I am thinking about making a bookring for this one... It is better to be traveling than sitting on my shelf waiting to be read!

PM me if you are interested.

Summary from Amazon.com
Geraldine Brooks's Year of Wonders describes the 17th-century plague that is carried from London to a small Derbyshire village by an itinerant tailor. As villagers begin, one by one, to die, the rest face a choice: do they flee their village in hope of outrunning the plague or do they stay? The narrator, the young widow Anna Frith, is one of the few who succeeds. There is no mistaking the power of Brooks's imagination or the skill with which she constructs her story of ordinary people struggling to cope with extraordinary circumstances.

Participants:
krin511 (MD, US)
Tyressia (ON, CAN)
Tho (Portugal)
Minerswifebb (BC, CAN)
JDT (CA, US)
16stepper (AZ, US)
sejent (KY, US)
Flashgirl (MN, US)
Guinneth (NH, US)
Mom-of-one (PA, US)
MaryZee (MD, US)
Seferim (MD, US) **originator**
MMZ18407(MD, US)

Received in today's mail and I've started to read it.

I finished this book today on the bus ride home. It was very good. I recommend looking up the history of Eyam, the village that this book is based on. Some websites had pictures of some of the places mentioned in the book!

I will mail it to Tyressia on Saturday.

I received this in the mail today, and it was perfect timing! I just finished the novel I was reading, and I'm ready to start on this one right away. I'll post a complete review when I'm finished, and then pass it on. :)

“Year of Wonders” tells the story of Anna, an 18 year old mother-of-two, who lives to witness a horrible period in England’s history: the Plague. In the period of one year, she watches as her friends, neighbors and family succumb to this horrible disease. The novel is as much about the Plague as it is about the struggle of mankind to survive in the face of such overwhelming horror.

I’m extremely fascinated by the plague, so I found the subject matter of the book captivating. I also thought the historical research was impeccable. The way Brooks described life in a small village in the 17th century was enchanting. The characterization was good, for the most part, as well. I also really liked the ending.

However, I disliked the writing style. It was flowery, poetic, lyrical, but too much so. I found that reading “Year of Wonders” took a lot of my concentration, and I found myself easily bored by the flowery descriptions. I also had a hard time keeping track of all the villagers. There were so many names mentioned in passing, and when they were brought up again chapters later, it was hard to remember who the person was, and why they were important.

Unfortunately, I also didn’t like any of the characters very much. I was unable to relate to Anna. She seemed too modern at times, while other times she would cower in fear at the slightest threat. For a “strong” heroine, her character traits were surprising and unrealistic. Elinor seemed like the incarnation of a saint. She was utterly perfect, and once again, unrealistic. Mr. Mompellion rubbed me the wrong way from the start, and it became increasingly clear to me that I didn’t like him at all as the book drew to a close. At least his actions and dark side are explained.

I would strongly recommend Connie Willis' novel entitled "DoomsDay Book" for those also interested in the subject matter.

P.S. - the picture depicts a 17th century Physician wearing a plague preventative costume. I thought it was fitting!

Sent the book on to Tho today, via Air Mail. :) Enjoy!

Received it today (thanks Tyressia !!) and will try to start reading it this weekend - kind of hard, since I received other 3 bookring/ray books yesterday, but I'll do my best ... But I love historical books, so maybe I'll manage :-)

".. the smell of rotten apples .." - this is the phrase that stuck with me after reading the book. I quite liked the way the author described the smells and sounds that Anna was experiencing - very convincing and well written. The tragedy and consequences of the Plague are very well detailed as well as the daily life of the village and its inhabitants. Some of the characters didn't appeal all that much to me (especially Michael) but Anna was quite believable. The ending was a bit far-fetched, I think, but at least it was a happy one :-)
I'll be mailing it to Minerswifebb next !

Picture: Celtic cross (Eyam, Derbyshire - the original village where the story happened) - from the website http://www.britainexpress.com/villages/eyam.htm

Mailed to Minerswifebbm, in BC - Canada.

Received this book today...thankyou! It had been opened by customs ...they are doing that a lot lately, perhaps they think I am part of some sort of smuggling ring? LOL
This looks like a wonderful book and it has praise by two of my favorite authors on the back cover, so I know I am in for a treat.

This is right up there with my all time favorite books! This first novel is exquisitely written...I am having a hard time coming back to the present from a small village in England 1666. Must buy a copy for my personal collection as it is one to savour again someday.
Geraldine Brooks...are you out there writing another novel??

Mailing to JDT today.

Just received this book from Minerswifebb (wrapped in great butterfly/flowers paper!)
The funny thing is I just treated myself to a copy of this book on our anniversary trip (39th) last week - totally forgetting that I was a part of Seferim's bookring for Year of Wonders! I sent my copy out on a mini-bookring to share before reading it myself.
So to keep this moving, and in the hope that delayed gratification will enhance future enjoyment, I'll send this on to 16stepper - and look forward to reading my book whenever it returns.
Thanks to all before me!

