When Plague Strikes: Year of Wonders

     In the 17^th century, a tiny English village called Eyam was stricken with bubonic plague. The villagers, led by rector William Mompesson, agreed to quarantine themselves in order to keep the disease from spreading to nearby villages. In the end, an estimated four-fifths of the town population perished from the outbreak.

     In Year of Wonders, Geraldine Brooks recounts this story from the eyes of the fictional Mompesson’s servant, Anna Frith, a young widower with a brain ahead of her time. Frith sees much of the early death, including that of her two young sons. Now alone, Frith agrees to help Mompesson and his wife, Elinor, tend to the villagers as they struggle through the difficult time.

     It is here that Brooks is truly at her best. As noted by The Guardian’s Alfred Hickling, it would be easy for Brooks to get caught up in recounting death after death. Instead, Brooks looks at how the living respond, from learning to tend to new herbs to digging graves for profit. Her deep knowledge of the subject shines through particularly in a scene where Anna and Elinor must mine enough lead to keep the owner’s only surviving daughter from losing her claim. The drama is real and intense, making for a very interesting read.

     Brooks does an excellent job with her portrayal of women in the book. The protagonist, Anna Frith, is highly intelligent, brave, and independent. Her employer, Elinor, and the Gowdie women are equally vital to the story and the life of the townspeople. As more and more people fall victim to the plague, the women are not afraid to step up and use their skills for a good cause. The most promising plague cures come from the plants housed at the Gowdie residence, which is solely tended to by women. Considering that the majority of historical narratives are told from the perspective of men, it is refreshing to see a book that looks at an event without leaving women off the page.

     However, Brooks’ work is not perfect. As described by David Liss of The Washington Post, “her characters often break down between seemingly good modern thinkers and seemingly bad early-modern thinkers”. The common townspeople are pigeonholed into ignorant, witch-hunting crazies while Frith, Elinor, and the Gowdie women make medical conclusions far ahead of their time. In fact, Anna Frith seems almost too perfect of a character.

     The book concludes with a shocking and almost unbelievable twist. In an epilogue told from a few years later, Anna Frith finds herself on a boat to Oran, where a Muslim doctor happily takes her in as his assistant and member of his harem. There, she raises her two children in this amazing cultural center. As pointed out by John Vernon of The New York Times, “no mention is made of the number of their servants.”

     Ultimately, the goal of historical fiction is to help the reader become interested in a certain historical event. Geraldine Brooks far and above accomplishes this goal, bringing the story of Eyam to life in an interesting and dramatic read.