Journal Entry 1 by meganh from Thornbury, Victoria Australia on Monday, November 03, 2003

I bought this book on sale hoping for a good read before I released it through the bookcrossing site.
I couldn't put the book down! Except for about 20 pages towards the end of the book (when the ending looked like it was going to be an unbelievable "happily ever after"); the story was moving and believable.
"An astonishing re-creation of how it felt to be a victim and survivor ... vivid in its humanity."
Mailed to boreal on 15/3 as a trade after she so kindly sent me a book on my wish list. 

Journal Entry 2 by boreal from Dunedin, Otago New Zealand on Wednesday, March 24, 2004

This beautiful book arrived today along with a lovely Australian bookmark, thanks Meganh.
I am looking forward to reading it and my husband said he might give it a go as well.
 

Journal Entry 3 by boreal from Dunedin, Otago New Zealand on Thursday, April 15, 2004

Both my husband and I have read this and we loved it.
It tells the story of a small village in England which in 1666 is struck down with the Plague. The rector of the church decides to isolate the village from the outside world to prevent infection and so begins the Year of Wonders.
The sights and smells that are described so well, help bring the story to life as does the language used which is how you would imagine people of the 17th century would talk. The main characters are all women and they are strong women too much more so than the male characters.
The only jarring bit was the ending which although satisfactory seems a bit far fetched.
I am looking forward to reading more by this author.
 

Journal Entry 4 by boreal from Dunedin, Otago New Zealand on Thursday, April 22, 2004

Meganh and I have decided that this book deserves more readers so I have decided to start a bookray for Australia an NZ -please PM me if you want to join.
Participants so far-
rarsberry, Dunedin, NZ
sherlockfan, Wellington, NZ
Sharantino,Timaru, NZ
gwilk, Christchurch, NZ
Mundoo, - South Australia
Scism, -Adelaide, South Australia
tqd, -Sydney, Australia
Virgotwist, Melbourne, Australia
deans-girl, Melbourne, Australia >
bishop75, Hastings, New Zealand ----- Book is here

Bookray instructions-

1. Make a journal entry when you receive the book to let us know its arrived safely.

2. When you finish the book, make another journal entry telling us what you thought.

3. Send a PM to the next on the list asking for their address. If you are too busy to read the book in the next few weeks, let me know and I will move you down the list.

4.Enjoy!!

27 April: Left the book in Rarsberry's mailbox.
 

Journal Entry 5 by rarsberry from Christchurch, Canterbury New Zealand on Saturday, May 08, 2004

Sorry to have left catching this for so long, I had forgotten about it.
I managed to sneak in on this bookray before it got out of the city.
So far I'm up to about page 23 and its going well.
Very descriptive and makes me feel like I'm there.
I'll keep reading it so that I can send it off to Sherlockfan. :o) 

Journal Entry 6 by rarsberry from Christchurch, Canterbury New Zealand on Thursday, May 20, 2004

WOW, what a book, I loved it.
Even though its fiction, it could be true.
I loved the characters in the story, especially Anna.
They all went through so much hardship in that year, with so many people dying and not being able to leave the village.
It would be very dificult to deal with, both then and now.

Thank you for letting me read the book boreal.
I'll post it as soon as I can. 

Journal Entry 7 by rarsberry at -- By post or by hand/ in person, RABCK , bookring/ray in Dunedin, Otago New Zealand on Wednesday, May 26, 2004

Release planned for Thursday, May 27, 2004 at Controlled Release in Dunedin, Otago New Zealand.

Put this in the post early this afternoon off to Wellington.
Happy reading. :) 

Journal Entry 8 by Sherlockfan from Upper Hutt, Wellington Province New Zealand on Saturday, May 29, 2004

Marvels of modern postal services - well, sometimes anyway.
The book arrived in Wellington on Saturday 29th which I think is pretty fantastic. Luckily I finished a book late this morning so will get onto this straight away.
Thanks for including me in this book ring. Looks as if it will be a very good read. 

Journal Entry 9 by Sherlockfan from Upper Hutt, Wellington Province New Zealand on Wednesday, June 02, 2004

I did so very much enjoy this book. It has got so many facets to it that I found it rivetting reading. The horrors of the plague with its so speedy and disastrous effects; the courage and strength of some of the youngsters in the village; the initially mysterious Elinor; the on-going references to the magical properties of herbs and their use; everything about Anna; and the truly superbly dreamed up ending which I thought pretty fitting.
I loved this book.
It will be posted off to sharantino this afternoon.
I'll put another book or two in with it as it is a shame to waste the full weight value available in the first package postal rate.
 