Funny thing. I came home from an oncology appointment, happy to be told that I have yet another 6 months of cancer-free existence ahead of me, only to find this book and another book about an epidemic in my mailbox. Is the universe trying to send me a signal? Tomorrow I shop for a gas mask!

This goes on my bookray stack and I'm looking forward to reading it.

I've had this book for a month, so this is an update. I anticipate that I will read this book by next weekend and be ready to mail it out to the next person by the 22nd or 23rd.

I finished The Dress Lodger, another book about an epidemic, just a couple days ago. These two books couldn't be more different, and yet, they are both well worth reading.

This one differs from The Dress Lodger in that the entire narrative is seen through the eyes of a specific person. I enjoyed the narrator, Anna Frith, who is written with great detail and realism. The narrator of The Dress Lodger is not revealed until the end, which makes it difficult to develop rapport with any of the characters. This is a deliberate choice on the part of the author, but one that made the reading of the book more difficult for me.

There are scenes in this book that will remain in my mind forever. I enjoyed the style of writing. Thank you for sharing this, seferim!

This goes to sejent in tomorrow's mail.

Received in today's mail...will start reading soon and will journal again when I have finished.

Sending to Flashgirl in St. Paul, MN.

Received today. I have one other BookRing book to whip through before I start this one.

The most predominant feeling this book aroused in me was: tiredness. This book made me tired. Which may partially explain why I kept it so long (sorry to anyone who minded). But I feel good having triumphed in the end! Every night I would open the book before bed and start to read, but with all those sick people to care for… all those dead to bury… all those orphans to find homes for… plus the everyday work of life marching on, with so many lost and so much work divided among so few… whew, it made me want to close my eyes and go to sleep! However, after reading a few pages at a time for months, today I finished the last 100 pages in an afternoon. The ending seemed very surprising, almost like it wasn’t part of the same book! A spoiler posting follows (highlight the text with your mouse to read it):

I completely agree with Tyressia’s comments about Elinor: she seemed too good to be true, more like a saint than a person. In fact, I found many of the characters were more like characatures. They were either all bad and evil and ugly, OR all perfect and good and beautiful, with little of the true mixed potential of real human beings.

Michael and Elinor seemed like Anna’s fantasy of a perfect loving couple, so I suppose it's only to be expected that the illusion would come crashing down at some point. The book jacket hints at a “forbidden love,” so I was anticipating a romantic connection between Michael and Anna, but I wasn’t prepared for what that would look like, or to find out that behind closed doors Michael’s marriage to Elinor was more about judgement and punishment than about loving and enjoying one another!

I also hoped that the town’s sacrifice, such a grand leap of faith, would conclude in a more uplifting way. Instead, it left Anna's faith "in tatters," with the feeling that it was all a meaningless sham. The introduction the paperback edition describes how Anna "shrugs off the social and religious mores that would keep a weaker woman in her place," so maybe the possibilities it opens up for Anna are the author's point, not her spiritual disillusionment.

I found epilogue mystifying. I would have preferred it to be fleshed out a bit more. I just couldn’t accept that Anna would join a harem and don the veil, without further comment or explanation! It seemed like a different book, and it is: Brooks' next book was Nine Parts of Desire, The Hidden World of Islamic Women.

Mailed to guinneth on February 11th.

Got this today - thank you! I'll start right in. I'm going to read 'Working' at the same time (it's not a novel, so I can pick it up intermittently). I'm really looking forward to 'Year of Wonders'.

I thoroughly enjoyed this engrossing novel - in fact, I had a hard time putting it down. I thought the author did a terrific job of including enough historical detail to evoke the period without detracting from the story itself. I enjoyed the character of Anna and found her journey over the course of the novel both harrowing and satisfying. Another great read - thanks, Seferim!

Sent to Mom-of-one today. Enjoy!

Recived this in the mail last week. I'll read it as soon as I finish the book I'm presently on...then journal and send on it's way! Thanks!!!

What an incredible story! I loved the way the book was written, the way Anna herself would have spoken in the 17'th century.
Like Minerswife said, this book is right up there with my all-time favorite reads. I need a copy for my personal collection. It's going to be hard sending this one on because I've become attached to it...but...off it goes.

This came in the mail today. I'll start on this as soon as I finish my current read, Word Freak. I'm about halfway finished that and should be finishing it up in about a week or so.

4/9 - Starting on this now. I had a couple other bookrings come in right after this, and since this one is going straight back to Seferim, I put it off for a bit. But I'm just now starting this.

Thanks for sharing, Seferim! I really enjoyed this book!

I've often found tales of the plague interesting (what does that say about me, I wonder?), but I've never read any books solely devoted to this topic. Interesting book.

Loved the language, and the voice of the narrator. Took a chapter or two in the beginning to get used to the antiquated speech, but then it got easier.

And I loved the way the book ended - typically human - always with hope for the future.

Back to Seferim, as soon as we can get together. Hope she gets time to read her own book soon :-)

My bookring has returned~and now I can read it! Thanks for taking care of the book, it looks great after crossing the ocean and 2 continents! It is great to read all of your entries!