose is absolutely stunning and I was entranced from the very first page. This book really dives into the human condition and shows the beauty in sometimes a very dark world. This book gets a perfect 5 stars from me!