Journal Entry 10 by Sherlockfan from Upper Hutt, Wellington Province New Zealand on Thursday, June 03, 2004

Didn't quite make it to the Post on Wednesday - one of those days when things just got out of control towards the end of the day, not helped by a cancellation at the dental hygienist that was too timely to turn down.
Posted the book off to Sharantino today Thursday and kept to my threat/promise to include enough other books to fill up to the 1.5 kg weight.
Hope she likes those ones as well - I have no doubt that she'll enjoy Y o W.
It is an exciting day today for me as I was advised of a journal entry on "Chocolate Quake" for which I'd had a wild release on a bus seat in Karori and watched waiting for it to be picked up. Yippee!!! 

Journal Entry 11 by Sharantino from Timaru, Canterbury New Zealand on Sunday, June 06, 2004

I got a parcel of books! My family was jealous.. ehhehe
I have a queue right now so will get back to journal it when I have read it.
Thanks!


12July 04 -
Finished the book a few days ago. It was a bit of a "can't put down" sort of book. What a horrid squalid time to live in. I wonder if people a few centruies from now will think that about the time we live in now.
Also a scarey time in that part of the world - fickle mob nature just goes off about anything. I wonder are we stil like that over all...

I am about to message next person on list so I can get this moving again.
 

Journal Entry 12 by gwilk from Christchurch, Canterbury New Zealand on Sunday, July 18, 2004

Found this book was delivered to my letterbox on Friday and I started reading it over the weekend. A promising start, so far it seems particularly vivid. 

Journal Entry 13 by gwilk from Christchurch, Canterbury New Zealand on Wednesday, August 04, 2004

I finished the book last night. I must admit that there were times when I regretted picking up a book about the plague since if I had thought a little about it I would have figured out that a lot of it was going to be unpleasant and even a little depressing. However, the lure of learning a little more about a period of history I know nothing about overcame that and I am glad I took up the challenge.

I hadn't realised the novel was historically based until I got to the endnotes. I was dumbstruck! The idea that there was one village that was visited by the Black Death and voluntarily quarantined itself is amazing. I had mental pictures of the plague sweeping the land like, well, a plague and then when reading the novel I thought maybe it advanced in pockets that outsiders shunned. But if I have understood the endnotes, there was one village this happened to.

I am still having trouble reconciling the rector's dark secret revealed in the closing moments of the novel with his generally observed behaviour, but it does mesh well with Geraldine Brook's observations in the endnotes of the dangers of that kind of personality. To me this is the most difficult part of the ending. All in all I think Brooks has created a thoughtful, challenging novel with interesting and diverse characters that I am sure will live with me for a while yet. 

Journal Entry 14 by gwilk from Christchurch, Canterbury New Zealand on Monday, August 16, 2004

Posted last Sunday to Mundoo, South Australia.

27-Sep-04 Post-Script: I was telling a friend about this book and he said, "The village wasn't Eyam was it?". It turns out he is descended from Michael Mompellion. 

Journal Entry 15 by Mundoo from Hindmarsh Island, South Australia Australia on Thursday, August 19, 2004

Received the book today. 

Journal Entry 16 by Mundoo from Hindmarsh Island, South Australia Australia on Sunday, September 05, 2004

A very interesting story. Anna was such a strong woman and I was pleased she ended up with happiness in the end. Descriptions of the plague and gory bits (childbirth scene) I tended to skip over. A stong story and held my interest.

Incredible that it was based on a true village. I searched the internet and found the village and it's story. Eyam and the Great Plague
 

Journal Entry 17 by Mundoo at By Mail in Controlled Release, Given to a fellow bookcrosser -- Controlled Releases on Sunday, September 05, 2004

Released 7 yrs ago (9/5/2004 UTC) at By Mail in Controlled Release, Given to a fellow bookcrosser -- Controlled Releases

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

RELEASE NOTES:

Posted to Scism 

Journal Entry 18 by Scism from Adelaide, South Australia Australia on Tuesday, September 07, 2004

This book arrived in my mail box today. I'm looking forward to reading it, but will have to finish off the other bookring book I am in the middle of first. 

