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Book Review of Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague

Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague
kkowert avatar reviewed on + 44 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1


This novel about the plague is both harsh and inspiring. The story is told through the life of Anna, a peasant in a small village in the English countryside. The plague comes to their small village far away from the London plague. I do not want to tell too much of the story because the writing is so powerful and unwraps the story beautifully.

Through the terrible deaths that come to the village, Anna's heroism in visiting the sick, finding new homes for orphans and caring for her fellow human beings astonishes even Anna. This heroism is set against a village that is falling apart at the seams; neighbors and friends start turning on each other during this horrendous ordeal.

I was very disappointed in the end of the book. The characters do things that do not match their own temperament we have read about for 300 pages. It was so abrupt and out of character, it left me dissatisfied with an otherwise great book. It felt like the author didnt know what to do once the plague was over.