Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague by Geraldine Brooks

4 stars

Year of Wonders is the story of a small English village invaded by the Plague in 1665 and 1666. The villagers quarantine themselves in order to stop the Plague from spreading to surrounding places. Told from the perspective of Anna, a young widowed maid for the rector and his wife, the story follows the village from the first case of the Plague until the infection and two thirds of the population are gone.

This book captivated me from the very beginning. The fact that it's loosely based on a true story is a big reason that I found it so interesting. Brooks made you feel what it would be like to be there and to be one of those people. I felt their fear, their sadness, and their grief. My one complaint about the book, and the reason I didn't give it five stars, is the ending. I felt it was unrealistic and it seemed tacked on almost as an afterthought.