Journal Entry 19 by Scism from Adelaide, South Australia Australia on Wednesday, September 22, 2004

Wow, what a sensational book! This one had me gripped from page one. The story-telling was magical, and the depth of characters immensely satisfying. I'm not usually the sort of person that enjoys the gory details (other books I have read about the Plague have left me feeling like I need a shower!!), but I felt like this author dealt with that aspect particularly well. Yes, it was gross at times, but not simply for the sake of being shocking. I was touched by Anna's wilingness to put herself into awkward, uncomfortable and potentially dangerous situations, simply to comfort the dying. Unlike Mundoo, I found the childbirth scenes particularly powerful, and was struck by the moment in which Anna realises that, despite society's expectations, she has more expertise about women's bodies than a barber-surgeon would, simply by virtue of being a woman herself. I felt connected with her experience at that point, since I think that is a struggle women continue to face today, particularly in the realm of childbirth.

The ending took me by surprise, leaving me with lots to wonder over. I almost felt like things had come full circle, in an unexpected way. And I was particularly glad that the author included the afterword - it gave the story such authenticity.

There's so much more I could say about this book! It has such beauty, strength and sorrow, and yet seems to be ultimately about triumph. Thanks meganh & boreal for the opportunity to read this one. You're right - this book deserves to be shared!

I will mail it off to the next person asap. 

Journal Entry 20 by Scism from Adelaide, South Australia Australia on Sunday, September 26, 2004

Mailed to tqd on Thursday 23rd September 2004.

I was really sad to see this book go! I hope everyone else on the ray enjoys it as much as I did. 

Journal Entry 21 by tqd from Sydney, New South Wales Australia on Monday, September 27, 2004

Book arrived in the mail today, thanks scism! I'm looking forward to this one, everyone's reviews have been so great! 

Journal Entry 22 by tqd from Sydney, New South Wales Australia on Wednesday, October 13, 2004

An excellent read! Although I spent most of the book going "come on, this is too far fetched" only to read the notes at the end that there really was a village that locked itself away from the world when the Plague struck. You learn a new thing every day (and isn't it great when you learn new stuff while reading a great novel?). I also liked the notes at the end where she justified having such a tough heroine in a book which is set in times that we think of as being very anti-women.

I found the death of Jamie & Tom completely devasting, I wish I hadn't read those bits. (That might be why I was nitpicking about the strangeness of the plot. Anything to keep myself emotionally distanced from the death of Anna's children.)

Anna is a fabulous character, it was wonderful seeing her develop.

And I actually really liked the ending (I noticed other people didn't). I can't say why, but after feeling a bit distrustful of the facts of most of the book, the bit that was the most far-fetched actually worked really well for me.

In the notes at the end of the book, it was also interesting to find out that the author was a journalist first. She's written a wonderful novel that doesn't read at all like a piece of journalism.

If anyone else is interested in reading any more "plague fiction" (I can't think of a better term, sorry), try and find Connie Willis' The Doomsday Book. It's definitely in the sci-fi category (young girl travels back in time for historical research), but is a cracking read and one of my favourite books.

I've got virgotwist's address already, so shall pop this in the post asap! 

Journal Entry 23 by Virgotwist from London , Greater London United Kingdom on Sunday, December 12, 2004

This was a great little read, very well written and describes the era of the plague very well. I loved the characters and really enjoyed reading it.

Unfortunately, i have been travelling a huge amount in the last 6 weeks and have not sent it on as soon as i should have. Will do so now as it was a very enjoyable read while travelling and i am sure that others will enjoy it 

Journal Entry 24 by helocin from Melbourne, Victoria Australia on Saturday, January 08, 2005

Received in the mail. Thanks very much Virgotwist!

I read this one in one night, and since there is no one else on the list yet, I might read it again before I release it. I'm often guilty of rushing through a good book to see what will happen next, and then I go back and reread the last couple of chapters thoroughly to take it all in.

It was poignant, sad, but not depressing. I was intrigued by the relationship between Elinor and Anna, and of course, Michael. What an amazing epic.

Thanks to meganh and boreal for the opportunity - I enjoyed reading everyone's journal entries almost as much as I enjoyed reading the book.

 

Journal Entry 25 by helocin from Melbourne, Victoria Australia on Wednesday, February 09, 2005

Reserved for bishop75, who contacted boreal regarding this excellent book.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Missed out on meeting bishop75 in Melbourne by two days at Easter time. Will post to New Zealand for him tomorrow. Sorry it has taken so long! Hope you enjoy it. 

Journal Entry 26 by bishop75 on Friday, May 13, 2005

Arrived by post just this morning from Australia.