Year of Wonders - Geraldine Brooks

Metheringham Book Group Review

This book tells the story of the 17th century plague which was carried from London to a small Derbyshire village by an itinerant tailor and describes how the villagers dealt with the consequences.

When I opened the book, I inwardly groaned because I don't normally like anything written in the first person. However, I quickly became involved with Anna Frith's narrative and warmed to it. The fact that, although there was some "poetic licence", the story is based on facts about things that actually happened in Eyam, made it, at times, a harrowing read. I never quite trusted the Mompellions. And could anyone really be as virtuous as Anna Frith? I did enjoy the tales about all the superstitions that abounded at that time, probably because I was brought up by a mother who regularly repeated many of those superstitions to me. It was a well written book, and the twists towards the end made it, for me, even more enjoyable.

In my opinion definitely not the best book I have read about that time, but certainly a good read. I would give it a score of 7/10.

Dawn

(this book achieved an average score of 8/10 amongst the rest of the group)