Geraldine Brooks is a 21st Century phenomenon in the world of historical fiction. In Year of Wonders, the first of her six novels published to date, she tackles the familiar territory of the bubonic plague. Brooks adds great emotional depth to the reader’s understanding of its impact and the now-alien setting in which it appeared. This is one of at least four books I’ve read over the years that deal with the plague in England, both fiction and nonfiction, and it’s by far the most insightful and revealing.
Year of Wonders tells the tale of Anna Frith, an 18-year-old mother of two who is widowed when her husband dies accidentally in one of the local lead mines. She is hired as a housemaid by the new Anglican pastor, Michael Mompellion, and his aristocratic wife Elinor. Elinor teaches Anna to read and guides her to a more self-confident and sophisticated view of her abilities and the world where she lives. These three are the central figures in the horrific events that unfold when the plague descends on their village. Alone and together, they struggle with often-contradictory thoughts and feelings about faith, love, superstition, and redemption, as the plague strikes down one villager after another, felling whole families virtually overnight, and leaving barely one-third of its 400 inhabitants alive once it finally grinds to a halt.
Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks (2001) 323 pages ★★★★★
A novel by Geraldine Brooks about the Black Death better than any textbook
The very best historical fiction can teach history better than any textbook or lecture, and Year of Wonders is a brilliant example of that ability. Read this book, and you’ll gain a new appreciation of both the virtues and the failings of Christianity as practiced in 17th Century England. You’ll also understand the depths of ignorance and superstition that reigned among the overwhelming majority of people living a mere three centuries ago.
The title, Year of Wonders, was translated and borrowed from the Latin annus mirabilis of a John Dryden poem describing the year 1666, the setting of this novel. This was not the time of the Black Death that reduced Europe’s population by a third but a more localized epidemic that took place three centuries later. Brooks grounded her story in the fascinating tale of the historical English village of Eyam, today called the Plague Village.
About the author
The author’s website reveals that “Australian-born Geraldine Brooks is an author and journalist who grew up in the Western suburbs of Sydney, attending Bethlehem College Ashfield and the University of Sydney. She worked as a reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald for three years as a feature writer with a special interest in environmental issues.
“In 1982 she won the Greg Shackleton Australian News Correspondents scholarship to the journalism master’s program at Columbia University in New York City. Later she worked forThe Wall Street Journal, where she covered crises in the the Middle East, Africa, and the Balkans. In 1990, with her husband Tony Horwitz, she won the Overseas Press Club Award for best coverage of the Gulf War.
“She was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in fiction in 2006 for her novel March. Her novels People of the Book, Caleb’s Crossing and The Secret Chord all were New York Times Bestsellers. Her first novel, Year of Wonders is an an international bestseller, translated into more than 25 languages.”
For further reading
All of the author’s books can be found at The outstanding historical fiction of Geraldine Brooks.
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